Story and photos by Kevin Howell
Three down and three to go, and it’s back to Ludington for the fourth Mason County Cultural Trail. For the last three editions, I and my faithful navigator Jean have been riding the roads in Mason County to explore cultural trails laid out by masoncountyculture.com. From maritime heritage to barn quilts, agriculture and eats, we’ve discovered history, heritage and culture in our new Michigan home.
Last trip, I embarked on the agricultural trail alone. Jean was sidelined with a stiff back and passed on the unplanned, extended excursion I ended up taking. In other words, I got lost.
Now, she’s back and directed me expertly to Iris Road, south of Ludington. We traveled through the rolling dune lands, past Historic White Pine Village, to the peninsula separating Pere Marquette Lake from Lake Michigan.
The old lumber ghost-town of Buttersville, on the peninsula, was a stop on our route that day. Buttersville is a former lumber boomtown that helped create lumber barons. The town prospered, until Michigan’s treasured white pines were diminished.
Partners Horace Butters and Richard Peters were two lumber barons whose names appear in connection to Buttersville and other lumber towns like Hamlin, Lincoln, and Tallman. According to both the maritime and lumber trail guides, Butters and Peters “were responsible for the biggest so-called ghost town” on Pere Marquette Lake – none other than Buttersville.
In 1873, because the peninsula was close to the timber, the partners set up mills there. They used the Pere Marquette to float logs to the mill and Lake Michigan, to ship lumber to market. By 1880, they bought the Foster and Filer Mill which became Buttersville. In 1909, the mill succumbed to fire and was not rebuilt.
Today, there is a Buttersville campground and park along Lake Michigan.
“Did you see that trash can marked for fish guts only?” Jean, always the one for unusual sightings, pointed out.
We also saw resort homes on a high dune overlooking both lakes and a towering cross marking the place where Jesuit priest and explorer Father (“Pere” in French) Marquette reportedly died. (See Freshwater Reporter, “Ludington or Frankfort? The Mystery of Father Marquette,” Nov. 14, 2019.)
From here, Jean led me back to Ludington where 10 impressive homes of former lumber barons are listed in the tour guide. This was going to be a quick scan for me. I love old architecture but can only handle a few homes at a time. We piled out of the truck and headed up the block on foot. There’s no real parking on upper Ludington Avenue, so it’s best to pick a side street and hoof it.
One of the most impressive homes is the Warren Cartier Mansion at 409 East Ludington Avenue. Currently a bed and breakfast, the home is touted as the “Grand Dame of architecture.” According to the guide, the house was built by Warren, son of lumber baron Antoine Cartier, and it includes a spacious main entry hall, five fireplaces, chandeliers, wood-beamed ceilings, and five bedrooms upstairs.
Down the street is the home of former businessman Daniel Webster Goodenough, an interesting name. I wanted to see what home was good enough for Goodenough.
As we strolled along, my navigator kept up a running commentary.
“That one is Antoine Cartier’s home; down there is the Ward home, he was the richest man in Michigan” – and more like that.
She also pointed out that Goodenough is pronounced Good-e-now. Still, the residence was definitely good enough. The 1888 Queen Anne Victorian home is described as having a “grand oak staircase, cosy inviting environment, a fireplace in the wall downstairs, tiled fireplaces in the bedrooms, stained glass windows, a library, and an octagon tower that is a defining structure.” Also notable is that presidential candidate William Jennings Bryant stayed in one of the bedrooms on several campaign visits to Ludington.
Time to move on … but first, lunch. Wanting to restock my favorite craft beer supply, we headed to Ludington Bay Brewing and decided to eat a quick bite. The crab rangoon pizza was tasty and left plenty for another meal.
Next on our tour: a quick stop at Lakeside Cemetery on North Lakeshore Drive.
We passed by Goodenough’s tomb, impressive at one time, but through the barred door to his monument we saw debris on the floor and broken windows. It’s still impressive.
Goodenough started as a clerk in a general store and eventually owned one of his own in Hartford, Michigan, before moving to Ludington in 1872. He owned a store in Ludington until fire wiped it out in 1875. Goodenough launched a business manufacturing railroad ties and stripped bark for leather tanning industries.
Butters and other Mason county figures are also buried at Lakeview.
Heading home, we followed the trail past Lincoln Lake – remember the Village of Lincoln – just north of the cemetery, then through remains of the hamlet of Hamlin on Lake Hamlin, and east passing through the village of Tallman near Tallman Lake, where a reminder of its past as a lumber town is on a street sign, Butters Street.
Stay tuned for our adventures on the next cultural trail.
