The White Hurricane

The Great Storm of 1913

Date Visited:  August 3, 2019

Stop:  #35

We have heard a lot in my recent blogs about the Great Fires that hit this region of Michigan in the 1860’s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s.  But one of the most catastrophic natural phenomena to hit the area was the Great Storm of 1913.  This was the topic of the next historical maker on our quest as we set out from the Loop-Harrison House.  The marker is located on the east side of South Lakeshore Road (M-25) about 460 ft. north of E. Washington Road and about 1.5 miles south of the Loop-Harrison House.  It is located in a roadside park that overlooks Lake Huron. 

The Great Storm of 1913 is regarded by many as one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in the history of the United States.  It is known by other names – the White Hurricane, the Frozen Fury, and the Big Blow being among them.  All told, the storm killed more than 250 people, destroyed 19 ships, and stranded 19 others.  Financial losses for just the vessels alone exceeded $5,000,000 (over $123M in today’s dollars).  Winds gusts exceeded 100 mph in some parts, and were sustainable at over 70 mph for much of the region, creating waves that exceeded 35 feet in height.  For 16 straight hours, the area was pummeled by 70 mph winds – most November gales last no more than 4 hours.  It was accompanied by rain, ice, and blizzard-like snow conditions.

The storm was actually the convergence of 2 separate systems, one coming out of the north (an Alberta clipper), and one coming out of the southwest (a Colorado low).  When the two fronts collided over the warm water of the Great Lakes, it created an intense November gale.  The storm was first noticed on November 6 along the western shore of Lake Superior.  As the storm moved eastward and southward over the next couple of days, it grew in intensity.  By November 9, the storm was in full throttle, but not before several ship’s captains had made a fatal decision.

As November 9 dawned, the intensity of the storm had ebbed and there was a lull in the weather.  Thinking the worst of the storm was over, many ship’s captains decided to continue their respective runs before the shipping channels closed for the winter season.  What the captains did not know was that a low-pressure system coming out of the southeast was on a collision course with the original storm front.  By evening, the counter-clockwise winds of the low-pressure system fueled the winds already coming out of the north and created a meteorological “weather bomb.”  The southern portion of Lake Huron (below Alpena) was devastated by the wrath of this storm.  Ships already out on the water were blasted by the hurricane force winds and the accompanying 35-foot waves, with many rolling over and sinking.  Even those ships that decided to hug the shoreline could not escape the storm’s fury – many ran aground, while others rolled over and sunk as well.

By Monday morning, November 10, the storm had moved inland to London, Ontario.  It dumped 17 inches of additional snow on Cleveland, Ohio, and with the wind still howling, created 6-foot drifts throughout the city.  By Tuesday, November 11, with warm water from the Great Lakes no longer fueling the storm system, the Great Storm of 1913 petered out.  In its wake, 12 ships had sunk.  To this day, 3 of them have not been found - Leafield, Plymouth, and James Carruthers.  The most recent ship found was the Hydrus, located in 2015.  As I researched this storm, there were two images that left an indelible impression on me and exemplified the destructive nature of this storm:   one was of the Charles S. Price, floundering upside down on the southern end of Lake Huron, and the other was of dead sailors from the Wexford washed ashore on a beach near Goderich, Ontario.

The historical marker at this location commemorates this storm.  Lake Huron was the hardest hit of the 4 Great Lakes that were impacted by the storm.  All told, 8 ships sunk in Lake Huron, and all 178 sailors perished with them.  This sign serves as a reminder of how powerful, and how deadly, these storms can be.  Anyone who is not familiar with the Great Lakes often times cannot comprehend this (afterall, they’re LAKES, not OCEANS!!), but to the residents of Michigan and the other Great Lake states, the Great Storm of 1913 is still remembered and talked about to this day.

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

Lunch with Honest Abe

Loop-Harrison House

Date Visited:  August 3, 2019

Stop:  #34

Our Michigan Wines and Signs Quest has been a lot of fun, and as we continued our East Thumb loop on a perfect summer day, I was struck by the excitement of pleasant surprises that come with our adventures.  Whether it’s stumbling into exciting festivals [like our trip to Fenton when we stumbled into their River Fest (visit https://michiganwinesandsigns.blogspot.com/2019/10/deal-me-in.html )], or meeting amazing people [like the owners at Unwined (visit https://michiganwinesandsigns.blogspot.com/2019/09/a-need-to-relax-and-unwined.html ), or like our hostess at Hoffman Farms (visit https://michiganwinesandsigns.blogspot.com/2019/11/ )], there is always that element of the unknown that could await us at every stop we make.  Well, we were in for another unexpected surprise as we approached our next destination.  After we completed our visit to the Masonic and Town Hall, we drove about a half mile south on M-25 and pulled into a very packed parking lot at the Loop-Harrison House.  Scratching our collective heads, we wondered what could be bringing so many people to the site of a Michigan Historical Marker.

Port Sanilac hosts several events and festivals throughout the year, and unbeknownst to us, we had found ourselves in the midst of one of them – the annual Civil War Days.  The festival usually takes place during the first weekend in August, and involves Civil War exhibits, re-enactments, Civil War period dressed people, artillery demonstrations, marching and military drills for kids, and even a “Best Death” contest.  All of this was taking place at the Sanilac County Historic Village and Museum, a collection of more than a dozen historic buildings located on ten acres of the original Dr. Joseph Loop estate. Visiting here is like stepping back in time as you wander through the beautiful gardens and the Victorian, Edwardian, and vintage buildings and exhibits that are featured on the property.

The mansion, or the Loop-Harrison House, is the centerpiece of this property.  We found the historical marker near the main entrance to the parking lot sitting in a garden under a tree. 

Construction on the mansion started in 1872 by Dr. Joseph Loop.  It took 3 years to construct and was built in the Second Empire style, made of brick, and is 2 ½ stories tall.  The mansion contains nineteen rooms, including a doctor's office, library, and a third-floor ballroom.  It has a mansard roof, shuttered windows, and two prominent chimneys said to have been constructed by an Irish mason who just happened to wander past the construction and stopped to lend his talents.

Joseph Miller Loop was born in Elmira, New York, in 1814, and lived there until 1933.  He moved to Michigan in 1843, but not before spending some time in New Orleans, Wisconsin, and Illinois.  Loop married his first wife just before 1840, but she died about five years later.  In 1846, Loop married Jane Gardner.  By 1850, Loop was practicing medicine in Novi.  The Loops moved to Port Sanilac in 1854 and lived in a log cabin on what is now Lake Street.  He opened a medical office and became a horse-and-buggy physician.  Loop attended medical school at the University of Michigan, and graduated in 1855.  In 1862, the Loops constructed a clapboard house and moved out of their log cabin.  This house still stands today, directly east of the current mansion.

The Loops moved into the mansion in 1875 and lived there until their deaths (Jane in 1895 and Joseph in 1903.  The house passed to their daughter, Ada, and her husband, the Reverend Julius Harrison.  They had two sons (Stanley and Fred) and lived in the mansion until their deaths (Ada in 1925 and Julius in 1933).

Stanley was a Great Lakes shipping captain.  In 1964, he deeded the mansion and the surrounding property to the Sanilac County Historical Society to be used as a museum.  He lived in the mansion until his death in 1977.  After restoring the house, the Society has run the mansion as a museum ever since. 

Today, the museum is open from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend each Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11am until 5:00 pm.  Tours are offered each day with the last tour starting no later than 4:00 pm.  All other days of the year, tours are available by appointment.  I would recommend visiting their website at http://www.sanilaccountymuseum.org/ to learn all about this amazing place.

Again, we could have easily spent the rest of the day there enjoying the festivities and the history, but the call to continue our quest was too strong.  We walked around the front yard, walked up to the porch, found the entrance to Dr. Loop’s office (on the north side of the mansion), walked around the south side and wandered up to the tent under which attendees were eating lunch or seeking relief from the hot sun.  There were hundreds of people walking about enjoying the many activities going on.  We even saw Abraham Lincoln order lunch with Dr. Phineas Gurley from a food stand and sit amongst the common folk to enjoy the day’s featured fare.  Being a Civil War history buff, this was like heaven to me – it was so tempting to grab a bite to eat and go sit with Honest Abe and regale in the history of that era.  But we all had our sights on our next adventure and with a little prodding from Sarah and Kathy, I abandoned my dream of eating with fake Lincoln and we headed off in the direction of Lexington, Michigan.

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

Two For One

Masonic and Town Hall

Date Visited:  August 3, 2019

Stop:  #33

After getting our “Rock On” at the School of White Rock, we continued our journey southward on M-25 heading towards Port Sanilac.  The clock told us it was a few minutes after noon, so I immediately started doing the math in my head.  Let’s see; on the road for 2 hours, we have hit 4 historical marker sites, that leaves us with 13 more to see, and 5 wineries to visit (according to our original plan, laid out in our blog for Stop #29).  It did not look very promising that we would accomplish our plan.

Just as I was trying to figure out how we could salvage the plan, we approached a roadside park and scenic lookout.  So instead of passing it so we could keep any hope alive for hitting all our objectives for the day, we stopped instead to watch the big freighters on Lake Huron pass by.  One of my favorite childhood memories was taking a family drive on a warm Sunday afternoon out to Algonac and watch the great freighters sail up and down the St. Clair River.  Those memories flooded back as we stood at the wood fence along the overlook and watched 3 huge freighters out on the horizon.

 

This was the Four Mile Scenic Turnout, honoring Cary Rouse, and is located 8.3 miles south of White Rock at M-25 and Mills Road.  The scenery was beautiful, and I relished the opportunity to watch those big ships out on the lake, even though they were quite a distance out.  We spent about 15 minutes there taking pics, watching the ships, and just enjoying the perfect weather.  But it was time to get on the road so we continued heading south towards our next target, Port Sanilac.

Port Sanilac is another one of those beautiful historic towns that dot the shoreline along M-25 between Port Huron and Bay City.  It is located 19.8 miles south of White Rock and about 11.4 miles north of Lexington.  With a population of 584 (as of 2017), Port Sanilac is actually a village, and like many of the towns and villages in this area, its roots sprung from the lumber industry in the early 1800’s.  It originated as a lumberjack settlement and was known as Bark Shanty.  Through the late 1840’s and into the 1850’s, the settlement grew adding a sawmill, a schoolhouse, and a general store to the community.  In 1854, the first post office opened.  After shipping docks were built into the lake, Bark Shanty was renamed Port Sanilac in 1857.  According to local legend, Sanilac was the name of a Wyandotte Indian Chief.

In 1886, the Port Sanilac Lighthouse opened.  We have visited that lighthouse, but that was another quest in another time.  Offshore is the Sanilac Shores Underwater Preserve, which is a popular scuba diving area for exploring shipwrecks, many being the victims of the Great Storm of 1913.

The purpose of our stop in Port Sanilac was to visit the Masonic and Town Hall historical marker.  As we cruised into town, we blew right past it, mostly because the sign was obscured by a big old tree as we entered town from the north.  It is located on the east side of North Ridge Road (M-25) about 205 feet north of Main Street.  You cannot park on North Ridge Road, so we just parked in the parking lot behind the Dollar General store located across the street from the Masonic and Town Hall building.

The sign commemorates its namesake, a rectangular, two-story red-orange brick building sitting on a fieldstone foundation.  Masons started meeting in the area in 1866, and in 1868 the Sanilac Masonic Lodge was organized.  There were 15 members at that time.  Lodge members met in rented rooms in the area through the early 1880’s, and in 1883, they began discussing the possibility of building a new Lodge and sharing it with the township.  Christopher Odfield, a Mason, donated the land, and the cornerstone for the new building was laid on July 1, 1884.  Because of the many devastating fires that tore through the area during the preceding decades, the foundation of the building (constructed by the township) was built with three-foot thick walls to serve as a place of refuge in case of any future fires.  The building (constructed by the Masons) was completed and opened in 1885.  It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  The Masons no longer meet in this building.

Anxious to get back on the road, we took our requisite number of pics, including a couple of pics with Sarah being a goofball (see image below, lower left), then made our way back to our car.  We had another two markers to hit before we would get to our first winery (and some much-needed food), so time was a-wasting.  Onward!!!

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

School of Rock

White Rock School

Date Visited:  August 3, 2019

Stop:  #32

“In the words of AC/DC: We roll tonight... to the guitar bite... and for those about to rock... I salute you.”  Dewey Finn, School of Rock

We were rolling, alright, and the prospect of visiting a site called White Rock School had Sarah referring to it as our visit to the School of Rock.  White Rock, that is.  Our journey continued southward along M-25, heading to an area that, back in the day, was a bustling, vibrant community, but today . . . well, not so much.  White Rock, which is 9.9 miles south of Harbor Beach, is a tiny unincorporated community of Sherman Township at the mouth of White Rock Creek on the shore of Lake Huron.  The community is named for a large white boulder located offshore in Lake Huron.  This boulder (which was several times larger back then than it is now) was used as a boundary marker to define the territory ceded by the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi nations with the Treaty of Detroit in 1807.  Native Americans considered this rock as sacred ground and left offerings of food on it.  Today, it is barely visible as high-water levels, erosion, and lightning strikes have reduced its size and visibility. 

There are many stories about this rock, but one of the more popular ones describes the tale of a group of settlers who wanted to have a square dance on the rock.  They were warned by local Native Americans that the rock was sacred and they should not go forward with their plans.  Ignoring the warnings, two sets of settlers headed out to the rock by canoe.  All of them, except for one, who decided to heed the warnings of the Native Americans, unloaded and began their celebration.  All of a sudden, a bolt of lightning struck the rock and killed everyone on it.  The only survivor was the lone settler who did not ignore the warning offered by the Native Americans.

The first white settler to this area was Edward Petit, who established a trading post on nearby Shebeon Creek.  He later moved his trading post to White Rock.  By the mid-1830’s, White Rock was a thriving community as it became a fishing and lumbering port and commerce hub.  Maps from that period actually have this community named White Rock City.  In 1859, White Rock got its own post office.  However, for those of you who have been reading my blog, you will know that a catastrophic natural disaster took place in 1871 – the Great Fire of 1871 – and the village of White Rock was completely destroyed.  It was never rebuilt to the size it had been prior to the fire, and today, there are very few homes in the area and nothing much left to suggest that there was ever a “city” here.

As we approached White Rock, it became apparent that the coordinates we had were incorrect (again).  There was a faux lighthouse where the coordinates said a schoolhouse should be.  We drove a bit further south on M-25 but saw no schoolhouse.  So, we retraced our route back to White Rock Road and decided to turn and head west.  As we were driving, with all of us looking in every direction for any sign of a schoolhouse, I happened to notice a very small sign at the end of a driveway that said “White Rock School Museum.”  I’m being generous calling it a driveway – more of a horse-drawn cart path – but we turned left onto it and headed south.  The driveway ran along the eastern edge of a big open field, and tucked in the far back, just inside the treeline, was the school and several out-buildings.  The historical marker was at the end of the driveway, and it looked like it had seen better days.  It was listing severely to the right (as you are looking at it with the schoolhouse behind it) and much of the paint around the border had peeled off, but at least all the words were legible. 

This was actually the third schoolhouse built in White Rock.  The first schoolhouse was built after the Great Fire of 1871 only to be destroyed ten years later in the Great Fire of 1881.  The second schoolhouse burned to the ground in 1908.  The current building was constructed in 1909 and is made of brick and contains two rooms.  The historical marker tells us that 25 students attended class at that time, and the teacher was paid $40 per month.  Students continued to attend classes here until the school was closed in 1968.  The school was purchased several years later by the Huron County Historical Society and converted into a museum.  It is only open by appointment, and is set up to represent a typical school day in the year 1909.  The museum includes several artifacts and documents, some dating back to the early 1800’s.  We were not able to get in the building (since we did not have an appointment), but we could peek in through the many windows around the building and were able to snap off a few photographs of the inside.

We walked about the grounds for a bit and observed the many outbuildings around the school.  Without a guide of some sort, it was difficult to know what the purpose of each building was, but it was obvious which ones were the outhouses!!!  After Kathy got her requisite number of flower pics, we loaded up and prepared for our next adventure.  But I would be remiss if we did not end this visit with a prayer, from Dewey Finn:

“God of [White] Rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass. We are your humble servants. Please give us the power to blow people's minds with our high voltage rock. In your name we pray, Amen.”

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

The Leading Man of Harbor Beach

Frank Murphy

Date Visited:  August 3, 2019

Stop:  #31

Our Michigan Wines and Signs Tour, eastern Thumb loop, continued as we got back on M-25 after our Port Hope Chimney stop and headed south the 7.6 miles to Harbor Beach, where our next historical marker awaited.  Harbor Beach is a city set on the shores of Lake Huron with a population of 1,604 people (as of 2017).  It is best known for having the world's largest man-made fresh water harbor, and is also home to the Harbor Beach Light.  Like many villages, towns, and cities in this region, it owes its origin to the booming lumber industry of the early to mid-1800’s.

Two lumbermen, John Allen and Alanson Daggertt, settled in this area in the Spring of 1838 and built a water-powered sawmill.  They named the area, Allen’s Creek.  The settlement was renamed Barnettsville in 1855, and as it continued to grow, it was renamed again, this time to Sand Beach.  Sand Beach became the County Seat in 1859, and in 1860, the first courthouse was built.  When the courthouse burned to the ground during the fire of 1864, the County Seat was moved to Port Austin.  Despite the devastation caused by the fire, Sand Beach rebuilt and thrived and officially became a village in 1882.  There are differing opinions about how the name Harbor Beach came about – one story explains that the Sand Beach name gave people the impression that there was nothing but sand in the area so residents wanted a name that would dispel that belief, while the other story states that the name was changed after the Harbor of Refuge was completed.  They can’t even agree on the year of the name change – version #1 states 1899, while version #2 states 1898.  In any event, a petition was sent to Michigan’s Governor in 1899 requesting that the village be incorporated as a city, and the request was finally granted over 10 years later – April 4, 1910.

Harbor Beach was home to a few notable people – Dick Lange (MLB pitcher for the California Angels), James H. Lincoln (Detroit city councilman, Michigan judge, and author), and Louis J. Sebille (WWII and Korean War pilot, Medal of Honor recipient).  But its most famous personality was Frank Murphy, which just happened to be the topic of the historical marker we had set out to see.  The marker is located on the east side of South Huron Ave. (M-25), about 409 feet south of State St.  It stands just to the south of the J.F. Murphy Attorney at Law building.

The front side of the marker focuses on the political career of Frank Murphy.  Murphy was born in Harbor Beach (April 13, 1890) and was buried there after his death (July 19, 1949).  In between, Murphy held many prestigious political offices, including associate justice of the U.S Supreme Court, a judge in Detroit, the mayor of Detroit, U. S. governor-general in the Philippines, governor of Michigan, and attorney general of the United States.  He had important roles in several legal matters (with focus on civil liberties), and gained national attention for the way he handled a sit-down strike in 1937.  The backside of the historical marker provides a chronology of important dates in Murphy’s life.

There is so much more to learn about Frank Murphy. If the historical marker doesn’t quench your thirst for Frank Murphy trivia, then you can visit the Frank Murphy Memorial Museum, which is located just south of the marker. The museum is located in the home in which Murphy was born and is located at 142 S. Huron St. in Harbor Beach. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 22, 1971. As we walked up to the house, we were invited to join a walking tour, and if not for our aggressive schedule, probably would have jumped in. As it was, we spent a few minutes walking the grounds, and Kathy and Sarah stuck their heads into the little visitors’ center that sits between the museum and the J.F. Murphy Attorney at Law building. The whole area was a sign readers paradise as there were several historical signs scattered about the area. It was killing me to have to leave without reading them, so I made sure to take photos of several of the signs so I could read them at my leisure. Hopefully we can return to Harbor Beach and make a day of it and really soak in the history of this historic lakeside city.

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