This old school house sits in Topinabee in the appropriately named School House Park. I could not find much info about the old school other than the township owns it and hope to get the money to restore it or convert it into a library or something. It is a nice looking building, and at
David Thompson, a wealthy Detroit businessman, died in the early 1870s, leaving his estate to his wife Mary with instructions to establish a charitable institution. In 1874, Mary Thompson allocated $10,000 to build a home for aged women. However, construction did not start until nearly ten years later when land was purchased and Mary commissioned
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
About five miles west of Higgins Lake along N. 13 Mile Road is a wooden sign for the long gone town of Stratford. The town started in 1897 when the Thayer Lumber Company purchased 13400 acres of virgin red and white pine The railroad laid tracks to the lumber town and hauled the logs out
On December 11, 1971 an explosion ripped through a tunnel being constructed under Lake Huron. 21 men were killed instantly and one worker died ten months later. The tunnel was being dug under Lake Huron for a new water source for Detroit. The tunnel stretched out 5 miles from the shore near Fort Gratiot a
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
This old building sits a few miles away from Beaverton. With the framework at the top I am assuming it was a schoolhouse at one time. It is a beautiful looking building made with fieldstone. I could not find any info about it and it sits on private property next to someone’s house. P.S. I
The violent and ruthless Purple Gang in Detroit was in control of the liquor that came in from Canada across the Detroit River into Michigan. If you wanted a good quality bottle of spirits from the distilleries in Canada you have to deal with the Purples. Two influential members of the Purple Gang, Sam Bernstein, and
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
This old service station stands in downtown Saginaw not far from city hall. It was built sometime in the the 1920s and is the oldest service station still standing in Saginaw. Several years ago it was painted by artist Eric Schantz. It still stands as a reminder of a time when cars pulled into a
