Confusion Reigns Supreme

Fenton House

Date Visited:  June 23, 2019

Stop:  #11

We left the Fenton Winery and Brewery with a full belly and our 4 bottles of wine.  Our next destination was supposed to be another winery, the Seven Lakes Vineyard & Winery, which was about 3.4 miles southeast of the Fenton Winery.  However, much to our disappointment, Seven Lakes was closed.  In fact, it looked like it had not been open for business for quite some time.  We never did find out the story behind that – the website, which consists of only one page, said that it should have been open from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm on Sunday – so we turned around, found our way back to Fenton Road, and continued south into Fenton in search of our next historical marker. 

Our target was the Fenton House.  We had programed the coordinates from the website I use into our Google maps app, and those coordinates led us to a building that looked brand new and much more modern than what would have been expected.  Just in case, we walked completely around the building, which was a large multi-business retail building, in search of the marker, to no avail.  This, as we would later find out time and again, was a common happenstance.  The coordinates published in the website I use for my master map are often times incorrect.  Intuitively, we went on line and Googled Fenton House, and it showed that we needed to go about 0.2 miles further south.  That didn’t seem right either, so upon closer examination of the Google page, we noticed that the Fenton House that came up was a small restaurant and did not match the description of what I had previously read.  Looking up and down North Leroy Street, we noticed a building about a block north of us that fit the description of the building we were seeking.  So, we set off on foot, and sure enough, we found what we were looking for.  The building is now called The Fenton Hotel, which explained why Google took us to the restaurant instead of this location.  So much confusion just to find one, simple building!!!

The Fenton Hotel is located on the northeast corner of North Leroy Street and Main Street, across from the old grain elevator, which is now home to Red Fox Outfitters.  The marker itself is attached to the west facing wall of the Fenton Hotel, a few feet north of the main entrance.  The marker provides a brief history of the building, which was constructed soon after the railroad reached town in 1855.  The interior was very opulent, something uncommon for a location so far from a large city, and became a popular place for weary travelers to grab a drink, a meal, and even a good night’s sleep.  The Fenton House has passed through several owners and several name changes over the past 150 years, and it has the distinction of being one of the oldest continuous operating hotels in the state.  A complete history of the building can be found at http://fentonhotel.com/new-page-1.  I especially got a kick out of the story involving a team of runaway horses that destroyed the original porches on the second and third floors in 1904.  The second and third floor porches were never replaced, however, the Fenton Hotel did add a relatively new seating area where you can drink and/or dine outside. 

We had a very aggressive schedule, so as much as we wanted to go inside and explore, we decided we needed to get on to our next destination.  We could see it from the Fenton House, and with the weather being absolutely perfect, decided to enjoy a nice walk down North Leroy Street.  Read our next blog to find out what our next destination
is!!!

#michiganwinesandsigns #michigan #history #michiganhistory #wine #michiganwine #winetasting #historyisbetterwithwine