upper peninsula Archives - Page 16 of 26

The Great White Castle of the North

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, upper peninsula .

Standing near Little Bay De Noc in Escanaba is a place known as The Great White Castle. No, I am not talking about fast food place where you get the little hamburgers, I am referring to the magnificent House Of Ludington hotel. It easy to find some historical information about it since there is a Michigan Historic Marker next to it that reads:

In 1864, E. Gaynor built the Gaynor House hotel, which he renamed the Ludington House in 1871 after lumberman Nelson Ludington. In the late 1800s proprietor John Christie enlarged the hotel and renamed the establishment the New Ludington Hotel. An advertisement in the 1893 Michigan Gazetteer and Business Directory read, “New Ludington Hotel – The Largest and Only hotel in the city having Baths, Steam Heat and Electric Call Bells – $2.00 per day.” The hotel exemplifies Queen Anne resort architecture, popular in the 1880s and 1890s.

An old postcard of the hotel, year unknown but looking at the cars I would say sometime in the 60’s

As with any large old structure, there are rumors of ghosts the reside in the historic building. they say they are friendly and like to play with the elevator controls and some people have claimed to see them in the hallways. I don’t know about spirits roaming around but I can imagine over the years many travelers, tourists, and business professionals staying at the hotel enjoying ” Pure Michigan”.

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Camp Raco’s Chimney

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

This stone chimney and a few foundations are all that is left of Camp Raco in the Upper Peninsula. It was a CCC camp then used as a prisoner of war camp in World War II. It is located in the Marquette National Forest. You can find it off M-28 on a two-track near the town of Raco southwest of Brimley. You can read more about Camp Raco in Lost In Michigan Volume 3 available on Amazon HERE

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The Water Tower in the Upper Peninsula

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula, Water Tower .

The Manistique Water tower and pumping station, a 200,000 gallon capacity water tower, is a 137′ tall Roman Revival-style building primarily faced with red brick with limestone trim, and sits on a concrete foundation. Casement windows near the top of the tower sit beneath a decorative frieze. The domed roof is made of copper. The tower has been designated of outstanding historical and architectural significance to the United States. Built in 1922 at a cost of $62,450. The system constructed was in use until 1954, when a new pumping station was put into operation. The structure was used for offices and as a comfort station until 1973, when the Schoolcraft Historical Society took the building over. It was placed on the state historical register in 1979 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. The water tower site at the west bank of the Manistique River on Deer Street in Manistique, and is also the site of the “Log House” and “Putnam House” museum buildings. The water tower and museum buildings are maintained and operated by the Schoolcraft County Historical Society.

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A Once Beautiful School

Posted on April 6, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools, upper peninsula .

I bet at one time this old school was a beautiful building and the pride of the community. It is in Paynesville in the western part of the Upper Peninsula. Not much exists in the town anymore and neither does the roof of this once beautiful old school. The harsh Michigan winter and weight of the snow have taken a toll on this old school.

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The Last Place On Earth

Posted on April 3, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula .

Driving up the Keweenaw Peninsula on US-41 I passed by this antique store with the words THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH. After driving from southern Michigan all the way to the tip of the Keweenaw it made me laugh. Personally, I think the Rocket Range is the last place on earth ( you can see my post HERE ) but this store is close enough. If you want to go to the end of the earth then you have to go over to the Porcupine Mountains HERE

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Powerhouse Falls

Posted on March 26, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula, Waterfalls .

A few miles south of L’Anse is Powerhouse Falls. Aptly named for the old abandoned powerhouse that is next to the falls. If you turn on west onto Dam Road and go down it about a mile it winds around to a parking lot for the falls. I have visited it before and always tried to get pics of the falls without the building but then I realized it’s the old building that makes these falls unique. It’s worth a stop if you are in the area since it’s not far out of the way if you are traveling down U.S.-41.

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Zeba and the Old Wooden Church

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, upper peninsula .

Northeast of L’Anse in the Upper Peninsula is the small town of Zeba. I am not sure if it is correct but I read that the word “zeba” is Native American for “little river” In the town of Zeba, or more like what is left of the town of Zeba, is an old wooden church. The historical marker in front of it tells some of its history and reads:

Early Methodist missionaries came to Kewawenon from Sault Sainte Marie by canoe, often a two-week trip. Among then was John Sunday, a Chippewa, who arrived in 1832 to educate and Christianize his fellow Indians. John Clark came two years later and erected a school and mission house. By 1845 this mission consisted of a farm and a church with fifty-eight Indian and four white members. A second church, erected in 1850, was dedicated by John H. Pitezel, who served here from 1844 to 1847.
photo of Zeba Indian United Methodist Church

Indians from far and near came here to attend the annual camp meetings which began in 1880. The present frame church, known now as the Zeba Indian Mission Church, was erected in 1888. Completely covered with hand-made wooden shingles, this structure has changed little since its construction. The Methodist minister of L’Anse serves the congregation. The Zeba Indian United Methodist Church, the successor of the 1932 Kewawenon mission is an area landmark.

I passed by the old church on my way to the Ford ghost town of Pequaming which you can read about in Volume 3 of the Lost In Michigan books available HERE

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Sidnaw’s Main Street

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in small towns, upper peninsula .

The small town of Sidnaw is located in the western part of the Upper Peninsula. There is not much on Main Street but a few houses and what looks like a building that was a general store at one time. M-28 runs nearby and that is probably why most of the structures on Main Street are gone. Sidnaw is probably most famous for having a World War II POW camp. you can read my post about it HERE. The word “sidnaw” is Native American for small hill by a creek and that is supposedly where the town got its name from.

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The Abandoned Quincy Smelter

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

This complex of buildings on the shore of Portage Lake north of Hancock in the Keweenaw Peninsula is the Quincy Smelter. You can also see the ruins of the old smelter across the lake from Houghton. Built by the Quincy Mining Company, the smelter used to heat and chemical processes to turn copper ore into ingots. The ingots were then sold and shipped to factories where they were turned into products such as copper wire or tubing. The Quincy Smelter is the only copper smelter remaining in the Lake Superior Region.

Part of the Keweenaw National Historical Park, the site is not open to the public at this time. The Quincy Smelter site is owned by Franklin Township and is undergoing treatment to remove hazardous materials. Future considerations for the site include stabilizing the structures and possibly adapting some parts into a visitor center. I hope I get the chance to tour the site someday, it looks like an interesting place to explore.

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Newberry’s Old Jail

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula .

Constructed in 1894, this graceful Queen Anne style structure served as the Luce County jail and sheriff’s residence for over seventy years. The peninsular Land Company donated the site. The architectural firm of Lovejoy and DeMar from Marquette designed this sturdy edifice from rough-hewn Jacobsville sandstone. The Luce County Historical Society rescued this building from demolition in 1975 and restored it as the Luce County Historical Museum in 1976.

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