Port Oneida Rural Historic District celebrates northern Michigan’s agricultural heritage

Port Oneida resembled a ghost town when we visited one recent winter morning to wander around the spooky and dilapidated Weaver Farm.

Snow crunched underfoot as we walked the grounds, peered through sagging door frames and wondered about the lives of the home’s long-gone residents.

The Weaver house may be one of the more intriguing stops on a self-guided tour of Port Oneida because it makes such a great photo subject and captures some of the despair as the small settlement fell on hard times and became a shadow of the farming, lumbering and port community people once called home.

Today, Port Oneida survives as a Rural Historical District under the auspices of the National Park Service. An act of Congress established the park at Sleeping Bear Dunes in 1970, and the Port Oneida Rural Historic District of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

The Port Oneida district covers more than 3400 acres and has over 120 buildings, most of them in far better repair than the Weaver Farm.

Port Oneida visitors can stop at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire to pick up information about the area, or they can download a PDF file of the park’s Port Oneida Driving Tour booklet.

The booklet tells the story of many of the farms, homes, businesses and other sites in the district, plus it includes a short history of Port Oneida.

Settlers from Germany began living in Port Oneida during the mid-1800s. Logging in northern Michigan offered opportunities for economic growth during the late-1800s, and the town grew large enough to support a blacksmith, a general store, a post office and a boarding house.

Logging drastically thinned the surrounding forests, and coal-burning steamships became more prevalent by the late 1800s. Loss of industry sped the demise of Port Oneida and most residents abandoned the original town site by 1908.

Farmers who remained in the area scratched out a modest living as sandy soil and an unreliable water supply made making a living in Port Oneida more and more difficult. Most residents left the area by the 1930s and 1940s.

The story of the Weaver Farm pretty much parallels the history of the settlement.

Jacob Mantz first purchased the land in the 1860s, selling it to Harrison and Almeda Weaver in the 1880s. The Weavers built the house in the early 1890s.

Harrison Weaver, a talented blacksmith, shod many horses in the Port Oneida area. He wasn’t nearly as successful as a farmer, though.

The farm’s poor location and drainage meant it often flooded. The family eventually lost the most of the land because of delinquent taxes around 1940.

Even as the Weavers and other Port Oneida residents eventually left the area, its rebirth as a district dedicated to preserving the agricultural history and settlement of northern Michigan means the memories of Port Oneida live on today.

Efforts to make history come alive for today’s visitors include an annual two-day Port Oneida Fair in early August with displays, tours and activities like a Civil War Encampment, blacksmithing, horse-and-wagon rides, storytelling, quilting, folk music and craft demonstrations.

I still enjoyed visiting Port Oneida on a cold winter day, feeling the presence of the ghostly spirits of time past as I roamed the deserted Weaver place.  

© Dominique King 2009

Comments

[Cindy L]

You nailed it when you used the word "ghostly" to describe this Michigan treasure. It is a soulful place, and we always pass it when we're tooling around up north.

[Dominique]

Cindy-This is another one of those places that I think is more enjoyable to visit when no one else is around. You really felt the spirit of the place.
I loved poking around the old farm and taking photos, and only wish we had more time to go back to explore further.

[gypsyscarlett]

What a fascinating (and sad) story. Thanks so much for writing about it.

[Dominique]

Gypsy-I do think it wouldn't have the same impact if they eventually restore the Weaver place. It was the one place we stopped to take photos when we visited the district.

[Tyrone R. Stuber]

Thank you so much for the wonder post regarding Port Oneida. My mother's great-aunt and uncle were the very first settler's there. Then my mother"s grandparents followed a short while later. I remember visiting my grandparents at the (Werner then) Miller farm when I was very young. My wife and I went exploring there just two days ago. One of the most beautiful places on earth in my opinion!

[Dominique]

Tyrone-Thank you so much for stopping by!
I'm honored that you enjoyed my post, especially because Port Oneida figures so importantly in the histories of the families of you and your wife. I'm glad you thought I did the place justice in my story.
We've only been there in the late fall and winter, so we're hoping to get back up there sometime in the warmer weather when the leaves, grass and flowers are out.

[Howard L. Burfiend]

A very nice story. I remember hiking around this place as a kid. i was raised on the Howard Burfiend farm, on Port Oneida Road. My father, Peter Burfiend, is buried in the Port Oneida cemetery. It is great to hear that people are so interested in this area.

[Dominique]

Howard-I love that folks who lived in the area enjoy my story. I'll bet it was a great place to live as a kid--so many great places to run around and explore!
It would be great to visit there in the summer, possibly during the big fair, when it isn't so deserted. We loved being up there when no one was around, though, because it was a great time to take photos.
Thanks so much for stopping by!