This is the bridge at the north end of the Muskegon Log Booming Company pond on December 21, 2007.
There is a state historical marker on the other side of this pond that makes for very interesting reading. It says that…
Muskegon was the largest center of lumbering on Lower Michigan’s west coast. From the 1850s to the 1890s an immense amount of timber was floated to this port down the Muskegon River and its tributaries.
In 1864 the Muskegon Booming Company was formed to sort the logs and raft them to the mills. Here at the upper end of Muskegon Lake was the great storage boom where the logs, each identified by its owner’s log mark, were sorted into pens as fast as they floated in. They were then chained together into rafts which were towed to the mills by the company’s tugboats.
In thirty years the company delivered over ten billion board feet of logs.
Duck Lake State Park, June 2, 2007
Behind the train depot in downtown Muskegon on Christmas morning in 2006.
Muskegon Union Station was built by Chicago & West Michigan and the Muskegon, Grand Rapids & Indiana in 1895. C & WM became part of Pere Marquette. Muskegon, GR & I followed its parent into the Pennsylvania.
The depot remained in service as a passenger station until 1970, when Amtrak took over passenger train service on the C&O, and the Muskegon-Holland train was discontinued.
Grand Avenue, December 9, 2006
Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center in downtown Muskegon on October 14, 2006
MAREC was developed as a direct response to the growing need for alternative and renewable energy sources. The mission of MAREC is to be an international destination point for researchers and businesses developing alternative energy technologies and applications. In addition, the Center will be a leading resource for education and instruction on alternative energy.
The initial spark for the development of MAREC came in 1999 when a group of Grand Valley State University faculty and Muskegon business people conceived the idea of a research and development facility focused on alternative energy. Subsequent partnerships between the business, community, and private sectors resulted in groundbreaking for the Center in late 2002, with the facility opening its doors in November 2003.
The full moon over Lake Michigan just south of the White Lake channel.
Nero and I left early that morning to check out the moon shadows. Unfortunately, about five minutes after shooting this picture, Nero decided he should also check out one of the local skunks.
The rest of our walk was just as smelly as it was beautiful.