*Last updated: 11/13/05. New photos added under the Lexington, Forester, and Port Austin sections!

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Ah, Huron County. Home to Harbor Beach, Port Hope, Pointe Aux Barques, Port Austin, and a host of other quaint rural lakefront communities. And let's not forget Sanilac County, either, in which Lexington and Port Sanilac can be found along the shore. What's that? Some of you say that you've never heard of these cities, let alone visited them? Hmm...truly, it can be said that you've led a deprived life. But, take heart: it's not too late to rectify this dilemma--simply hop in your car during some warm, sunny afternoon, point that vehicle toward Lake Huron, and put 'er in "drive." Find out for yourself exactly what you've been missing out on.

Lexington

Travelers will get the most out of their trip by driving along M-25, which winds its way from Port Huron northward along Lake Huron, eventually rounding west near Port Austin. The first "destination" worth visiting is the small, Victorianesque town of Lexington. Lining the streets are several quaint gift shops and eateries--even a new coffeehouse! Slightly east of the town's center are the local marina, park, public beach, and breakwater. Check out these photos of:
A view from the breakwater
The local marina
Lexington's shore & breakwater
The view along Lexington's shoreline
The rocks lining the breakwater
Lexington's beach
A closer look at the beach
A few of Lexington's storefronts
Lexington's newer development, complete with coffee house
One of Lexington's oldest buildings
An upfront view of that same building
The southeast corner at the main street's light
The northwest corner of the same intersection
A relaxing view of the marina--pull up a chair and grab a lemonade and you're all set!
Walking along the sidewalk
Lake Huron, frozen, from Lexington's shore
A closer view of the ice
The ice, further back
Another view of the marina, from the breakwater
Lexington during a light snowfall
A barn outside of Lexington's city limits
An autumn photo of the coffeehouse
The breakwall at dusk

Port Sanilac

Next, you'll find yourself entering the village of Port Sanilac. Slightly south of the city limits is a roadside park which offers access to a public beach--a great area for snapshots, kiddies! Port Sanilac offers a marina as well, and although the local lighthouse is on privately-owned land, a good view of it can be had upon the marina.
The lighthouse
The roadside park
Another view from Port Sanilac's roadside park
Port Sanilac shoreline near the marina
Port Sanilac's marina
Port Sanilac as seen driving along M-25 (compare this to this, taken over 50 years earlier--not much change!)
Autumn in Port Sanilac's roadside park
Port Sanilac's main street looking south
The Raymond House Inn
The Barn Theatre
Port Sanilac's local museum
The "Bark Shanty" house, Port Sanilac's oldest standing house
Another view of the lighthouse
One of Port Sanilac's oldest buildings
Autumn near the shoreline along Pt. Sanilac's roadside park

Forester

Just a bit north of Port Sanilac, you might want to keep an eye out for the tiny town of Forester. In the 19th century, it was a booming port town for sailors and the lumber industry, and the town is home to the legend of Minnie Quay's ghost. Who was Minnie Quay, you ask? Click here for the tale. Here's a death notice that appeared in a Fowlerville, Michigan newspaper shortly thereafter that tragedy in 1876:

"A young girl named Minnie Quay, about fifteen years of age, committed suicide by throwing herself into the lake from Smith's dock, at Forester, one afternoon last week. She was seen in the act of jumping by her little brother, who was on shore. A quick alarm was given, and men commenced at once to grapple for the body, but it was an hour before it was discovered. Her father is a mechanic in Smith's mill, and is highly respected. No cause is assigned for this rash act."

The dock from which she jumped has since rotted away, but part of the rock pilings that supported it can still be seen today. And while you're driving through the town, feel free to visit the Forester Cemetery and pay Minnie and her family your respects.

An old house in Forester
Forester's "Tanner House" (used to be an inn and a brothel back in the day)
Walking down to Forester's beach
The frozen, cracked surface of Lake Huron by Forester
Forester's old schoolhouse
The Forester Inn
Forester's main road (M-25)

Harbor Beach

From this point, you'll need to drive for at least a half-hour (watch for the ever-vigilant state cops) before reaching...you guessed it...Harbor Beach. You know the place: "The World's Greatest Man-Made Harbor." But don't take the city's "welcome sign" at its word--check it out for yourself. There's a public beach located by the Trescott Street Pier, which offers fishermen access to...well, fishing! By all means, click here for a photo of the pier. And by the way, every spring I see tons of these chestnut trees lining the city's streets with "cone-shaped" blossoms...anyone know who planted them all?
The cows who call Harbor Beach "home"
The old, abandoned Coast Guard station
The old garage built adjacent to the Coast Guard station
The Grice House
The breakwater
A view of Lake Huron
A view of the marina from the breakwater
The marina at night
Jetskiers racing in the harbor
An old, abandoned schoolhouse among the farmlands near Harbor Beach
Lake Huron south of Harbor Beach
Another view of the same beach
A seagull enjoying the marina's view
Harbor Beach farmland after sunset
The breakwater near dusk
Lake Huron, seen from the breakwater
The White Rock area, during dusk
Another Lake Huron dusk picture
Some rocks at the end of Harbor Beach's main breakwater
The view from the breakwater
A barn just outside of Harbor Beach
The main street at night during Christmas
A Christmas float of the lighthouse, decked in holiday lights
A view of Lake Huron, looking North, from the breakwall
Viewing the harbor near the beach (hence, the city's name)
The White Rock area in winter
Lake Huron, seen from sitting on the breakwall
The 2003 Harbor Beach artfair
A grindstone in Harbor Beach
The mural on the Community House
The Corner Store
Another old schoolhouse
Frozen Lake Huron shoreline near Harbor Beach
Cows munching grass on a Huron County farm
Trescott Road during autumn
Trescott bathing beach park
The sun sets in winter over a farm near Harbor Beach
Williams Inn: "Let's Eat Here!"
The good ol' lighthouse
Dusk down near the marina

Port Hope

Anyway, once you've sampled what there is to see in Harbor Beach, you might ask yourself: "Where to now?" Well, here's your answer--Port Hope. It's barely a blip on the map, so to speak, but worth stopping at long enough to drive near Stafford Park, a small park along Lake Huron that hosts a towering 19th Century brick chimney--all that remains of a mill that burned to the ground in 1871. Not far away is another creepy old mill, only this one's still standing. Along the shore are the rock pilings of a dock from that period which has long since ceased to exist, but its stony skeleton remains, stretching out hundreds of feet into the lake. (Click here for a view of how those same pilings appeared about ten years ago when the lake's water level was higher). Here's a view of the lake near sunset that's guaranteed to change your life! Or...at least make you smile for a second or two before you completely forget about it, anyway! Traveling further inland (along State Street), you might discover an old cemetery bearing the gravestones of 19th Century Port Hope citizens. Creepy at night!
A view from Port Hope's Stafford Park
Another view of Lake Huron near Stafford Park
Lake Huron
The lake cascading over the rocks
An old grave in Port Hope's oldest cemetery
Rocks once used to support a dock
An old church
The chimney and shoreline
The old dock pilings as they appear today

Pointe Aux Barques

Beyond Port Hope, five miles or so north, you'll see a sign exclaiming "Lighthouse Park". Don't just drive on by...turn down that street! Because after making a few twists and turns, you'll come face to face with the Pointe Aux Barques lighthouse. Not far from that beacon is a small public park with access to the beach, which offers a fantastic view near sunset. Behind the lighthouse is a scenic wooded trail worth strolling through, also. A sidenote about Pointe Aux Barques: somewhere, not far north of the lighthouse, is a private area owned by an ultra-secretive "club"--perhaps a golfing country club of some kind. Nobody knows for sure...anyone who's ever snuck into the private grounds has never been seen or heard from again (okay, I'm lying, but there IS a mysterious clique hanging out there, robbing the public of the gorgeousness of the area) Here's an early 20th Century photo of the clubhouse. You'd best appreciate the picture, considering that the photographer who snapped it disappeared under murky circumstances soon after it was developed.
Barques shoreline
Lighthouse near dusk
Pointe Aux Barques beach at dusk
The lamp post outside of the lighthouse
Looking up at the lighthouse
A view of Lake Huron's shoreline near the lighthouse
Seagulls keeping watch over Barques' shoreline
Aux Barques' shore, seen from a small dock
A view of the lighthouse
A path that winds along the bluff overlooking the beach
The lighthouse from another angle
Lake Huron, seen from the shore
The reddish rocks of Aux Barques' shore
Driftwood along the water's edge

Not far from the drive up to Lighthouse Park is a memorial set up to honor Lt. Michael Walter Young, a military pilot whose plane crashed in the vicinity. Although he managed to eject from the plane, his parachute carried him into the lake--during the coldest days of November, 1991.

Grindstone City

Slightly north of Pointe Aux Barques is Grindstone City, the site of a once-bustling town dedicated to the manufacture of--can you guess it?--grindstones! (Give yourself a hearty pat on the back if you got that one right) Today, the area attracts a ton of fishermen...and where there are boats, there's gonna be yet another marina!
Shoreline along Grindstone City
Rocky shoreline along Grindstone City
One of the grindstones that Grindstone City was famous for
An old building in Grindstone City
Another Grindstone historic building
The peninsula where the boats used to dock
All that remains of a log "crib"
A view of the sun setting in Grindstone City
Another view of the sunset
Waves tinged with pink at the end of Grindstone's old dock peninsula
This "General Store" in Grindstone City serves up the best ice cream in The Thumb!
Another view of one of Grindstone City's oldest buildings (Anyone know its name?)

Port Austin

Anyway, if you want to see the sunset in all its splendor, you'll have to continue on west to Port Austin, a charming lil' resort town complete with ice cream shoppes, lakeside inns, and still another marina. Treat yourself to that view of the sunset I mentioned earlier by strolling out along the city's formidably long pier. Go on...check it out!
A tiny boat during sunset off Port Austin
A boat returns to the marina
A view near the pier's end
A view of the shore from the pier, shortly after sunset
Port Austin after sunset
Yet another Port Austin sunset picture!
Walking back to shore along the pier
A rainbow over Port Austin
A view of Port Austin's lighthouse far in the distance from Eagle Bay
The Garfield Inn
A view of the end of the pier
The Bank - 1884
Port Austin's shoreline with the "broken rocks" in the distance
Choppy waves near Port Austin
Port Crescent State Park
Another view of the park

Harbor Beach/Huron County Links

Harbor Beach's quaint State Street Inn
Historical info and photos for Pointe Aux Barques

Wrapping it all up

Although there's plenty to see beyond the city limits of Port Austin (Caseville, etc), this is where my virtual tour concludes--pretty much because I haven't ventured west of Port Austin, along Lake Huron, in over 14 years. A tip to the Detroit area suburbanites who want a faster way home than winding back along M-25: swing south on M-53, which lies in the heart of Port Austin and continues south all the way to Utica. But for those of you in no particular hurry, go back the way you came--there's nothing like the sight of the moon hovering above the lake. Just watch out for the deer crossing the road! Those critters sometimes seem to pop in out of nowhere...

This page is constantly being updated with new photos and info--so check back often!

Any questions? Concerns? Suggestions? E-mail William McCain at: wmccain7@yahoo.com And if you've simply got some comments to share with me and others...make your voice heard in the guestbook below!

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