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By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
The Mason County Historical Society held its inaugural Ghost Tour Saturday, June 1. Over 80 people on two buses explored the remnants of the Manistee & Grand Rapids Railroad (later the Michigan East & West Railroad), that ran from the mid-1890s to about 1920 on a route starting in Manistee and ending in Osceola County. The train travelled through Mason County’s Free Soil, Meade and Sheridan townships.
Read more here about the railroad’s history.
Mark Fedder of the Manistee Historical Museum talks about the Michigan East & West Railroad train depot on Water Street in Manistee.
The event was a fundraiser for the Historical Society, a non-profit organization. It was sponsored by Filer Credit Union.
The tour began on Water Street in Manistee, the location a depot that was built in 1913 where Mark Fedder, executive director of the Manistee Historical Museum spoke about the history of the depot and the beginnings of the railroad. The buses then travelled along parts of the railroad route through Manistee, stopping at Filer Credit Union’s main office on 28th Street in Oak Hill.
There, they were visited by Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell, one of the investors of the railroad and one of Manistee’s greatest philanthropists. The re-enactment of Ramsdell was played by Jeremy Engwall.
The bus tour then travelled through Filer City and then headed south into Mason County. “Conductors” Mike Hankwitz and Rob Alway pointed out areas along the route where remnants of the railroad can still be seen.
The next stop was at the Bruce and Sue Hasenbank farm on Schoenherr Road in Meade Township. The tour participants were greeted by Wilhehm and Johanna Hasenbank who came to Free Soil Township in the 1880s, shortly before the railroad was completed. The Hasenbanks settled along what is now Schoenherr Road. Their descendants continue to own the original farmstead and many other plots of land throughout Free Soil and Meade townships.
The characters were played by Melanie and Jason Hargreaves. Melanie is the great-great granddaughter of Wilhehm and Johanna.
The tour ended at Sherman Township Hall in Fountain. During dinner, James Jensen, president of the Mason County Historical Society, spoke about the lumber industry in Mason County, with an emphasis on the impact in northeastern Mason County.
The Mason County Historical Society operates three facilities: Historic White Pine Village in Pere Marquette Township, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington and the Mason County Research Center at 130 E. Ludington Ave. in downtown Ludington.
It will host more events during the Love Ludington weekend on June 8 and 9. Read more here.
Melanie and Jason Hargreaves played the parts of Wilhehm and Johanna Hasenbank, Melanie’s great-great grandparents.
Jeremy Engwall played the part of T.J. Ramsdell.
James Jensen discussed the lumber industry in Mason County.
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