Ghosthunting Michigan. Helen Pattskyn
Spotlight On: Ouija Boards
CHAPTER 27 Mission Table at Bowers Harbor Inn Traverse City
Spotlight On: Ghosthunting Equipment for the Weekend Ghosthunter
CHAPTER 28 Blue Pelican Inn Central Lake
Spotlight On: Electromagnetic Fields and Ghosts
CHAPTER 29 The Noggin Room Pub and Stafford’s Perry Hotel Petoskey
CHAPTER 30 City Park Grill Petoskey
Preface
DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?
If you are like 52 percent of Americans (according to a recent Harris Poll), you do believe that ghosts walk among us. Perhaps you have heard your name called in a dark and empty house. It could be that you have awoken to the sound of footsteps outside your bedroom door, only to find no one there. It is possible that you saw your grandmother sitting in her favorite rocker chair, the same grandmother who had passed away several years before. Maybe you took a photo of a crumbling, deserted farmhouse and discovered strange mists and orbs in the photo, anomalies that were not visible to your naked eye.
If you have experienced similar paranormal events, then you know that ghosts exist. Even if you have not yet experienced these things, you are curious about the paranormal world, the spirit realm. If you weren’t, you would not now be reading this preface.
Over the last several years, I have investigated haunted locations across the country, and with each new site, I found myself becoming more fascinated with ghosts. What are they? How do they manifest themselves? Why are they here? These are just a few of the questions I have been asking. No doubt, you have been asking the same questions.
The books in the America’s Haunted Roadtrip series can help you find the answers to your questions about ghosts. We’ve gathered together some of America’s top ghost writers (no pun intended) and researchers and asked them to write about their states’ favorite haunts. Each location that they write about is open to the public so that you can visit them for yourself and try out your ghosthunting skills. In addition to telling you about their often hair-raising adventures, the writers have included maps and travel directions so that you can take your own haunted roadtrip.
People may think that Michigan is all about lakes and woods, hunting and fishing, cherry orchards and Motor City, but Helen Pattskyn’s Ghosthunting Michigan proves that the Great Lakes State is fertile ground for entities even more fantastic than the 1960 Edsel Ranger. This book is a spine-tingling trip through Michigan’s small towns and lively cities, its historic sites and fun spots, all of them haunted. Ride shotgun with Helen as she seeks out ghosts of seamen—the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald—at the Whitefish Point Lighthouse and Shipwreck Museum and the spirits of thespians who took their final bows long ago at the Baldwin Theatre in Royal Oak. Travel with her to Camp Ticonderoga where a top-hatted phantom sits at a table, waiting for service. If you’re lucky—or, perhaps, unlucky—you might run into the ghost of jilted Minnie Quay at Forester Pier, on Lake Huron’s shore. And who was that ghostly woman who walked right through a door at Bone Head’s BBQ in Willis? Hang on tight; Ghosthunting Michigan is a scary ride.
But once you’ve finished reading this book, don’t unbuckle your seatbelt. There are still 49 states left for your haunted roadtrip! See you on the road!
John Kachuba
Editor, America’s Haunted Roadtrip
Southeastern Michigan
Brownstown
Detroit
Fenton
Holly
Battle Alley Arcade Antiques Mall
Royal Oak
Troy
Willis
CHAPTER 1
The Whitney
DETROIT
WHEN PEOPLE THINK ABOUT DETROIT, they often think of sports: the Tigers, the Red Wings, the Lions, and the Pistons. Or they think about the auto industry, because Detroit is still “Motor City.” It’s also the home of Motown Records, where so many rock and roll greats got their start. Other people think of Detroit and remember the riots in the 1960s, or think about the crime rate, the problems with the school system, and all the rundown neighborhoods. When I think of Detroit, I think of shopping at Eastern Market for fresh produce—my husband is convinced that we have to arrive by 5 a.m., or “all the good stuff will be gone.” I always tell him I’ll take my chances, we don’t really need to get there before 8 a.m. Eastern Market is only open on Saturday, and Saturdays are for sleeping in. My other favorite places in the city are the Detroit Public Library, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Opera House, Symphony Hall, the Fox Theatre, and, of course, the Whitney restaurant.
Located on Woodward Avenue, just a few blocks from the campus of Wayne State University and Detroit’s cultural center, the Whitney was once one of the city’s oldest and most beautiful private residences. Now it is one of the city’s finest and most beautiful restaurants. I’ve only been there to eat on a couple of very special occasions, but I fell immediately in love with the grand old house. Of course, prior to my visit on a bright sunny afternoon in April, I had only gone in looking for after-theater drinks and desert with friends, not hoping for a glimpse of the ghost of former owner, David Whitney Jr.
Construction on the 52-room, Romanesque-style home began in 1890 and was completed four years later. One local newspaper described the house as “the most elaborate and substantial residence in this part of the country.” The exterior walls of