upper peninsula Archives - Page 4 of 25

The Ghost Town of Watson

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

County Road 426 runs along the center part of the Upper Peninsula. It passes through the old town of Watson. A few homes still stand in the area but it looks as if it has been a long time since the old store was open for business. At one time an IGA sign hung from the metal bar at the top of the building but that is gone. The old building just stands by the road watching cars pass by remembering the days when people stopped for groceries.

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The Ruins along Old US-2

Posted on June 21, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, upper peninsula .

US-2 runs along the southern side of the Upper Peninsula. Between Manistique and Gulliver is a short section of road that shows up on the map as Old US Hwy 2. Near the road are two large brick crumbling structures. They are the remains of kilns used by the White Marble Lime Company, founded by George Nicholson Jr. in 1889. The kilns, which were fired by wood waste from the lumber industry, burned dolomite to produce quicklime for use as a building material and an ingredient in the manufacture of paper. The company also established a sawmill, shingle mill and became a dealer in forest products, as well as crushed stone, cement, and builders’ supplies and employed nearly 250 workers. In 1925 the company was reorganized as the Manistique Lime and Stone Company but went out a few years later during the Depression of 1929.

The stone kilns still stand as a reminder of the lime industry in the region. They stand on private property but are visible from the road.

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Herman: Then and Now

Posted on June 7, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, small towns, upper peninsula .

While doing research for my Michigan Ghost Town book I came across an old photo of the town of Herman from the 1940s. The town is in the Huron Mountains southeast of L’Anse. I recognized the old store next to the railroad tracks in the old photo.

The town has changed a lot in the past 80 plus years. The buildings on the left are gone and the nice looking building on the right is slowly collapsing. You can see my post about it HERE

Its interesting to see pics of the way things were and compare them to what there is now. I wish I could go back in time to visit some of the places I have posted about but the closest I can come to doing that is looking at old photographs.

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The Locomotive Boneyard

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots, upper peninsula .

The North Shore Boat Launch is located north of downtown Escanaba. Next to it is an old Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad facility. A line of old locomotives sit on tracks next to the boat launch parking lot.

The facility is not accessible to the public but you can see all of the old locomotives behind the fence. If you love trains it a nifty place to check out and look at the old trains that are past their prime.

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Big Old School

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools, upper peninsula .

When I was in the town of Michigamme in the Upper Peninsula I came across this big old brick building. It was not hard to figure out what it was built for with the words MICHIGAMME PUBLIC SCHOOL across the top of it. The school opened in 1915, and graduated 15 students in its first year. From what I found on the internet, it closed in 1965, when declining enrollments forced the school to close. The towns students now attend high school in Republic.

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The Forgotten Town Near The Falls

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

I saw this old shack or house or whatever it was not far from the waterfalls I stopped to visit. Looking on the map I show both the town of Dixon and Forest Lake on the map and it is not far from Au Train Falls. I am not sure if this is the last remaining structure from the town. It was first named Dixon when it was founded in 1890 by the Cleveland Cliffs Company which did a lot of mining of iron ore throughout the Upper Peninsula. It got a post office in 1915 but then it changed names to Forest Lake in 1921. The days of mining and lumbering are long gone and the area is mostly outdoor recreation used by hunters and fishermen and fisherwomen.

If you love exploring the Upper Peninsula or reading about its unique places, I hope you will take a look at my new book LOST IN MICHIGAN’S UPPER PENINSULA available on Amazon HERE

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The City Hall and the Propeller

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings, upper peninsula .

The village of Lake Linden in the Keweenaw Peninsula suffered a devastating fire in May 1887, which affected 75% of the structures. Although the frame village hall survived, city fathers believed that a new fireproof structure with space for a fire station would be in the best interests of the community. In 1901, the village asked architects for designs, and chose one submitted by Charles K. Shand of Calumet. The Hall was built by a local contractor, L. F. Ursin, and opened in 1902, serving as village offices, fire station, polling place, and public meeting hall.

A propeller from the Lady Be Good, an American B-24 Liberator lost in the Libyan Desert in April 1943, is on display in front of the village hall. Crewmember T/Sgt. Robert E. LaMotte of Lake Linden was a radio operator aboard the aircraft. His remains were found in the desert in 1960.

The Lady Be Good mysteriously disappeared without trace on its first combat mission during World War II. The plane, from 376th Bomb Group, had been on a bombing raid to Naples on April 4, 1943 when it was lost. Although the aircraft was thought to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, with the loss of its nine-man crew, it was eventually found 440 mi inland in the Libyan Desert in 1958. The remains of all but one of its crew have been recovered.

It was accidentally discovered by an oil exploration team from BP in 1958. Investigations concluded the crew failed to realize they had overflown their air base in a sandstorm possibly assuming the moonlight reflecting over the wavy sand dunes that they were still flying over sea. After continuing to fly south into the desert for many hours well beyond their ETA, they bailed out when the plane’s fuel ran out. The survivors then died in the desert trying to walk to safety.

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Camp Pori

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, upper peninsula .

deep in the Ottawa National Forest on the west side of the Upper Peninsula is the location of Camp Pori. It was a CCC camp during the depression and then used as a prisoner of war camp during World War II. After the war the camp was used by Michigan Tech as a training ground for its forestry students. The camp closed in 1954 and all of the buildings were removed. The only thing remaining is a sign. Nothing from the camp stands today, but sometimes it is more about the journey then the destination. It is a nice drive through the forest to see this historic sites location.

If you love exploring the Upper Peninsula or reading about its unique places, I hope you will take a look at my new book LOST IN MICHIGAN’S UPPER PENINSULA available on Amazon HERE

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Bond Falls

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula, Waterfalls .

Bond Falls are in the western Upper Peninsula near Paulding. It is an impressive waterfall that is almost 100 feet wide and a drop of about 50 feet. It is a scenic site managed by the Michigan DNR and has view platforms to get great views of the water cascading down the rocks. It is probably the second most popular waterfall in Michigan after the Tahquamenon Falls.

If you love exploring the Upper Peninsula or reading about its unique places, I hope you will take a look at my new book LOST IN MICHIGAN’S UPPER PENINSULA available on Amazon HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

The Beer Castle In Marquette

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in castles, upper peninsula .

This castle like office building is located at the intersection of Meeske Street and US 41 in Marquette, Michigan. Built in the 1890s, the structure served as the home and office of brewer Charles Meeske, secretary-treasurer and later president of the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company. The building originally had a tunnel leading to the brewery, allowing Meeske to ignore a law prohibiting a person from entering a brewery after sundown.

In the 1890s, Meeske built a bottling plant with a complex of sandstone buildings, constructed to resemble small castles which included warehouses, residences, a tower, and a bottling plant. In 1895, the brewery had a production capacity of between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels per year, sold under the name of Drei Kaiser (Three Kings) beer. With the onset of World War I in 1913, the name was changed to “Castle Brew.”

Local prohibition groups pressured Marquette County to enact dry ordinances in 1916, four years before the beginning of country-wide Prohibition. When these ordinances were passed, the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company ended its beer production and went out of business,and Meeske moved to Duluth, Minnesota.

After the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company folded most of the buildings were eventually abandoned and fell into disrepair. Meeske’s office building was more heavily utilized, serving as a rock shop, a law firm, and an antique shop. In 1974 and 1975 most of the buildings were demolished saving only the office building. In 1982 the structure was purchased by Humboldt Ridge and restored. The building is currently home to the Marquette law firm Pence & Numinen, P.C.

A new brewery with the name Upper Peninsula Brewing Company now operates in the nearby town of Negaunee.

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