Lost In Michigan

Introduction

Michigan is full of amazing places and incredible people.Since there are so many stories I have learned about in mytravels, I needed to publish a second book to share themwith you. I tried to pick stories that cover a broad range ofsubjects and history. The stories range from inspirational totragic and really strange, but all of them occur in Michigan.

If you are wondering about the boat on the cover it is theJoseph Medill, a Chicago fire-boat that was sitting in a fieldin Escanaba. I say was because someone told me it was cutup and hauled away for scrap while I was in the process ofwriting this book. It would have been one of the locationsfeatured, but I removed it since I did not want to send youto see something that does not exist anymore. Theunfortunate thing about writing stories of old forgottenthings is that they are demolished by the unforgiving forcesof time. At publishing time all the locations are still intactbut as the old saying goes, “The only constant is change.”

The locations in this volume start at the bottom of the stateand then work north. Each story is independent of oneanother. You can read them in any order you wish. I havedone my best to give an address that you can use in a GPSto help you find each location. Some places have no

Lost In Michigan

address, so I have given a description of where they can befound. Most locations are on public property, but somemay be privately owned. Whether they are public or private,they may not be open to visitors, or they may only be openat scheduled times. Most places can be seen from publicroads. I don't trespass and I advise anyone against it. Pleasebe respectful to the places you visit. I hope after readingthis book you will take an interest in traveling the backroads of Michigan and see what you can find.

Lost In Michigan

ContentsChapter 1 Southern Lower Peninsula

• Hamburg..................................….................................1

• 8th Precinct Castle …............................…...................3

• Alendale's Grand Rapids Fire Station.......................6

• Kalamazoo Water Tower............…...........................8

• Huron Lightship …....................................................11

• Grand Trunk Railroad Depot Lansing. ….............13

• Belle Isle Aquarium …...............................................16

• House Of David …....................................................19

• St. Andrews Cathedral …..........................................22

• Detroit's Masonic Temple …...................................25

• Holmdeme Estate ….................................................28

• Castle of Oz …...........................................................31

• Peninsular Paper Co. …...........................................34

• Michigan War Dog Memorial ….............................36

Lost In Michigan

Chapter 2 Central Lower Peninsula

• Minnie Quay's Tragic Tale …..................................40

• House of Gould….....................................................42

• Stepping Stone Falls ….............................................44

• Linden Mills …...........................................................46

• Garfield Inn …...........................................................48

• Ammi Wright House …............................................51

• Wahjamega ….............................................................53

• Ithaca Fire Station and Monument …....................56

• Ovid's Gothic Church ….........................................58

• Omer's Masonic Lodge …........................................60

• Port Hope Chimney ….............................................63

• Shepherd Train Depot ….........................................65

• Croton Dam ...............................................................67

• White River Lighthouse ….......................................69

• Saginaw's Castle …....................................................71

• The Beer Drinking Bear of Quanicassee…...........73

Lost In Michigan

Chapter 3 Northern Lower Peninsula

• Alabaster Loading Dock ….....................................78

• Pere Cheney ...............................................................80

• Point Betsie Lighthouse …......................................83

• Gravity Defying Hill On Putney Road ….............86

• Iargo Springs...............................................................89

• Cross Village ….........................................................90

• Elowsky Mill ….........................................................92

• Robert H. Manning Memorial Lighthouse ….......94

• Harriet Quimby …....................................................96

• Manton …..................................................................98

• Metz Fire …...............................................................100

• What Happened to Sister Janina?…......................103

• Grand Traverse Lighthouse …..............................106

• Shay House …...........................................................109

• Old Presque Isle Lighthouse ….............................111

Lost In Michigan

Chapter 4 Upper Peninsula

• Point Iroquois Lighthouse…..................................116

• The Stone Church on the Island …......................118

• Manistique Water Tower…...........................................120

• Ford Sawmill….........................................................122

• Crisp Point Lighthouse ….....................................124

• Sable Falls …...........................................................129

• Medical Miracle on Mackinac….............................131

• Eagle Harbor Lighthouse …..................................134

• Marquette Orphanage …........................................137

• Alder Falls …............................................................139

• Calumet Theatre ….................................................141

• Lake of the Clouds ….............................................145

• Old Dickinson County Jail…................................147

• Downtown Houghton …......................................149

Lost In Michigan

8th Precinct Castle

Location: 4150 Grand River Avenue Detroit, Mi 48208

In my mind, Detroit has always been, andwill always be, one of the great cities in

Lost In Michigan

the United States. In the past few decades it has been facingsome challenges and declining in population. In the late1800s it was a mecca of commerce and wealth. As thepopulation of southeast Michigan grew, farms wereconverted into neighborhoods. Such was the case with thefarm of William Woodbridge, northwest of Detroit. It wasdeveloped into an upper middle class neighborhood in 1885for the affluent citizens of Detroit. By the 1900s the areaneeded a police station, and in this area of prosperity noordinary building would do. It was decided that famedarchitect Louis Kamper would design a magnificent newbuilding to house the police that protected the citizens inthe Woodbridge neighborhood. Kamper designed a FrenchRenaissance castle-like building and it was constructedbetween 1900 and 1901 for a cost of $46,000. The averageannual income for Americans back then was about $430.

The building was constructed as two separate buildingsconnected with a walkway. The larger building housed thepolice department, and the smaller one, featuring an archeddoor facing the road was the carriage house. In the early1900s the police used horses and wagons to patrol the city.In later years it was converted into a garage for the patrolcars. The police stopped using the station in 1954 and itbecame offices for the Detroit Police Youth Bureau and thePersonnel Division. In 2013 the building was sold andconverted into a residential living complex known as theCastle Lofts.

Lost In Michigan

Michi-Fact: Louis Kamper designed several prominentbuildings in Detroit, including the Book-Cadillac Hotel andthe Hecker Castle on Woodward.

Allendale's Grand Rapids Fire Station

Location: 6610 Lake Michigan Drive, Allendale, MI 49401

West of Grand Rapids, past Grand ValleyState University on a busy but sparsely

populated stretch of road, I saw this ornate brick building.It has a steeple like a church, but two garage doors in the

Lost In Michigan

front, so I figured it must have been a fire house and thesteeple was a hose tower for drying hoses. It definitelyseemed out of place. It looked like an old fire house thatwould have been in a large city. The interesting thing is thatit actually once stood on the corner of Leonard andMonroe streets in Grand Rapids as Engine House No. 5.Built in 1880, the grand old fire station was constructed ofpale yellow and red bricks, and housed horse-drawn steampumpers, and the horses that pulled them. As the yearswent by, motorized fire engines replaced the horses, andthe fire station got a coat of red paint. After serving thecommunity for a hundred years, it was decided in 1980 thata new fire station was needed to accommodate the modernfire equipment.

The proud fire station was slated for demolition. Instead itwas disassembled over the course of 10 weeks and re-assembled brick by brick at its new location in Allendale.The Construction took about five years and it includedrestoring the bricks back to their original creamy white andred color. The magnificent structure is the home of theEngine House No. 5 Museum.

Trip Tip: The museum exhibits include an antique fireengine and horse drawn carriages, along with a plethora ofvintage fire fighting equipment. You can learn more aboutthe museum at www.enginehouse5.com

Lost In Michigan

Minnie Quay's Tragic Tale

Location: Lake Huron ShorelineForester, MI on M-25 a few milesnorth of M-46

It's hard to imagine that Michigan's Thumb was oncecovered in a thick dense forest. It is mostly farmland todaybecause the lumberjacks harvested most of the timber.Many ships tied up to the docks at Forester to fill their

Lost In Michigan

cargo holds full of lumber. Fifteen-year-old Minnie Quaymet a young man who worked on one of those ships andfell madly in love with him. Minnie's family owned a tavernin Forester and her mother did not approve of Minnie'srelationship with a sailor. Townspeople have said that hermother told Minnie she would rather see her dead thanmarry a sailor. Her mother would not allow Minnie to seethe man she loved, and she never said goodbye to him thelast time his ship left Forester.

A few days later word came back to Forester that the shiphad sank in a storm on the Great Lakes and all thecrewmen drowned. Minnie was devastated upon hearing thenews of her lovers death . About a week after on April 27,1876, her parents had to go on a trip, and left Minnie athome to watch her infant brother. While her brother laysleeping, she put on her white dress and walked out of herhouse. Passing the Tanner Inn, she waved to the people onthe porch who said hello. She continued walking to the endof the dock that stretched out into Lake Huron. The peopleat the Tanner Inn watched in horror when she jumped intothe frigid water without hesitation. An hour later her lifelessbody was pulled from the freezing cold water by men withgrappling hooks.

She was laid to rest in the Forester Township Cemeteryalong Lake Huron north of town. Many people say thatthey have seen a young woman in white roaming the

Lost In Michigan

beaches. It's believed to be Minnie's spirit waiting for hersailor to return back to Forester.

Michi-fact: The building the Tanner Inn occupied is stillstanding in Forester today. During Prohibition it was usedas a speakeasy.

Ithaca Fire Station and Monument

Location: 129 West Emerson Street, Ithaca, MI 48847

1

Lost In Michigan

Standing in the beautiful town of Ithaca is a historic brickfire station. You may notice the custom-made weather vanewith a metal firefighter climbing a ladder. Next to the firestation, you may notice the stone memorial but youprobably have never heard of the man that it memorializes.

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1874,Henry R. Pattengill became the superintendent of schoolsfor the rural community of St. Louis in central Michigan.He then became the superintendent of Ithaca Schools andlater president of the Gratiot County Teachers Association.He was passionate about rural children receiving a goodeducation and helped create many schools and libraries inthe farming towns of Michigan. Pattengill rose to the levelof Michigan's Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1893.During his four years in office he created programs for freetextbooks for students and certifications for teachers. Toshow support for his rural students when he visited cityschools he would ask the children to raise their hands ifthey knew how to milk a cow or harvest wheat. He ran forGovernor of Michigan in 1914, but lost the election. Hedied in 1918, leaving a legacy of educating all children in thestate of Michigan, no matter where they lived. In 1924, hisformer students in Ithaca wanted to show their appreciationand built a monument in his honor. His former studentsdonated 510 stones which came from twenty differentstates and twenty five Michigan counties.

2

Lost In Michigan

It's strange that I was not able to find much informationabout Mr Pattengill. There are a lot of memorials topoliticians and war heroes but not many to educators. If itwere not for the stone monument that was built by hispupils, I would have never known about Henry R.Pattengill.

Michi-Fact: Ithaca was originally called Gratiot Center forits location in Gratiot County. It was renamed in 1857 afterthe town of the same name in New York.

The Beer-Drinking Bear of Quanicassee

3

Lost In Michigan

Location: Old State Road near the Quanicassee River 48733

Standing in a field on Old State Road, nearthe Quanicassee River, is a monument of a

bear drinking from a bottle. If the monument could talk itwould have an interesting yet sad story to tell. FrankVanderbilt owned a hotel and resort in Quanicassee and asa way to attract visitors, he opened a small zoo. Sometimearound 1910 he purchased a bear cub for his little zoo andnamed her Jennie. He left her chained to a nearby treestump and the visitors to his resort would feed her treatsand candy.

One day someone gave her a bottle of beer and she gulpedit right down like a thirsty lumberjack! Not long after that,Frank began selling beer to tourists to give to the little bear.She would climb up to the top of the tree stump,open thebeer and drink it down. Her fame grew as word spread ofthe bear that enjoyed the frosty beverage and people camefrom all around Michigan to see Jennie. I wouldn't say lifewas good for Jennie, but she had her daily routine and theadmiration of visitors.

Everything changed in 1920 when

For the rest of the story books can bepurchased at www.LostInMichigan.net

4