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The presumed isolation of land made it valuable and picturesque, but the isolation of people has the opposite effect. Eventually, we found the guy who wrote the book about the Huron Mountain Club. [2] The research facility at Ives Lake was started in the 1960s, after it passed from a member family's hands into Club ownership. He said the Model T had the gas tank in the rear, and when the car was pointed forward up a steep incline, the gravity-fed gas could not get up to the motor. The Huron Mountain Club is a private club whose land holdings in Marquette County, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, constitute one of the largest tracts of primeval forest in the Great Lakes region. 1950s when the portion of US-41 and M-28 from Huron Mountain is a private club on a contiguous tract of woodland located within the Huron Mountains region of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 30 miles northwest of the city of Marquette. Jacob leads a small crew of friends out to the Northwestern Road for a long loop of a hike that includes Cedar Falls, Cliff Falls, and some HMC lands. From Co Rd 502/Midway Rd just off US-41/M-28 northwesterly Although Henry Ford was a big supporter of government road building, there was one government highway that Henry literally stopped dead in its tracks so he could gain membership to a private club. Alberta, Wikimedia by rossograph - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Avoidable Contact #121: In which a Radical is rescued, and raced, and crashed. So, as 17-year-old boys, we lost our nerve.". He and Edsel Ford did become members of the Au Sable Trout and Game Club, better known locally as the Dam Four Club, as it was located where the former logging dam, known as Dam 4 was situated on the North Branch of the Au Sable River, says Rob Burg, director of the Lovells Historical Museums. Michigan was a perfect area to test drive many of his new vehicles. [1] You can hear more of our conversation with Archer Mayor here, and you can listen to more of Randy Annala's story about trying to get into the club here. The Interstate Highway System today has 46,876 miles of roadway, within 10 percent of Charles Davis proposed National Highways system. According to Burroughs account, Ford also served as chief mechanic for the Vagabonds, fixing any machinery that needed repair. Well, it all started when Elizabeth Lindau posed this question to our MI Curious project: "Can I get into the Huron Mountain Club? Escanaba and Gwinn to Neguanee, where it was now severed from the remaining Finally, the Michigan Attorney General issued an opinion that said that if two-thirds of the property over which a road would pass was owned by people who opposed the road, that would be sufficient to overcome eminent domain and the road would be blocked. The original charter limited membership to 50 partners. While the towns 20 businesses are thriving, the bank closed down. Some feel the Act is meant for struggling farmers, while others feel it is intended for land protection no matter . lists M-35 as being a two-segment, discontinuous highway supporting the The table, which comfortably accommodates the party, is in two sections with a revolving center stand, so that any of them at the table may turn it around to get any food desired.. Edge Effects is a digital magazine about environmental issues produced by graduate students at the Center for Culture, History, and Environment (CHE), a research center within the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of WisconsinMadison. The Steel Bridge survived a catastrophic flood in May 2003 when a dam upstream burst. In 1919, the State Highway Department designated a new trunkline routegiven the M-35 route numberto run northwesterly from the Negaunee area through the Huron Mountains Formed circa 1890, the club consists of 50 dwellings clustered inside about 20,000 acres of private land, encompassing the Huron Mountains area. By 1910, the state of Michigan required residents to register their vehicles and display license plates. Code Of Ethics Policy | According to tax documents, members paid $1,803,055 in dues in 2015. Finally, as teenagers, they made an attempt to sneak in. We started off by reaching out to current club members and to folks who have connections to the club. Wildlife sightings can be excellent as the states largest moose herd roams here, which in turn has attracted predators like the elusive gray wolf. is complicated. The increased number of people using their personal automobiles for leisure travel was another group that wanted better roads. about four decades, a group of wealthy investors from nearby Marquette After over a century, with a few small exceptions, the only people who have been inside the Huron Mountain Club have been members, their guests, and employees of the club. Today, the club is comparatively un-fancy. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. This belief is possible first because Indigenous people were forcibly removed. Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company didnt just own thousands of acres of land in southeastern Michigan. 13. It looked like this: Credit Elizabeth Lindau / In fact, only one generally passible road through the area exists As it happened, the push for good roads did nome come from automakers or motorists, but rather bicyclists. It was exclusive then and its not cheap to belong today. That the state of Michigan would take the extraordinary step of granting that power to a private person shows the extent of Henry Fords political and economic might. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Upper Peninsula is also not very large and its surrounded on three sides by Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan. On this date- Rock and roll legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P.Richardson are killed in a plane crash in 1959, at Clear Lake, Iowa, often called as the The Day on which Music Died. Hes lived about 30 miles south of the Huron Mountain Club for his entire life. A lot of the clubs mystery comes from its notorious reluctance to talk to the press. Go about four miles. The areas preservation wasnt the result of happy accident. I hadnt expected to be so drawn to these small wonders, and joined mycology graduate students Savannah and Denny in trying to identify the mushrooms we collected. The factory also produced almost all of its own furniture, including all of the tables and chairs in the company lunchroom. Instead of backing the Lincoln Highway, Ford was a supporter of Charles Henry Davis National Highways Association, founded in 1911 with the slogan Good Roads Everywhere. Subscribe for emails announcing new content: Edge Effects 2023. Updated October 12, 2019. travel log from April 18, 2009. The Clublands include unpaved roads to access a network of interior lakes and streams as well as trails to other points of interest. "You had to travel almost to Big Bay, and there was a little cabin with a phone on a table. The Huron Mountain Club, a private club reported to encompass somewhere between 10,000 to 20,0000 acres, does not dispute that fact. 8 myths about renting you should stop believing immediately, 6 ways home buyers mess up getting a mortgage, 6 reasons you should never buy or sell a home without an agent, Difference between agent, broker & Realtor, Real estate agents reveal the toughest home buyers they've ever met, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Terrain: Bluff, Combination, High, Rolling. The former M-35, now County Rd 510, still skirts the Huron Mountains, and the still very private and secluded Huron Mountain Club is still only accessible by some of the gnarliest roads in the state. The project site is on land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in relation to the operation of the . One hunting and fishing preserve. 10. There was speculation hed develop a major summer resort or game preserve there. Unlike the National Park system, which was founded at nearly the same time as the HMC and which conserved land for public enjoyment and appreciation, the HMC was always private, exclusive, and elite. middle, thus completing the route. During one noted trip there, Ford was harkened to assist another fisherman who was having car trouble. So, I hasten to add that one shouldn't imagine that this is some clownish group of billionaires, self-indulging themselves in playing crap tables at night.". region represents one of the most extensive and best preserved tracts of prime- val forest in the state. The insularity of land makes it beautiful, desirable. Burroughs taught the campers about nature and Edison took plant samples, looking for sap-producing plants that might be used to make rubber. approach the mountains from both directions, eventually meeting in the This old logging road also follows the southern edge of the Huron Mountain Club property, offering plenty of possible routes for trespassing. around the state on both peninsulas. That route, utilizing Triple A (AAA), Ford, Northwestern and Erick Roads, provides That's right near the Douglass Houghton Falls.Curtis said he's always wondered how, The Huron Mountain Club: The first 100 years, Judge: Oxford Schools, staff immune from shooting lawsuits, Flint launching new public notification system, Winter storm brings thundersnow, airport closure, and more power outages, New effort to expand MI low-income tax credit introduced in Lansing, Michigan lawmakers introduce legislation to ban life sentences for those 18 and under, Medical historian: The pandemic's not over, and COVID-19 is still a deadly disease, Gov. The Steel Bridge is now closed to vehicular traffic, but remains opens for pedestrians and non-motorized transportation. There are many opportunities up here at the club. Wood was used for body frames, wheel spokes, firewalls, dashboards, component housings, and the crates for all the parts. The cancellation of all of M-35 between Negaunee-Marquette and L'Anse The club is expensive to run, and the dues match. Perhaps, say, the Vagabonds expeditions were actually an important part of a publicity campaign to promote more government road construction? Approximately 25 miles north of US-41/M-28 at its intersection with Triple A (AAA) Rd, Their next trip was delayed by the war, but in 1918 Ford was able to join them, with an even larger entourage, and the four men started going on annual camping trips to mountains and wilderness areas in the eastern United States. The Stonehouse on Ives Lake in Michigans Upper Peninsula. Huron Mountain is a private club on a contiguous tract of woodland located within the Huron Mountains region of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 30 miles northwest of the city of Marquette. Originally, the membership at large voted on admissions and four no votes meant rejection. along the Keweenaw Bay shoreline to L'Anse. 11. 550 North; proceed straight for about 24 miles, When in Bay Bay, turn left in front of the Thunder Bay Hotel (Sign is a large ships wheel); follow the road around a curve to the right; go past the cemetery on the left. The group spent the week circling around two questions: When is knowledge proprietary? from US-41/M-28 (between He started it as a simple "shooting and fishing club," and had to work to drum up enough memberships to run the place. While that may or may not be a legend, but at least one academic paper says that Interstate overpasses were indeed specified high enough to allow trucks carrying missiles underneath them. The 1919 trip had a caravan of 50 vehicles, including two said to be customized at Fords personal direction, a kitchen car with a stove fired by gasoline and built-in icebox, and a White truck with storage for tents, cots, chairs, and even the electric lights used at the campsites that were powered by a generator that Edison made. The author steeps in Ives Lake. Day 4. Kaye is an alumnus of Michigan Tech's environmental engineering program. He was twice president of banks and helped organize the Huron Mountain Club located on 10,000 acres of lakefront property about forty miles across the water from Marquette. 906 345-9323, Conflict of Interest Policy | That year, Ford and naturalist John Burroughs decided to join Thomas Edison at the inventors winter home in Ft. Myers, Florida. though the Huron Mountains. His efforts against the road project must have impressed the club, as they eventually made him a full member. Huron Mountain Club Rd, Big Bay, MI 49808 41.3acre lot41.3 acre lot Ask an agent Property DetailsPrice & Tax HistorySchoolsNeighborhoodEnvironmental Risk Back Search Michigan Marquette Big. He proposed that the money would come from car and automotive accessory companies donating 1 percent of their revenue to pay for materials with communities along the route paying for construction equipment. Your email address will not be published. This condition was only temporary, perhaps due to Those were followed by Great Lakes steamers and railroads that transported families to their northern cottages for summer respite. Burroughs found Ford and Edison to be intelligent and entertaining companions. It is listed on the state and national historic registers and is the only public fishing lodge in the state to hold such status. In the Yellow Dog River area he purchased land and began the construction of another club in 1898. The middle of the routethe We know that Ford liked to chop wood because, savvy about publicity and eager to shape his public image, he made sure to have teams from the Ford Motion Picture Laboratories and Ford Photographic Department to record the camping trips for posterity and not so incidentally create free content for newspapers and theater operators. route was to be a full-blown state highway. Most of those dirt roads were rutted and bumpy when dry and often impassable when wet. Henry Ford loved exploring the outdoors and was always seeking adventure, says Robert Kreipke corporate historian for Ford Motor Company. isolated area and bring another highway closer to a stretch of Great Lakes Buying land in Fullerton. Drivers education wouldnt be required for years to come. Beginning around the 1880s, the Huron Mountains became the wilderness retreat of choice for several millionaire industrialists. Though Ford was unable to join them, the three men set out on a two week trek to the Adirondack Mountains, roughing it with a staff of a cook and five servants. shoreline. Unfortunately for the Lincoln Highway Association, the one industrialist whose support would likely have guaranteed its success, Henry Ford, did not believe private funding would be sufficient for the countrys highway needs. Later, he would invest in some swampland in Florida and turn it into Miami Beach. Its over 1,000 square miles where the terrain rises to rugged hills and even mountains. Known now as Fullers North Branch Outing Club, the Prairie and Victorian-style lodge is one of the few remaining historic fly fishing resorts in the state open to the public. In the 1930s the State Highway Department began a program Naubinway and St Ignace and US-23 between The club has definitely purchased more land in the last 10 years. access to the constructed portions of the proposed M-35 route. Photo by Andrew Thomas, September 2017. The Club's existence spans more than 125 years, and many members are direct descendants of the Club's founders. Visitors now frequent Big Bay for its Huron Mountains access, Lake Superior harbor, Lake Independence fishing, and unique lodgings. A portion of the area is controlled by a private organi- zation, the Hluron Mountain Club, which has owned property here since 1889. Whats the tallest waterfall in Michigan? This configuration, where M-35 ran concurrently with US-41 from Baraga to Rockland was redesignated as M-38 and the concurrent portion of 3. He started describing it to us, and that rich families belonged, and it was private, and it was exclusive, he said. Traveling no longer was limited to the rich and famous; it was open to the everyman. Founded in the 1890s by wealthy white Midwest outdoor enthusiasts qua enviro-capitalists, the HMC sits on more than 8,000 hectares of old-growth hardwood forest. routings were built, such as US-2 between Among the early residents to be licensed was none other than Henry Ford, who was 56 at the time. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. The Club Office is about 50 yards on the left. Today, the Huron Mountain Club consists of 50 primary members and 100 associate members who have access to the private and heavily guarded hunting and fishing resort facility. When Michigans state trunklines were first laid out and built in the nineteen teens, highway planners deliberately avoided running them along the Great Lakes shorelines, likely for winter driving safety. Project Information OC Parks is planning to construct, operate, and maintain the Craig Park Bike Facility, a 9.7-acre mountain bike skills course facility for all ages and abilities. "We had heard legends about these gigantic waterfalls and caves and deep spring-fed lakes and fish that were in those lakes that had been there since the beginning of time," he said. of the Huron Mountain Club, but since the membership roster was full, Ford Automakers, tire companies, and their customers werent the only people interested in better roads. author in September 1999, November 2003 and September 2015 showed much evidence that the The value of this collaborative endeavor increases as higher education becomes more privatized and politically vulnerablesomething not lightly felt in the state of Wisconsin, where I work. One of the NHAs first projects was publishing a map of its proposed system of National Highways, a 50,000 mile network of roads that Davis characterized as a broad and comprehensive system of National Highways, built, owned, and maintained by the National Government. The association cited defense and military purposes to promote its system of national highways, presaging one of the Eisenhower administrations rationales for starting the Interstate Highway system in the 1950s. of determining shoreline routings for much of the Great Lakes coastline Since 1955, the Ives Lake Field Station has been maintained by the Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation. The reason for all this, of course, is and was moneyhow to pay for all this? "I met a bunch of people who really see the club not as "something to do on the weekend," but as a cause. We found one copy at the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library. The place is considerably pared down from its excessive glory years of the roaring 20's. There is still not a single paved road today within the 1000 square mile area. Dont expect marked and maintained hiking trails. "Well, on the back road then when we got there, lo and behold there was this blasted big gate that had all these warning signs, 'Warning: Huron Mountain Club'," he said. at Pequaming, one of his company towns in Baraga Co on the Keweenaw Bay. Ford had his favorite architect, Albert Kahn, design a white pine log cabin on club property that cost as much as $100,000 to build in 1929, which works out to more than a million dollars today. I had a small troop with me today as I headed down past L'Anse and Skanee. Crushed and steam-rolled gravel roads between cities were rare and asphalt and concrete roads were almost nonexistent outside of cities. for minor backroads and two-tracks in remote country. Insularity favors stasis, a myth itself because people, cultures, ideas, ecosystems are mobile, and transgressive, even if for varying and violent reasons. line of the proposed M-35 from the 1920s and 30s, not even a two-track The club limited membership to only 50 primary challenging parts of the route, it could be assumed the State Highway Department decided to 131, Ford Motion Picture Laboratories and Ford Photographic Department. of Negaunee. While Ford and Edison are still household names today, it should be pointed out that conservationist Burroughs was one of the best-selling authors in his day, with his books selling millions of copies, and was almost as famous as the other two men. Dismayed by Burroughs essays, in a bit of personal lobbying, Ford sent the writer a Model T as a gift hoping to persuade him that the personal automobile made it possible for people to visit and enjoy nature. Because no members of the club would talk to us, this information is all sourced from other news articles, the club's tax returns, plat maps, excerpts from the now out-of-print book The Huron Mountain Club: The first 100 years, and a very gracious interview given by its author, Archer Mayor (who we should mention has also written a best-selling 28-book series of crime novels). Though locals grumble about the lack of access to the property, the Huron Mountain Club has proved to be an exceptional steward of the land. Today it remains in pristine wilderness condition: remote, undeveloped, and largely unused. Within its boundaries lie towering virgin pines, blue ribbon trout streams, and pristine lakes. He also bought the Imperial Mine and opened the Blueberry Mine near Ishpeming to supply his foundries with iron ore. On Thursday, August 23, 1923, the newspaper reported the Ford party had made its way to LAnse in Baraga County, where Ford owned a sawmill, dock facilities, 30,000 acres of timber and other facilities. (The Spring 1938 official highway map and the They were frequently joined by family members and a variety of notables like President Warren G. Harding. During World War II, the factory produced military gliders. Co Rd 510 turns northeasterly toward Big Bay and the former M-35 route Firestone and Edison camped in the writers apple orchard and though the aging Burroughs initially preferred the comforts of his home, he was persuaded to join the other men by what he described as their Waldorf Astoria on wheels-level cuisine. Huron Mountain Club We are inholders, not members. if some rock cuts into the side of a hill were made for this highway as the Huron Mountains, transporting logs to his mills at Alberta. While this 19-mile long The roaring twenties were the years of excess. For all that work, though, Henry didnt even get to enjoy his membership in the Huron Mountain Club for very long. Henry Ford grew up on a farm and had a great love of the outdoors, which he advocating accessing by means of the automobile. 13 things we learned about the Huron Mountain Club. Lest you think that the Kingsford mill was a small lumberyard, it was a large industrial operation, including a body shop that assembled Ford woody station wagon bodies. Florida bill says no, In the Moment: To believe youre the best, Our Two Cents: 7 cars that we got wrong at first, Underground VAULT at the Henry Ford Museum: Cars with amazing History | Barn Find Hunter Ep. Want updates when Huron Mountain Club has new . In 1921, the MSHD erected this 271-foot At each stop, the staff would set up a large round table, with seating for 20 and a giant, built-in Lazy Susan to pass the food around such a large gathering. By 1927, the State had completed the initial work along the route of M-35route grading and installation of drainage structuresall the way to the Salmon Trout River on the southeast edge of the Huron Mountains. Member cabins, along with a clubhouse and support buildings, are clustered at the mouth of the Pine River on Lake Superior. Ford had massive land holdings in Michigans Upper Peninsula, more than a half million acres of pine and hardwoods he needed to produce the wood used to produce his cars. If any club members are reading this -- we know two people named Elizabeth and Randy who would love to come for dinner! More recently, residents joke about how the local bank, well aware of the towns volatile economy, was loath to loan money to town businessesan overly conservative stance that proved to be the banks undoing. Due to his assistance There seems to have been some grumbling that the publicity was hampering their privacy, and Edison took to guiding the Vagabonds on back roads when crowds started to gather to watch them drive through towns. But the Huron Mountain Club says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to sign off too. Club members continued with the tradition of dress-up dinner at the clubhouse until at least 1986, when Mayor was working on the book. Whistle Blower Policy, Driving from Marquette to the Club's main office. is two-lane gravel-surfaced. "We wanted the courage to get out and talk to them and say 'hello' and like, 'hey, mind if we just drive through,' which Im sure the answer is clearly no," Lindau said. And I think that explains in large part how the club has been able to survive for as long as it has, because these people are, and I think quite rightfully, devoted to something they have really created of their own.". The Huron Mountain Club stretches along Lake Superior, encompassing over 13,000 acres of ancient forest, deep glacial lakes, and rugged peaks. About This Home Proceed about 5 miles (on County Road KK) to the end of the paved road and the Huron Mountain Club gate. Sloan Jr., John D. Rockefeller Jr., Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and the yet-to-be-published author, Ernest Hemingway, during the early part of the 21st century. And in the 1930s the HMC was an important stop for Aldo Leopold whose report on the Club helped put into practice his theories of land management driven by a conservationist ethic. According to MDOT, 35 continues for approximately four miles, with the quality of the road decreasing gradually over that distance. Kingsford, developed charcoal briquettes from wood waste. From the top of Bald Mountain the morning light gave our surroundings a very much different aspect when we awoke to a perfectly crisp autumn daybreak. This new trunkline would A compass and topographic map are absolute necessities. Today, it's more than 20,000 acres -- thats equal to about eight Mackinac Islands. "One of them was Henry Ford's and it's big enough to put two of my houses [in it], but they're called cabins nevertheless.". Ford and Lincoln vehicles, as well as heavier trucks, were customized to carry the Vagabonds gear. Negaunee and Marquette) to US-41 at The schedule planned for completion in time for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, to be held in San Francisco, the western terminus of the Highway, whose other end started in New York City. The answer would be a simple "not unless you're rich and have some strong connections with other wealthy people. US-2 along the north shore of Lake Michigan and US-23 on the Lake Huron shore were early examples. Directly or indirectly, the Vagabonds shaped public opinion about many things, including the famous participants image as regular folks, the practicality of the automobile for long-distance travel, and the need for better roads. In the U.P., Ford had sawmills in Alberta (most recently a lumbering museum operated by Michigan Tech University), and Kingsford, near Iron Mountain, where the mill manager, E.G. Dinner was a formal affair (and might still be). Via GPS Huron Mountain Club, 4700 N. County Road KK, Big Bay, MI 49808. It was likely they were welcomed with a homecooked meal prepared for them by Mrs. Douglas. Henry made sure the campers were refreshed with Poland Spring water he had shipped from Maine, and Edsel, then 21 years old, recorded the trip on his camera. Deep within the most pristine wildeness of the Upper Peninsula is an exclusive club that few are allowed into. Ford believed in vertical integration and was heavily invested in the U.P. When gaining membership in the Huron Mountain ClubFord purchased additional Members feared that the new road would expose the wilderness to harm, and maybe they also thought that a resort hotel nearby might make their own holdings less exclusive. Still somewhat secretive today, the Huron Mountain Club is a private reserve occupying about 20,000 acres of timberland and lakes in the Huron Mountains, a small chain that rises to about 2000 feet on the east side of Keewenaw Bay, part of Lake Superior. Lovells Historical Museumlovellsmuseum.com, Marquette Regional Historical Centermarquettehistory.org, Ford Bungalowmichigan.org/property/the-henry-ford-bungalow, Ford Center, Albertamtu.edu/forest/fordcenter, Michigamme Historical Museummichigammetownship.com/michigamme-museum. through the Yellow Dog Plains to the south of the main Huron Mountain range. membership. For more information, visit gilmorecarmuseum.org. The different textures and smells of our finds were enchanting: witches butter (Tremella mesenterica), trumpets of death, blue stain fungus (Chlorociboria aeruginascens). The only way you can become a member is by being voted in by current members after one has resigned or died. nice grade with long, sweeping curvesthe type one would find on