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| Seney Stretch |
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| Seney lumberjacks |
Much of the
town of Seney was built up on 6 foot cedar posts because of the swampy land and
the depth of the snow. Logging was
conducted during the winter as it was easier to move the logs on sleds or with
big wheels because of the deep snow. The sleds and big wheels were pulled by
oxen, mules, or horses. The logs were
moved to the Fox River and piled up until the spring thaw and then they
traveled down the river to Manistique where they were sent to the saw-mills.
Much of this wood was used to build homes in the Midwest. Some wood was also
hauled to Grand Marais and sent to England. This boom lasted for about 15
years.
The quiet little village of Seney quickly became a roaring
lumber town of 3,000 and a raucous den of drink, gambling, and
prostitution. There were about 21
saloons, 10 hotels, a church, drug stores, meat markets, general merchandise
stores, a jewelry store, other businesses, and several hundred houses. During this boom time, Seney was plagued by
fires, and once the pines were logged off, the loggers and shopkeepers soon
went on to new camps. There were two major forest fires, in 1891 and 1895, but
Seney never totally burned to the ground.
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| Strangmoor Bog |
Part of the
Seney Stretch forms the northern border of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1935, this refuge is a managed
wetland. It has an area of 95,212 acres
where sandhill cranes, gray wolves, black-throated blue warblers, and many
other species make their home. The
wildlife refuge also contains the Strangmoor Bog National Natural Landmark
within its boundaries. Strangmoor Bog is
one of the most southern, undisturbed patterned or stringed bogs in the country
as a result of the underlying arrangement of sand knolls or extinct dunes on a
sloping sand plain. The National Park
Service warns that “National Natural Landmarks are not national parks, and many
sites are not open for visitation.”
The former boom
town has become a tiny village, trying to preserve it history for
visitors. The Seney Museum and Historic Railroad
Station gives visitors a hint of the 19th Century lumberjacking days. One room
is devoted to the tools of the lumber trade — peavees, cant hooks, two-man
crosscut saws, axes and the caulked boots of the men who rode the logs to the
mill. Some natural history of the Seney area is preserved in stuffed owls and a
stuffed beaver. With Seney’s past reputation for whiskey and
prostitutes, it is no surprise that the town had two jail cells that are now
part of the museum. There are photographs of the Grondin Hotel and some of the saloon
women.
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| Ernest Hemingway, 1918 |
After
returning from World War I, young Ernest Hemingway arrived at this train
station and fished in the Fox River for brook trout. He boasted that he had caught 200 trout in
the nearby streams, and he wrote about it in his short story "Big Two-Hearted
River". The museum has a room devoted to Hemingway,
and the wooden boat he used when he was fishing in the area.
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| sandhill crane in Seney Wildlife Refuge |
The railroad
station is as it was, although it has been moved across the street from where
it was. The Seney museum was created by
local volunteers, and town’s dwindling population can’t support enough
volunteers to keep regular hours. It
rarely draws as many as 25 visitors a year.
Visits are by appointment only.
info: Wikipedia.com
logging
info: http://www.exploringthenorth.com/seneymi/history.html
wildlife
webcam: http://www.mwhazecam.net/timelapse.aspx?site=SENEY
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