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IMAGES
From
Nostalgiaville |
NOTE: A Click of your Mouse on most of the pictures will enlarge them for better viewing
| I left Nashville at about 12:00 on Friday August 28, 1998. |  |
Stopped about 6:00 PM in Peru, Indiana at the Honey Bear Hollow Campground |  |
| Left Honey Bear Hollow Campground about 9:00 and headed for Ludington, Michigan. Found Joel taking a nap in his van beside the road. Our first order of business was to check into the Tamarack Campground. We decided to take a short bicycle ride |  |
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The campground was clean and well managed. Boat docks on canals leading to Hamlin Lake were abundant. |
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We bicycled about 6 miles and visited North Bayou Campground where Joel had docked his boat. |
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| After the short bicycle ride, we drove the Tracker into Ludington. We ate a great dinner at Gibbs Restaurant and went back to the park to watch shuffleboard. |  |
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| We walked to the lighthouse from the park and watched a glorious sunset |  |
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Historical records revealed different poses for the famous lighthouse. |  |
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| The sunset on this day was overpowering. We caught a barge and tug passing by the sun and into the bay, |
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Click on pictures to enlarge |
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| And... one more reflections on the sunset |  |
Left the campground early with Joel for a bicycle trip into Ludington. Our travels took us through town and along the waterfront. We covered over 20 miles before the ride ended back at the campground. |
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| The Park Club | First Presbyterian Church |
Click on pictures to enlarge |
HISTORICAL
TIME LINE |
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My main focus on this day was to develop a historical knowledge base for exploring Ludington, Michigan. The first stop was at the library for research, followed by a bicycle/picture trip through the town. |
| 1675 | First white man to visit area was Father Jacques Marquette who came ashore to an area that was later named Buttersville in May 1675 |  |
Cross erected in memory of area founder, Pere Jacques Marquette | Mason County named after Steven T Mason, first governor
of Michigan. Mason was the last territorial governor |
1835 |
Second explorer was a trapper named William Quevillon in 1835 | 1845 |
Aaron Burr Caswell became Mason County's first permanent settler in 1845 |
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1847 |
Post office established in the hollow of a tree 1847 | The first village in county was Pere Marquette |  |
1859 |
| James Ludington came to area in 1859. Ludington bought timber rights and set up sawmills. |
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Hamlin Lake Dam. First dam was built 1859. Washed out 1887. |
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St John's Lutheran Church completed 1859 | Population
of Mason County |
1864 |
Formal post office established with David Melendy first postmaster, 1864 | 1865 |
| Miss Sarah Helendy taught first school in 1865 | 1869 |
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"Luther-Foster" Home built 1869 | 1872 |
County seat moved from Lincoln to Ludington 1872 |
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First Methodist Church established in 1872. Building erected 1895. |
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1873 |
Ludington incorporated 1873 | 1874 |
| Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad came to city 1874 | 1876 |
There were 12 sawmills around city in 1876 |  |
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1881 |
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67 buildings destroyed by fire in 1881 | 1883 |  |
| Ludington City Hall built 1883. Torn down 1949 |
1885 |
Salt became a major commodity 1885 |
1888 |
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| Hamlin Lake Dam. Second dam built 1888. Washed out 1912. | 1891 |
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1893 |
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1897 |
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A car ferry established 1897 |  |
1898 |
| "Butter" Home built 1898 |
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Early Ludington, looking west. James Street was first paved street. Pavement was from cedar blocks. |  |
1901 |
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Ludington State Bank Building erected 1901 |  |
1906 |
| "Stark" Home built 1906 |  |
Warren A Cartier Home built 1906 |  |
1912 |
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Construction of Hamlin Lake Dam was in 1912 | 1917 |
Last lumber mill closed 1917 | 1934 |
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Ludington Main Street 1934 | 1940 |
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Ludington Main Street 1940 | 1944 |
Dow Chemical built magnesium plant in 1942 | 1970's |
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Ludington Pumped Storage Plant built 1970's | More Historic Homes in Ludington |
| Latimer House |
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More Ludington... the old, the new... the scenic, and the fun. |  |
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| The weather was close to perfect during our stay in Ludington... in the mid to high 70's during the day and 50's at night. There was a touch of fall in the air and a few trees were beginning to show color |
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One part of our ride took us to a scenic area on the Lincoln River before it entered Lake Michigan |
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After relaxing on the dock for awhile, we ventured out on Hamlin Lake and did a little fishing before dark. We watched an interesting sunset before ending the day. |
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The night was full of good energy and we even caught a couple of largemouth bass. |  |
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Joel had caught 3 really nice largemouth bass in the morning, so we feasted on bass, potatoes, and green beans. |  |
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| Another unforgettable sunset ended a near perfect day in paradise. |  |
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About noon we met and did a 30 mile bicycle trip from the campground to Ludington State Park along Lake Michigan. |
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After a cool dip in Lake Michigan, we bicycled up to Hamlin Lake Dam |  |
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Another interesting side excursion in the park brought me to Skyline Trail. After a long climb, the trail lead along the crest of the high dunes fronting Lake Michigan. |
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We finished the day with a super meal at Scotty's topped off with ice cream from the House of Flavors. A two mile walk took us out to the pier to watch waves pound the lighthouse |
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Click on pictures to enlarge |
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