Walking around just about any town in Michigan and looking down at a manhole cover you most likely will see East Jordan Iron Works cast onto it. If you have ever been through the Jordan Valley in Michigan it’s hard to miss the massive foundry in the town of East Jordan. The company was founded
This brick school is located on Ferry Street in the southwestern Michigan city of Niles. The historical marker standing next to it reads: Constructed in 1867 at a cost of nearly $3,000, the Ferry Street School opened in January, 1868 as Niles’s school for “colored children.” In 1870 the Niles school system was integrated, and
The Glen Haven Canning Co. building sits along the Lake Michigan shoreline in the small town of Glen Haven a few miles away from Glen Arbor. The canning company building was originally used as a warehouse supplying ships and fishing vessels. In the 1920’s it was used to can cherries. I assume that is when
The Pigeon Depot was constructed in 1908 and served two railroad lines. In 1883 the Pontiac, Oxford and Port Austin Railroad, a north-south line, had been extended to Caseville and a depot was built at Berne, one mile north of here. Around 1886 the Saginaw, Tuscola and Huron Railroad built tracks through the Tamarack Swamp
This oddly shaped two-story octagon house stands near downtown Dansville. The small town is on M-36 about 25 miles southeast of Lansing. The historic octagon house was built in 1863 by Doctor. D.J. Watson. Rumors have claimed the house was used on the Underground Railroad. Legend has it, escaping slaves would hide in the basement
I was out roaming the back roads of central Michigan near Shepherd when I turned down a dirt road. I came upon this old barn and I had to stop and take a pic. I don’t know any history about it but I thought it looked like a grand old barn. My jeep gets a
I have visited a lot of cemeteries in Michigan doing research and the Holy Angels Cemetery on Sugar Island has to be one of the most secluded cemeteries in Michigan. The cemetery is also known as Payment Cemetery because many of the people buried in the old graveyard were from the nearby town of Payment.
The town of Deward northwest of Grayling had one of the largest sawmills in Michigan. The town was started in 1900 and named in honor of lumber baron David E. Ward. At one time it had a population of 800 people. It had a ferocious appetite for timber and after all the standing timber was
This brick three-story house sits along the St Joeseph river in Three Rivers Michigan. It was built by Arthur Silman. He had a blacksmith shop on the first floor and his family lived above on the upper floors. In 1903 he deeded the home to his daughter, Sue Silliman. She was a librarian and state
I was heading out of Jackson when down the road I saw this Standard Oil Sign. When I drove up to it, I saw the little service station with the old pump. It made me smile and I had to stop and take a photo. It reminds me of being a kid riding in my
