South of Grand Rapids, Near Hudsonville is Spring Grove Park. It is a county park that has a stream flowing through it fed by a natural spring. The crystal clear water bubbles up through the ground into a pool of water. It reminded me of a small version of Kitch-iti-kipi at Palms Book State Park
I can only imagine how lonely and isolated it must have been to be a Lighthouse keeper in northern Michigan, but for the crew at Poe Reef Lighthouse, it must have been especially challenging. In the fall they survived Michigan storms raging with the waves of Lake Huron splashing up the sides of the lighthouse. In early
Negwegon State Park is over 4000 acres of wilderness located along Lake Huron between Alpena and Harrisville. Named for the the Ojibwe chieftain that hunted in the region it is a popular park with hikers and birders. My favorite feature of the park is a natural spring that is located between the parking lot and
A lookout on Brockway Mountain overlooks the town of Copper Harbor. It is located at the top of the Keweenaw Peninsula and is Michigan’s northern most town. It is along trip to the town from southern Michigan but traveling into Copper Harbor down a winding US-41 through the forest is like being transported to a
I saw this ornate brick two story house not far from the southern Michigan town of Hudson. I got to wondering about it’s history and found it has an interesting story. Hudson businessman and banker William Treadwell began construction of this magnificent house in 1862 but he never got the chance to live in the
Along the shoreline of Lake Huron is the Sacred Rock and it is huge. It’s about 20 feet long and 8 feet wide and 4 feet tall out of the sand. The Native American tribes used the rock as a boundary marker to separate two tribes hunting grounds. Legend has it that the two tribes
This little log cabin sits in the woods off Bohemian Road near School Lake. It was constructed by Francis Kraitz around 1856. He came to the North Unity area to escape the typhoid epidemic sweeping through Chicago. The cabin was originally built further south near St. Joseph Catholic Church. In 1945 John Kraitz (3rd generation)
Parker Mill sits in the appropriately named Parker Mill County Park situated between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The grist mill was built by William Parker in 1873, along the Flemming Creek. After William died the mill was operated by his son and grandson until the 1960s. After the mill closed, it was purchased along with
M-28 crosses over Trout Creek in the western side of the Upper Peninsula. It is there you will find a massive old steam engine on display in Abbott Fox Community Park. The mechanical monster was made in 1912, by Allis Chalmers and was originally used in a Minneapolis Minnesota flour mill. In 19221 it was
The community of Cutlerville is located in the southern edge of metro Grand Rapids. In 1853, John and Christina Cutler and their ten children came to this area from New York and founded the town. In 1891 Cutler’s son John Isaac built this three-story brick house. The interior was embellished with hardwood and heated by
