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
If you are looking for someplace different to visit that few people know about you need to stop by the old western town of Coopersville. You won’t find it on a map of Michigan since it’s not an official town. It was built by Spike Cooper who is a big fan of westerns and John
At the corner of the Old Chicago Road (U.S. 12) and the La Plaisance Pike (M-50) in Michigan’s Irish Hills, is Cambridge Junction Historic State Park / Walker Tavern Historic Site. The site contains a modest, one-and-a-half-story farmhouse that has sat on its original site for nearly two centuries. Built about 1832, the white clapboard
This statue of a woman in a Victorian era dress stands next to the library in Big Rapids. It is of Anna Howard Shaw who was born in England on February 14, 1847. At the age of four, her family immigrated to America. In 1859, her father moved the family to a wilderness tract just
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
The Steiner Pioneer and Logging Museum sits along M-33 north of Fairview in the northeast Lower Peninsula. The Old North Fairview School sits on the museum’s property to remind people of a time when kids went to one room schoolhouses. The log school was built in 1895 and it was moved to the museum to
Before the Zilwaukee bridge was opened to traffic in December of 1987 a draw bridge was built over the Saginaw River for I-75. It opened daily for the Niagara nicknamed “The Sandsucker” It sucked sand off the bottom of Lake Huron for the General Motors Iron Foundry and traveled to Saginaw nearly every day. When
Ogemaw Springs sits next to the railroad tracks northwest of West Branch. It was the main source of water for the town that is named after it. The spring was also used as a source of water for the steam trains that were used during the lumbering era of the late 1800s. In 1875 Ogemaw
I saw this old general store in the small town of Oak Grove. It’s located north of Howell on an old mill pond. The town was originally called Chemungville. When the post office was established in 1859 the name was changed to Oak Grove. A few houses and buildings still stand in the small town.
Island Park is located near downtown Mt. Pleasant where the Chippewa River flows around it. At the north end of the park is the Michigan Vietnam Vets Memorial and it honors those who served from Michigan. There is 16 plaques featuring 2705 of Michigan’s casualties, MIA’s, and POW’s. The memorial was officially dedicated as a