upper peninsula Archives - Lost In Michigan

The Italian Hall in Calumet – Michigan Historical Marker

On December 24, 1913, area copper miners had been on strike for five months. The miners were fighting for better pay, shortened work days, safer working conditions and union recognition. That day, during a yuletide party for the striking miners and their families, someone yelled, “Fire!” Although there was no fire, seventy-three person died while attempting to escape down a stairwell that had doors that opened inward. Over half of those who died were children between the ages of six and ten. The perpetrator of the tragedy was never identified. The strike ended in April 1914.

The Italian Hall was built in 1908 as headquarters for Calumet’s benevolent society. The Society, organized along ethnic lines, encouraged and financially aided immigrants and provided relief to victims of hardship. Following the 1913 Christmas Eve tragedy, the hall continued to be used for nearly five decades. The two-story red brick building was razed in 1984. Through the efforts of the Friends of the Italian Hall and Local 324 of the AFL-CIO, the site of the building became a memorial park dedicated ot the people who lost their lives in 1903.

an Historic Photo of the hall I found in the Public Domain, you can see the doorway that remains as a memorial on the left side of the building.

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Seul Choix Point Lighthouse, is it haunted?

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

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.

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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 .

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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Lost in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

An old store or saloon I saw in Covington

I haven’t posted in the past few days because I went on a whirlwind tour of the Upper Peninsula, and I can honestly say I got lost, well maybe not lost since I knew where I was but I did make a wrong turn, somewhere after Escanaba, 41 and 2 split and somehow I missed that and drove thru Stephenson and when I saw the sign for Green Bay then I new something was wrong. At that point I decided to let the GPS lady get me back to Iron Mountain, She took me down some back roads and I found the Statue of Liberty proudly standing in someone’s yard. Don’t ask me where because I had no Idea where I was at. From Iron Mountain, we (my wife went along too) went up to Calumet then back down to Marquette over to Munising and then to Newberry and finally back over the bridge to the L.P.

I put over 1300 miles on the car and took over 1100 photos in the past 4 days. I know I was early for the color, but I can’t get mother nature to work with my schedule, It looks like the fall colors will start to peak this weekend in some spots of the northern U.P. and then in two weeks for the rest of the U.P.

I am looking forward to sharing pics from this recent trip along with the other pics from around Michigan I have.

Mike Sonnenberg.