Some
places, no matter how many times I drive by them, remain a mystery.
Yes, that familiar logo is for the Henry Ford Company.
In 1936, Henry Ford built a sawmill at this site, damming up the Plumbago Creek to form Plumbago Lake. Not sure where that name came from, but it led me down a rabbit hole. Plumbago is a kind of plant not found anywhere in the wild of Michigan; it only grows in warm climates. The flower does symbolize hope and good wishes, so that could be why someone named it that.
But the term also is an old-fashioned name for graphite. Again, I’m not sure what any of that has to do with this part of the UP. But my internet search did lead me to a waterfall along Plumbago Creek. Drat. I’ll never find that one.
But back to Henry Ford. I guess in parts of lower Michigan, he created sawmills and company towns around them, attempting to build ideal communities for the workers and their families. This one in the UP is one of his smallest.
He named it Alberta after the daughter of one of his superintendents.
Even though it says the gift shop and museum are open in the summer, I’ve never seen much activity in this little bit of a town, so we’ve never stopped.
As with so many of my travels, there is always next time.
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