All That's Left Standing

Port Hope Chimney

Date Visited:  August 3, 2019

Stop:  #30

As we left St. Mary’s Church and headed east on Kinde Road, I was really excited about our next stop.  We were going to Port Hope to see a chimney!!! A chimney, you say? What is so exciting about a chimney?  And why, of all things, would a chimney get an historical marker? Of course, I jest about the level of my excitement, but the questions are good questions.  And, surprisingly, this was not our first visit to the Port Hope Chimney. I “Hope” to be able to answer the questions above, and also fill you in on why we have been here before, in the paragraphs to follow.

Port Hope is a village with a population of 251 people (as of 2017) on the shores of Lake Huron, approximately 14.5 miles due east of Kinde, Michigan.  In its heyday, it was the center of the lumbering industry in the Thumb region of Michigan. However, two catastrophic fires over a 10-year period ended that distinction, and Port Hope had to turn to other industries in order to survive.

Before all that drama unfolded, the first parcel of land in this region was purchased by William Stafford and Reuben Dimond in 1851.  Stafford purchased an additional 40 acres with William Southard a few years later – parcels of land that had been set aside by the government as pensions for the veterans of the War of 1812.  Southard journeyed to this area by schooner, but with a storm fast approaching, he was let off the ship some distance from shore and had to battle the elements and a stiff wind while rowing to land.  It is said that during this challenge, he vowed that if he made it safely to shore, he would name the area Port Hope.

Fortunately, Mr. Southard made it to shore, and by 1858, William Stafford and other settlers had established a thriving lumbering community complete with a dock for shipping and mills for processing the lumber.  The chimney for one of these mills, the one still standing and was the target of our visit, was built by John Geltz. The first fire to hit the area happened in 1871. As devastating as that fire was, the lumbering industry and Port Hope were able to rebound and thrive for another decade.  However, the great fire of 1881 was catastrophic as every tree succumbed to the inferno. The chimney is the only reminder of the industry that once dominated this region of Michigan and serves now as a monument to the pioneers that developed the area.

Obviously, Port Hope did not die with the fire of 1881.  The pioneers turned to farming as their main industry, and William Stafford responded by building a flour mill, a grain elevator, and a new dock.  In 1887, Port Hope was incorporated, and the first railroad reached here in 1903. Today, it is a quaint little town that includes Stafford County Park (used for recreation and camping), a marina, and 11 historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

We spent quite a bit of time here since it felt so great being out in the sun.  We took lots of pictures of the area, with both Sarah and I vying to get the money shot – the most artistic image of the chimney.  I gave her the win as her pic (below right-hand corner) was my favorite of the 21 pics we took.

Oh, I mentioned we had been here once before.  As it turns out, we had stopped here years ago when we were on one of our original quests – to visit every lighthouse in the state of Michigan.  As we were making the loop around the thumb, the sight of this tall structure standing all alone along the shoreline intrigued us because from a distance, it looks like a lighthouse, but our map did not show that a lighthouse was in this area.  So, naturally, we had to stop and check it out. Thus, our first visit.

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