I see a lot of old schoolhouses on my travels around the Great Lakes State but I have not seen many that are made from logs. The Becking School stands with a collection of historic log buildings in Bad Axe’s Pioneer Log Village. The Becking School was built in 1895 and the first teacher was
The Post Cemetery is one of only four National Cemeteries with the honor of permanently flying the American flag at half mast. The cemetery is the final resting place for Fort Mackinac soldiers, their families, and local officials. The small cemetery on Mackinac Island is surrounded by a white picket fence with a wooden archway,
The town of Winona sits at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula near the Twin Lakes. There are a few houses there but for the most part it is a ghost town. During its heyday in the 1920s, Winona had restaurants, a brewery, sports teams, churches, boarding houses, a train depot, a saloon, stores, boardwalks,
Between Jackson and Lansing near the town of Eaton Rapids is the VFW National Home. Designated as a Michigan historical landmark the home has been taking care of veteran’s families for nearly a century. In 1923 the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) initiated a plan to build a national home for the families of deceased
After a ship hit the rocks off Mission Point and sank in the 1860’s construction on the Mission Point Lighthouse began. It was not completed until the 1870’s because of the Civil War. The white-sided little lighthouse guided ships around the Grand Traverse Bay until 1938 when an illuminated buoy was placed offshore. The light
This giant concrete structure towers over the Lake Michigan town of Grand Haven. It is a coal tipple used to feed coal into steam locomotives. The Grand Trunk Western Railroad operated a large rail yard in Grand Haven when ferry service transported rail cars across Lake Michigan. In the 1950s diesel powered locomotives replace the
I saw these old stone ruins along US-12 in the Irish Hills area. They look like something from the Flintstones, but I think they were part of an old miniature golf course. It’s always an interesting drive down US-12. I have never driven route 66 in the American Southwest to see the abandoned places but
When I am traveling along US-2 heading west from St. Ignace I like to stop at the Cut River Bridge for a break and stretch my legs. Between the bridge and the parking lot is a plaque in honor of Heath Michael Robinson. The plaque reads: Senior Chief Special Operator Heath Michael Robinson was born
I was driving along the St. Clair River near Algonac when I could see what looked like a lighthouse in the distance. I was surprised to see it since I know where all of the lighthouses are located in Michigan in my efforts to visit every one of them. When I got up to the
Seven Bridges Nature Area is located between Kalkaska and Rapid City. Its hiking paths and bridges meander across streams and creeks in a lush green forest. The times I have visited there are few people in this little piece of wilderness. It seems like a hidden gem that I think few people know about. If
