Haunted Locations in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

We had a lot of fun chasing haunted locations in Wisconsin. Time to expand the search to the UP of MI. This is a fun motorcycle tag project that gives riders a place to go for some fun.

Visit the locations and take a few pictures. Post the pix and some haunted stories about the locations in this thread for all to enjoy. The idea here is to relate the scary lore, not try to debunk ghost stories. Let's have some fun with it!

While you are out and about, knock off some railroad structures as well.

The GPX can be downloaded here or from my catalog on another site.

Red icons on waypoints means you will have to search a little to pinpoint the exact location. Blue means these sites have not been photographed yet. Green means they are shot but may not have been reported yet.



Downloaded 774 times from prior private site.

By County:

Gogebic
Powers Road Overlook Cannonshot

Ontanagon
Paulding Light Cannonshot

Baraga
Assinins Cannonshot
Thomas Ford Bungalow in Pelkie Cannonshot
Perch River Bridge near Sidnaw Cannonshot
Highway Near Alberta Cannonshot

Houghton
Kitchie Cemetery near Sidnaw Cannonshot
Finlandia University Cannonshot
Calumet Theater Cannonshot

Keweenaw
Lake Breeze Resort Cannonshot
Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Cannonshot

Iron
Iron Lake Cannonshot
Mansfield Mine Cannonshot

Dickinson
Pine Mountain Rd near Kingsford Cannonshot

Menominee
Fernwood Cemetery near Gladstone

Marquette
Big Bay Lighthouse Cannonshot
Old Town Negaunee Cannonshot
Morgan Heights Sanatorium Cannonshot
Abandoned Cemetery near 553 and Pioneer Ave Cannonshot
Old City Orphanage Cannonshot
Shamrock Pub Cannonshot
Landmark Inn Cannonshot
Forest Roberts Theater Cannonshot
Thomas Fine Arts Cannonshot
Jamrich Hall Cannonshot
Halverson Hall Cannonshot

Delta
Fayette Cannonshot
House of Ludington Cannonshot
Boniface Theater Cannonshot
Delft Theater Cannonshot
Railroad Roundhouse Cannonshot

Schoolcraft
Seul Choix Lighthouse Cannonshot
Jolly Inn Germfask Cannonshot

Alger County
Grand Island Cannonshot
Au Train Cemetery Cannonshot

Luce
Angel Lake
Newberry Cemetery Cannonshot

Chippewa
Sheldrake Cannonshot
Point Iroquois Lighthouse Cannonshot
Corps of Engineers Park Cannonshot
Valley Camp Cannonshot
Engineer Story Cannonshot
Whitefish Point Cannonshot

Mackinac
Mackinac Bridge Cannonshot
Mackinac Straits Cannonshot
Bois Blanc Island
North Side Slaughter Mack Isl
Stone Point Cottage
Post Cemetery
Staircase & Cave
Rifle Range Road
Mission Point
Mission House
Grand Hotel Cannonshot
St Cloud Dormitory
Bogan Lane
Fort Mackinac
Marquette Park
Tiki Campground St Ignace

Assinins Orphanage, Baraga County

This was once a Catholic orphanage. People have seen apparitions of kids, nuns, and priests. They also encountered objects dropping or moving without explanation along with unexplained sounds in the buildings. Some buildings date back to the early 1800s.

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, Keweenaw County

A Coast Guard light keeper stationed here in the 1970s reported strange happenings here. Lights would turn on and off on their own. The keeper experienced the sounds of heavy footsteps and moving furniture on the second floor. He also encountered the sight of a faceless man in a plaid flannel shirt.

Calumet Theater, Houghton County

The Calumet Theater started up around 1900. At the time it was a remarkable theater - even better than what was found downstate in Detroit.

The theater is haunted by the ghost of Madame Helena Modjeska who was once a renowned actress in Shakespearean and tragic roles. The ghost first appeared in 1958 when actress Adysse Lane claimed Madame Modjeska appeared to her during a performance when Lane forgot her lines. Since then all kinds of unexplainable happenings have occurred. People feel coldness from nowhere and have heard unexplained music.

Mansfield Mine, Iron County

The mine caved in here and drowned 27 miners. People who live nearby report hearing screaming and noises like someone striking a rock with a pick. Apparitions can be seen in and around the water where the river ran into the mine. Lights of mining helmets are seen benanth the surface of the water.

Iron ore was discovered here so they ran a rail spur up from Crystal Falls and got a mine going. The mine was going well. They were down about 425 feet and had six side shafts. I think 125 miners were employed here.

One of the side shafts ran under this river. The top level was only 35 feet below the river. On September 28, 1893, the shaft caved in under the river and the river flooded the mine. The cave in caused a downdraft that blew out candles and lanterns in the mine. The miners made a break for it but got caught in a torrent of water pouring into the mine.


Five made it out by scrambling up ladders. Twenty seven died. A look at the names gives some hints as to immigrant miners.


Eventually they re-routed the river and got back in business. The mine closed in 1913 and logging and farming took over. The mine eventually got down to 1517 feet and produced 1.5 million tons of ore that was shipped by rail to Escanaba on Lake Michigan.

This ghost town once had 2 stores, a boardinghouse, a school, a church, and three saloons.


As if they didn't have enough trouble, a year after the cave-in a devastating forest fire came through that burned up the stuff on the east bank including some mining works.


The church, on the unburned west bank, has since been restored and is a great building.














Some cabins left to rot.




This homestead has been reasonably maintained and all of the buildings seem to be in great shape.


I am surprised that televison antenna lasted that long though.

Big Bay Lighthouse, Marquette County

George Prior, the original keeper of the Big Bay Point Lighthouse, is said to haunt the building after his suicide in the woods nearby the present day bed and breakfast. Prior moved to Big Bay in the late 1890s, arriving at the new Big Bay Point light by boat with this family. A few months later, his son took a fall down a set of stairs, sustaining injuries that were beyond the reach of what local hospital could help with. When his son died a few days later, Prior decided to take his own life, doing so just a few hundred yards from the lighthouse, which is now said to be haunted by his anguished ghost.

Paulding Light, Ontanagon County



This thing has been on TV, has a web site dedicated to it, and is the subject of some You Tube videos showing strange lights. In fact, some show offered a big reward to anyone that could "explain" it.

If you look to the north from this spot, you'll see strange lights start to appear at dusk.


Here are a couple of web photos.

Finlandia University, Houghton County

In the 102 year history of the house it has been a hospital, hotel, doctor's office, and a frat house. Someone fell off a fire escape 20-30 years ago and died. Now people wake up with unexplained bruises on their bodies after hearing noises of someone on the fire escape when no one was there. Faucets and lights turn on and off by themselves. Doors open and close by themselves. Someone's dog will not go into a room but will instead stand outside the door watching something or someone move about the room when no one is there. There have also been apparitions of miners in the house. The basement once served as a morgue. People experience unexplained temperature changes there.

Seul Choix Lighthouse, Schoolcraft County

Considered to be Michigan’s haunted lighthouse, and one of the most haunted locations in the area of the Great Lakes, the Seul Choix Lighthouse remains to be an interest point among paranormal investigators everywhere.

Throughout history, it has been established that over two dozen ships have wrecked in the waters just below where the lighthouse stands. Of those tragedies, an estimated five hundred individuals lost their lives.

There are many stories that surround this supposedly haunted lighthouse. Many of them include a lighthouse keeper that served the structure from the year of 1902 to the year of 1910. In 1910, it is said that he passed away while in the bedroom that is located upstairs. His name was Joseph Willie Townsend. He and his wife resided in the house while he watched over the lighthouse in life. He was known to enjoy smoking cigars in life. Unfortunately, his wife was not a huge fan of the smell and smoke associated with the cigars and informed him that he could not smoke them in the house. However, one of the paranormal experiences that many have had is encountering the smell of burning cigars within the structure while unable to determine a rational cause for this. It is believed that Townsend purposely smokes in the house in the afterlife as his wife cannot forbid it now.

Several years after Townsend passed away, a number of individuals went down to the basement of the haunted lighthouse. They discovered several pieces that formed together to create a large kitchen table. The pieces were assembled so that the table would be whole again. Since the table has been reassembled, there have been many eyewitness accounts to strange and unusual occurrences. Examples of these occurrences include the chairs that belong with the table being moved and rearranged, utensils such as forks and knives, being moved and laid in specific ways. It is believed that Mr. Townsend has everything to do with this as the forks, specifically, are often laid with the tines in the down position – a way that Mr. Townsend was known to lay his fork before and after use.

Many individuals have witnessed what they believe to be the ghost of Joseph Townsend. One particular story documents an individual associated with an alarm company. The owners of the haunted lighthouse decided that they would like an alarm installed in order to ensure that trespassers and other individuals remained outside of the structure when they were not authorized. A man came in, and did measurements and an inspection. He left the lighthouse, locking the door behind him. While sitting in his vehicle, working with the numbers on an estimate, he happened to look up and saw a man staring back at him that he knew was not in the lighthouse when he locked it up. Needless to say, that inspector never revisited the structure.

Seul Choix lighthouse. 78 foot tower (96 steps). They started building it in 1892. The Coasties gave it up in 1973. Still runs a NAVAID beacon visible for 17 miles. Seul Choix means something like "only choice". Some French explorers had to duck into this cove when they got caught in a big storm - it was their only choice.





The keepers quarters are nicely restored.



At one time three families lived here in the one house.



Eventually they split the house into a duplex and converted a stable to a third house making things better for everyone assigned there.







Climbing up the lighthouse. There are a couple of hatches to negotiate.



Modern LED NAVAID. Reliable. Less power required. Solar.











Not so handy going down. Narrow steps, low ceiling, handrails for short people.

Just got the Book "A Ghostly Road Tour of Michigan's Upper Peninsula" so I'll be adding some more waypoints to the GPX and places to the roster.

Highway Near Alberta Baraga County

Two teachers were traveling this road at night. Mile after mile of blackness with no oncoming traffic. All of a sudden light started to flicker in the trees. At first glance, they thought they were passing a house with lights set back in the woods. Soon they realized that dozens of lights, like flashlights, appeared on both sides of the road and the lights were racing to keep up with them. Soon the lights surrounded them and they could no longer see the road. They had to stop. They locked their doors and were terrified by the lights around them. Suddenly the lights disappeared. In terror the driver pulled U-turn and headed in the other direction. The lights then appeared in the middle of the road causing him to slam on the brakes and stop. He pulled another U-turn and raced back in the other direction. Driving at night in this area may not be the best choice for some.


One of Henry Ford's old sawmill camps is nearby at Alberta.

House of Ludington (Escanaba), Delta County

The place made headlines about a decade ago when a guest captured a grainy nighttime video of an apparition in the hotel’s basement. It could be a previous owner, a disgruntled former guest, or a pissed off former employee. Probably a good idea to stay out of the basement.





See if you can see any heads protruding through the door.

Fayette Ghost Town, Delta County

The town is empty now. Lots of people died here when it was active. Some believe their ghosts inhabit the grounds. One paranormal investigator says this is one of the ten most haunted places in west Michigan.

Fayette was once a smelting town. When operations closed out it was abandoned. Eventually the state got it and now it is a fabulous park. It was expensive to ship ore south to be processed. The idea was to smelt it here and then just ship the iron.



Ore from up around Negaunee was hauled to Escanaba by train. Then it was loaded on ships and brought here. This site had plenty of limestone and wood for charcoal to they could smelt the ore to get pig iron.



The place smelted from 1867 to 1891. This is back when they were first setting up.



About 500 people lived here. In and out was by boat. They had local rail to haul wood and stone.



When operating, this place was sooty, smelly, and noisy. You couldn't hang wash out to dry because the air was so dirty. Managers homes were located away from the worst of it.



There was one water point for the people that lived here. If you look down this grate, the pipe is still there.



Nice harbor.



Smelter. You mix measured amounts of charcoal and limestone. Add some forced air in the furnace and the iron melts away. Impurities combine with the limestone flux (forming slag) which is skimmed off the surface.







Kiln for making charcoal. There were a lot of these on the peninsula. Many were operated by contractors. They were always worried about running out of fuel.







The molten iron was tapped away into channels in the sand floor of these casting rooms. The iron flowed in forms that looked like pigs lined up to suckle a sow. This is where the term "pig iron" comes from. After the iron cooled, it was removed for shipment.





Company store. It burned in 1920.





Eventually this became a hotel.





Butcher shop.





This place had a two-story outhouse attached.



Barber shop.





When the place shut down it emptied out quickly and turned into a ghost town. Some turned to farming.



Tourist time. The hotel remained open after the place closed in 1891 lasting all the way to WWII.



Paymaster's office. During the 1880s, the average monthly payroll was just under $6,000 for 153 employees. Master mechanics made $75 per month. Machinists made $1.80 per day. Others made something less, perhaps $1.60 per day.



One problem for the work force was that if you didn't work, you didn't get paid. Sometimes shortages of raw materials or breakdowns put people out of work. Some months people only worked 11 days.



Superintendent's office.



Company housing was pretty typical. Lots of people crammed into small cabins.



The ingredients required to smelt iron.



What is produced as a result.



Interesting array of hand tools that people used on the site.

Grand Island, Alger County

Grand Island is said to be some kind of sacred place for aboriginals. It is surrounded by shipwrecks from people trying to safely make it into the bay during storms. Indians kicked missionaries off the island years ago because they believed the missionaries caused a part of the island to sink driving the spirit away from that spot. They thought if the missionaries remained, the whole island would sink. A couple that was camping on the island a few years ago encountered a man dressed in deer hides carrying a musket. He passed through their campsite and seemed to look right through the people before vanishing. As he passed, a cold gush of air moved with him. These people were pretty rattled and headed out. Later the place went deathly still. Two Indians in ancient garb appeared on the edge of the woods along with the guy with the musket. They squatted and gestured toward the couple as they spoke. The two Indians then walked directly toward the couple and vanished right in front of them. Suddenly the musket man appeared right in front of them. He stared into their eyes. The air grew ice cold. "Go" he commanded. "Go and leave this place to those it belongs to. He then faded into thin air. As the couple quickly un-assed the island, a park ranger asked why they were cutting their stay short. They told the story. The ranger said, "So you ran into the ghost of John Murray, did you? Others have as well."

Sheldrake, Chippewa County

People here don't like to talk about the hauntings. There were once over 1,500 people here and over 150 buildings. There are about a dozen left today. Some fires destroyed the town over the years. Many boat accidents in the area.

One of the spirits is that of an old sea captain who has been reported standing on the dock. He has a pipe and a cape and he is usually seen from the lake. As the boats approach the shore, he fades away and disappears.

One house in the town, the Palmer House, is said to have lights that appear in the windows when no one is present and the window shades often go up and down on their own. The Hopkins House is another place where ghosts are reported. In this house, a glowing phantom has been seen walking the place at night. The Smith House is haunted by the ghost of a former logger with a heavy beard and overalls who is sometimes seen sitting on the furniture or standing in doorways.

The Biehl House, which belongs to the family who owns the manufacturing plant and most of Sheldrake, have become the most used to ghosts on the premises. In this house, a number of people have reported seeing a woman in a blue veil walking past or standing near them.

Voices are also heard here, pictures fall off the walls and faucets turn on by themselves. If anything, the ghosts of Sheldrake seem to be a benevolent sort and are perhaps just residual images of the past or at the worst, a few lingering residents from the town that existed many years ago.

Whitefish Point was settled in 1871 and this was the post office. Mail came by boat three times a week during the summer. In winter, dog teams hauled the mail twice a month. This post office went under in 1973.

Here is a new story about the Old City Orphanage in Marquette.

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/The-Orphanage-Part-2---The-Future-388309632.html

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/The-Orphanage---Part-1-The-Past-388196152.html