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The Haunted Ghost Town of Shelldrake Michigan

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Michigan Historical Markers, upper peninsula .

sheldrake Michigan haunted ghost town

The town of Shelldrake, named after a duck common in the area, is a ghost town about 8 miles south of Whitefish Point, at the mouth of the Shelldrake River (also known as the Betsy River) on Whitefish Bay. In the 1890s and early 1900s, it was a thriving sawmill town during peak logging years on the Tahquamenon River watershed. By the 1920s repeated fires and the decline of lumbering led to its demise. Today it is a privately owned ghost town with only a few weathered, original buildings.

I found stories of the area being haunted by an old sea captain who stands on the dock. He has a pipe and a cape and he is usually seen from the lake, as boats approach the shore, he fades away and disappears. While researching the history of Sheldrake, I found out about the Tugboat Grace which was towing a scow in October of 1879 through whitefish bay headed for Goulais Bay in Canada. During a storm in the early morning, the tugboat broke down and drifted onto a sand bar about 200 feet offshore from Sheldrake. The tug filled with water and broke into pieces. The crew made it to shore, and after climbing the bank to safety the captain proclaimed “Thank God, we are all safe” and then suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack. I wonder if that is the captain that has been seen on the docks.

The Penoyer brothers from Bay City, Michigan began the first lumbering operations on the mouth of the Shelldrake River in 1895 with the construction of a sawmill, long docks, and a tramway into Whitefish Bay for loading lumber onto ships. They owned a large block of pinelands in the Tahquamenon River watershed. The Calumet and Hecla copper mining company bought the sawmill and uncut timber in 1899 for their mines. Calumet and Hecla sold out to a Canadian firm, the Bartlett Brothers, in 1910. Lumber milling continued at Shelldrake until 1925 when a fire burned down the sawmill plant for the second time.

By the late 1890s, Shelldrake had a sawmill, houses for workers that were equipped with bathrooms, a hospital, a schoolhouse, a post office, and an icehouse that could store enough meat to feed a population of 1,000 through the winter months. All of the buildings were plastered and had hot water piped from the sawdust burner. There was a stagecoach between Eckerman, Michigan and Shelldrake daily in the summer and three times a week during the winter. At one time there was also a passenger ship sailing between Shelldrake and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Shelldrake was listed on Michigan’s Historic Register in 1979 with the period of historical significance designated as 1600–1825. However, Shelldrake did not become settled as a lumber town until the late 1890s. The state marker text reads:
Shelldrake legend has it that Lewis Cass, governor of the Territory of Michigan, and his party of nearly 100 camped here in their search for the source of the Mississippi River in 1820. This area, once a bustling lumbering community, was first settled in the mid-nineteenth century. Shelldrake is now a sleepy resort and hunting place. Few of the weatherbeaten buildings that once faced the long boardwalk remain. This settlement is a reminder of the area’s lumbering era.
Although Shelldrake was sold to private owners during the 1930s,it never developed into a resort or hunting place despite what is recorded on the Michigan historic marker. It is now a privately owned ghost town with only a few weathered, original buildings at the site.

You can kinda see it from the road when your traveling from Paradise to Whitefish Point, but since it’s privately owned be respectful of the owners and don’t go exploring around it. There is a road leading up to it, but I am not sure it was a private road since I was there in the winter time, if it was, I apologize for trespassing. I wanted to get a pic for my Michigan Historical Marker Series, I just snapped a quick pic and left.

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Tags: Chippewa, chippewa county, ghost town, haunted, michigan historical marker, sheldrake .

Seul Choix Point Lighthouse, is it haunted? 

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Lighthouses .

 

Seul Choix Point lighthouse

There are Stories that claim the lighthouse is haunted by a lighthouse keeper that served the structure from 1902 until his death In 1910, it is said that he passed away while in the bedroom that is located upstairs. His name was Joseph Willie Townsend. He and his wife resided in the house and was known to enjoy smoking cigars. Unfortunately, his wife was not a huge fan of the smell and smoke associated with the cigars and informed him that he could not smoke them in the house. Since his death, many people have claimed to smell burning cigars in the house. It’s believed that Townsend purposely smokes in the house in the afterlife as his wife cannot forbid it now. People have also claimed to have seen Townsend’s Ghost and that furniture is rearranged. Another strange occurrence is when the table is set and left unattended, then seen later, the forks are turned tine side down, Townsend was known to set his forks down in that position.

Haunted or not, it’s a beautiful lighthouse, and I highly recommend visiting it near the town of Gulliver on Lake Michigan.

If you love lighthouses I hope you will take a look at my new Lighthouse book HERE

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Tags: haunted, lighthouse, upper peninsula .

The Calumet Theatre Haunted by the ghost of Madame Helena Modjeska

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Michigan Historical Markers, Uncategorized, upper peninsula .

Calumet michigan theater theatre haunted
The Michigan historical marker next to the Calumet Theatre reads:
“One of the first municipal theaters in America, the Calumet opened on March 20, 1900, “the greatest social event ever known in copperdom’s metropolis.” The theater contained a magnificent stage and elegant interior decorations, including an electrified copper chandelier. For over a decade, Copper Country audiences witnessed a broad panorama of American legitimate theater, and many prominent stage personalities, both American and European, trod the boards of the Calumet. By 1920s, motion pictures replaced live theater, and subsequently, live drama returned to the Calumet. The reopened community theater resumed its position as a focal point of civic pride for the people of Calumet and the Copper Country.”

According to Wikipedia the Theater is inhabited by the ghost of, Madame Helena Modjeska. The story of the ghost first emerged in 1958, when actress Adysse Lane claimed that the ghost of Madame Modjeska appeared to her during a performance when Lane had forgotten her lines. Since then, unexplainable happenings have occurred. Many people have heard music and felt cold air from nowhere\

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Tags: calumet, ghost, haunted, theater, upper peninsula .

Michigan’s Haunted Mansion

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Historic Places, Houses, Uncategorized .

bruce mansion michigan haunted

 

Several sources have said this is one of the most haunted places in Michigan. I am not much of a believer in ghosts, but I do like a good story. Built in 1876, on M53 near Brown City is this old Second Empire mansion. It was the home of and built by John G. Bruce who owned the Bruce and Webster General Merchants with his brother-in-law in Burnside township which he was the postmaster for 16 years. The old house sold a few different times and rumor has it one of the mansion’s owners were said to have been taking the back roads in his automobile when he hit a pedestrian. Terrified at what he had done, he took the body back to the mansion and buried it somewhere on the estate. Some say the ghost of the victim, others simply guilt, caused the man to lose his fortune and drive him to commit suicide by hanging himself in the old bell tower.

Please note this house is not abandoned please be respectful and do not trespass. 

I have more about the historic mansion and several other haunted places around the state in the Lost In Michigan books available on Amazon HERE

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Tags: brown city, bruce, haunted, house, mansion, michigan .

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