Exploring America State by State

Monthly Archives: February 2024

America’s Smallest Chapel

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I have seen many small wayside chapels in my travels but this one in Georgia is said to be the smallest chapel in America.  Christ’s Chapel in Memory Park  sits along US Highway 17 near the bridge over the South Newport River and the town of South Newport.  The little church was constructed in 1949 by local grocer Anges Harper. She wanted the chapel to serve as a place of meditation and rest for weary travelers. The stained glass windows were imported from England and local ministers still hold a nondenominational service at the chapel once a month.

In 2015 an arsonist set fire to the little chapel. Local residents donated money and building supplies to rebuild the badly burned church. It was rebuilt and is once again welcoming travelers. I am not sure if it is officially the smallest chapel in the US but it is a cute little church and a wonderful place to stop while traveling along Georgia’s coastline.

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The Haunted Michigan Ghost Town of Shelldrake

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Whitefish Point sticks out into Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The town of Shelldrake, named after a duck common in the area, is a ghost town at the mouth of the Shelldrake River on Whitefish Point. By the late 1890s, Shelldrake had a sawmill, houses for workers that were equipped with bathrooms, a hospital, a school house, a post office, and an icehouse that could store enough meat to feed a population of 1,000 through the winter months.

There are stories of the area being haunted by an old sea captain who stands on the dock near Shelldrake. He has a pipe and a cape, and he is usually seen from the lake. As boats approach the shore, he fades away and disappears. The tugboat Grace, which was towing a barge in October of 1879 through Whitefish Bay was headed for Goulais Bay in Canada. During a storm in the early morning, the tugboat broke down and drifted onto a sand bar about 200 feet offshore from Shelldrake. The tug filled with water and broke to pieces. The crew made it to shore, and after climbing the bank to safety the captain proclaimed, “Thank God, we are all safe.” and then suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack. This may be the captain’s ghost that has been seen on the docks.

Please note that Shelldrake is privately owned and not accessible to the public.

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The Clifton Mill

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In the heart of the Miami Valley in Ohio is the small town of Clifton. It is mostly known for the historic mill powered by the Little Miami River. Along with the mill, the town has many other old buildings and an interesting history. The river flowing for eons has cut through the earth, making a natural gorge and a perfect location for water powered mills. Col. Robert Patterson, an ancestor of the founder of National Cash Register in Dayton, John Patterson, chose the Little Miami River for the site of his woolen mill. It furnished material for the American army during the War of 1812. Soon after, five other mills sprang up along the river, including a woolen mill, saw mill, paper mill, barrel mill and a grist mill (used for grinding grains).

In 1802, Revolutionary War soldier and frontiersman Owen Davis built the first mill in the Clifton Gorge. The village around the mills became known as Davis Mills. When the village was platted in the 1830s and given a post office, it was named Clifton for the surrounding cliffs in the gorge. The mill that Owen Davis built over two centuries ago is the Clifton Mill that still stands today and is one of the oldest mills in the United States. Clifton has many historic buildings, including an old blacksmith shop, service station and opera house that is still used by the community for public functions.

A wooden covered bridge crosses over the Little Miami River and is used as a pedestrian bridge. It was built in the 1990s to resemble bridges of the past. The Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve and John Bryan State Park are nearby and offer a chance to experience the natural surroundings of the gorge. The mill is privately owned and still grinds grain, using water power. Tours are available to see how it operates. It also has a restaurant and gift shop for visitors to get a bite to eat or take home a reminder of their visit. During the Christmas season, the old mill is decorated with four million lights and attracts visitors from far away to see the dazzling display. In 2021, it took third place on the USA Today’s list of the ten best holiday displays.

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The Kansas City Castle

Posted on by Posted in Haunted, Houses, Kansas Leave a comment

Standing proudly in Kansas City, Kansas, Sauer Castle isn’t your typical Midwestern abode. This Italianate masterpiece, built between 1871 and 1873, boasts a rich history and architectural grandeur. Designed by renowned architect Asa Beebe Cross for Austrian immigrant Anton Sauer, the castle was a symbol of his success and love for his wife, Francesca. They raised their family within its ornate walls, leaving a legacy that continues to fascinate today.

However, time has not been kind to Sauer Castle. After the Sauer family moved on, the castle changed hands several times, facing neglect and decay. Whispers of paranormal activity added to its mystique, attracting ghost hunters and urban explorers. Thankfully, a recent partnership between the owner and a construction executive offers hope for the future. Restoration efforts are underway, aiming to transform the castle into a vibrant community space for events and gatherings.

Whether you’re drawn to its historical significance, architectural beauty, or even its rumored hauntings, Sauer Castle remains a captivating landmark in Kansas City. Its ongoing restoration promises to breathe new life into this once-neglected gem, ensuring its legacy continues to inspire and intrigue for generations to come.

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The Carhartt Ruins

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The ruins of an old mansion stand in the woods along a mountain bike path in northern South Carolina. The town of Rock Hill, South Carolina is south of Charlotte, North Carolina. A century ago it was a booming textile town and was the reason why this mansion was built. It was constructed in 1930s by Hamilton Carhartt. He founded Carhartt in 1889 in Dearborn, Michigan. The company grew rapidly and became the leading supplier in work wear.

Hamilton decided to build a home in Rock Hill because the company had a cotton mill in the town. Shortly after the opulent mansion was finished Hamilton and his wife were killed in an automobile accident in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. In the depths of the Great Depression the mansion was abandoned and left to decay. The stone and concrete work are all that remains of the once wonderful home.

The ruins sit on public property and can be accessed from the mountain bike trail or the Riverwalk along the Catawba River.

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The Watseka Wonder

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At the north end of Watseka, Illinois is a large brick two-story home. It looks like an ordinary midwestern house, but a story from its past makes people wonder what secrets the walls contain. In 1877, Mary Lurancy Vennum was born near the town of Watseka. At the age of thirteen, she had trouble sleeping at night, telling her family that she heard voices calling to her. She started having seizures and psychotic episodes, claiming to be possessed by someone else’s spirit. Her relatives told the family to have her admitted to an asylum for treatment. Instead, her parents took her to see E. W. Stevens, a local renowned spiritualist.

According to Stevens, Vennum’s body was taken over by other spirits. She spoke in different voices and became several different people, including an old woman named Katrina Hogan and a young man named Willie Canning. Eventually, she became possessed by the spirit of Mary Roff, who had died twelve years earlier. Mary Roff’s parents lived in the home that stands on the north side of town and after meeting with Vennum, they were convinced she was possessed by their daughter’s spirit. They invited Vennum to live with them, and after staying at the Roff home for several weeks, Mary’s spirit eventually left and Vennum returned to her normal self. She later married and moved to California, living a long life.

E. W. Stevens wrote a book titled The Watseka Wonder about the ordeal. C. W. Raymond came to own the house after the Roffs. He served as a federal judge in the Oklahoma territory, and after his death in 1939, Raymond’s step-daughter Katharine Clifton inherited the house. She owned several farms in the region and built a runway behind the house so she could fly an airplane around to view the status of the crops. Currently the home is owned by John Whitman, who restored it to its original condition. It is used for private events and rented to guests on Airbnb.

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The Two Story Outhouse

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Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “as dumb as a two-story outhouse.” Among the trees, in Cedar Lake, in central Michigan, is a tall historic two-story wooden outhouse. It is a replica of an historic outhouse that sat on the property but had collapsed a few years ago due to decay and neglect.

The original two-story privy and house were built by William Nelson, a wealthy lumber baron who had seven daughters. The girls lived upstairs and the lower part of the home served as Mr. Nelson’s office and a general store that was frequented by lumberjacks. The lumber baron wanted to keep his daughters separated from the men so he built the outhouse with a bridge (which collapsed in the 50s) to the second floor of the home.

The outhouse had four different size holes to match four different size derrieres. The holes on the top are off-set from the holes on the bottom. A wooden panel behind the bottom set of holes separates the waste from the occupants at the bottom, giving a whole new meaning to the term “poop chute”

It is funny to see the new outhouse standing with an upper door and floor but if you know the history of it, the unique privy makes sense.

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A Tombstone for a Town

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Elkinsville Road winds its way deep into the Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana. Near the end of the road you will find an old barn and a stone marker for “The Town That Was”. It stands like a tombstone for the town of Elkinsville. The town was founded in 1860 by William Elkin. The rural farming village survived in the beautiful remote wilderness for about a century. It never grew into a large city, but it did have several houses along with a church, school, blacksmith and a post office. As the population of Bloomington grew, it was necessary to have a large source of drinking water.

In the 1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to dam the Salt Creek and create Lake Monroe water reservoir. They determined that the town of Elkinsville would be in the floodplain and be underwater. In 1964, the government, using eminent domain, acquired the private property belonging to the citizens and businesses of Elkinsville. Most of the houses and buildings were moved or demolished before the reservoir was created.

When Lake Monroe was created and the water stopped rising, the land where the town of Elkinsville remained above water. The elevation of the town had been miscalculated, and it was not necessary to disband the town, but by then it was too late, and the town had already been removed from the Indiana forest. In 2003, the former residents raised enough funds to erect a stone to remember the town. On it is a poem: “That day we moved, we’ll never forget, as goodbyes were said and the sun set. Never again in these hills we’ll roam, but in our hearts this is always home.”

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