M-35 (Michigan highway)
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| M-35 |
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| Length: | 125.45 mi[1] (201.89 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1929 | ||||||||
| South end: |  US 41 at Menominee |
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| Major junctions: |
  US 2/US 41/M-35 in Escanaba |
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| North end: |  US 41/M-28 near Negaunee |
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| Counties: | Menominee, Delta, Marquette | ||||||||
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M-35 is a north-south highway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was originally intended to run from Menominee in the south to near Big Bay in the north before turning toward L'Anse and eventually end at Ontonagon. The section through the Huron Mountains in northern Marquette and Baraga counties was never built.
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[edit] Current routing
M-35 is the quicker highway between Menominee and Escanaba, running along a more direct alignment up the Lake Michigan shoreline. From Escanaba, M-35 runs concurrently with US 2 and US 41 to Gladstone. There it turns northwesterly through northern Delta County and southern Marquette County to end 3.6 miles (5.8 km) east of Negaunee near the former Marquette County Airport and studios of WLUC-TV6.
[edit] Communities served
The following communites are located along the routing of M-35:
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[edit] Points of interest
The following landmarks are located along the route of M-35:
- Bay of Green Bay, Menominee to Ford River
- Delta County Airport, Escanaba
- Little Bay de Noc, Escanaba to Gladstone
- Escanaba River
- Gwinn listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the "Gwinn Model Town Historic District, Forsyth Township, Marquette County, Michigan".
- Empire Mine, Palmer
[edit] Historical notes
In 1919, the State Department of Highways, forerunnner to today's MDOT determined a scenic shoreline trunkline to run north from Negaunee to Big Bay and then turn towards Skanee and L'Anse. The highway would continue from the L'Anse and Baraga area to eventually end at Ontonagon at an intersection with M-64. Local Upper Peninsula historian Fred Rydolm offers up the routing planned in 1925. "The plan extended the highway in a northwesterly direction, across the Dead River, over the Panorama Hills, then west past the Elm Creek swamp, along the south side of Burnt Mountain, across the Cedar Creek, the Cliff Stream and out past Cliff Lake to Skanee and L'Anse."[2] This highway was designated as an extension of M-35, which then extended only as far north as Negaunee. Work was completed on a significant portion of the routing in Marquette County by 1926. This section of roadway follows today's Marquette County Road 510. Similar work was completed in Baraga County by 1932.[3]
This left the portion through the Huron Mountains uncompleted. As this was the most difficult section to build, it was left for last, to be built from each side, meeting in the middle. This section of the routing was shown on state maps as a dashed line marked "IMPASSABLE". [4] Sections not included in CR 510 still exist today as "Blind 35", a poorly maintained gravel road turning northwesterly from CR 510 near Big Bay.[3] Rydhom adds, "the few miles of the road going to the Salmon Trout River, complete with guard rails and cement culverts, has been known as 'Dead End 35' ever since."[2]
[edit] The Steel Bridge
| “ | One major task completed early on was the bridging of the Dead River northeast of Neguanee. Interestingly, the bridge used not only previously spanned a different river, but one in a completely different state! According to MDOT, the MSHD bought the bridge in 1919, had it disassembled from its location in Pennsylvania where it crossed the Allegheny River upstream from Pittsburgh, and transported to Marquette County. In 1921, the MSHD erected this 271-foot long, one-lane span across the Dead River. The bridge survives to this day, carrying Co Rd 510 (the successor to M-35) traffic across the Dead River. It even survived a catastrophic flood in May 2003 when a dam upstream burst. Several other Dead River bridges were damaged or washed out, but this span survived, unscathed.[3] | ” |
This bridge is known to locals as "The Steel Bridge". Plans are in the works by the Marquette County Road Commission to bypass the Steel Bridge with a modern replacement, but leave the existing bridge as a foot or bike path.[5]
[edit] Henry Ford and M-35
The Huron Mountain Club recounts that Henry Ford "…had wandered the Upper Peninsula for years, looking for various means to keep his revolutionary production lines adequately supplied. In the early 1920's or late teens, he, Harvey Firestone and Thomas Edison dropped by the Club for a little visit while touring the lakes on Ford's yacht, the Sialia."[6] His acreage in the UP provided wood used in the manufacture of Ford automobiles of the era. Ford had a saw mill set up in Alberta and a cottage at Pequaming along the shores of the Keweenaw Bay. He also had purchased 400,000 acres in the early 1920s. Ford desired entry into the exclusive Huron Mountain Club in northern Marquette County. With limited membership, Ford sought to "stack the deck" in his favor should a membership spot in the club open.[3]
"There were many who objected to the road — hunters, campers, hikers, fishermen and some landowners — and there seemed to be no groundswell of sentiment in favor of it, but it looked as the though the die was cast and nothing could be done to stop it." [2] The Huron Mountain Club was not in favor of the highway either. "When they started putting Route M-35 through… the Club was having fits… They didn't have a ghost of a chance until finally they got an attorney general's opinion that if two thirds of the property owners over which the road would pass objected, the road would be stopped." [6] The proposed highway would not cross much Club property, only two 40-acre parcels. This property would not be enough to ensure the requisite ownership to halt road construction.
In 1926, a new president was elected at the Huron Mountain Club, and the admission rules were changed. Before the changes, a vote was taken of all the members, with four blackballs denying election to the membership. After the changes, only club directors would vote, with one objection necessary to block election. In 1927, the road grading was up to the Salmon Trout River. The same year, Ford purchased land near Mountain Lake in northern Marquette County in addition to his previous holdings. This property would encompass more than the requisite two-thirds necessary to stop further construction of the road. In 1928, the road was moved to connect with the Big Bay Road (CR 550) leaving the stub of "Blind 35" behind. "By 1929, M-35 was dead in its tracks and Henry Ford was a member."[6] To commemorate his membership, Ford built a white pine log cabin at the Club costing between $80-100,000 at the time.[2]
[edit] After Ford
In 1939, M-35 from Negaunee to Big Bay to L'Anse was canceled as a state highway. Constructed portions were turned over to local control, leaving a discontinuous routing for 13 years. The southern segment of M-35 ran from Menominee to Negaunee, and the northern segment ran from Baraga to Ontonagon along today's M-38. The two segments were rejoined in 1953. M-35 was continued westward from the end of the southern segment at Negaunee, cosigned along US 41/M-28 and US 41 to Baraga, to connect with the northern segment westward to Ontonagon.
In 1965, several abandoned underground mine shafts collapsed underneath the roadway. This forced a rerouting of M-35 out of the City of Negaunee.[1] Previous to the rerouting, M-35 used part of what is now BUS M-28 through downtown Negaunee connecting at Silver Street to County Road to run east out of town past Lucy Hill. This former segment is still shown on some maps, such as Google Maps, as "Old M-35". [7]
Now it runs from Palmer along the outskirts of Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company's Empire Mine past Goose Lake to end in Negaunee Township. Huge "mountains" of waste rock from the mine line the roadway leaving Palmer to the north. In Negaunee, the only naturbahn, or natural track, luge run in North America crosses the former routing of M-35 over the now abandoned street at the end of County Road at Lucy Hill.[8]
The last major changes to M-35 came in 1968. The section from Baraga to Ontonagon was designated as M-38. The M-35 concurrencies were removed along US 41/M-28 and US 41 in Marquette and Baraga counties. This had the effect of moving the northern terminus to the present location in Negaunee Township. Since then, sections of the roadway were realigned in Richmond Township south of Palmer to straighten some of the many curves in the roadway between Palmer and Gwinn in 1989 [1]
[edit] External links
- M-35: The Highway Henry Ford Stopped at michiganhighways.org
- M-35 Endpoint Photos
- Former M-35 Western Terminus (now M-38)
- CR 510 Steel Bridge at MDOT
- Photo of Steel Bridge during 2003 Floods, City of Marquette website
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Bessert, Christopher J. (2005-01-15). Michigan Highways: Highways 30 through 39. Michigan Highways. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
- ^ a b c d Rydholm, C. Fred (1989). Superior Heartland: A Backwoods History, Vol. I, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Braun-Brumfield, pp.514-5. ISBN 0963994824.
- ^ a b c d Bessert, Christopher J. (2003-12-26). Michigan Highways: M-35 - The Highway Henry Ford Stopped. Michigan Highways. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
- ^ Michigan State Department of Highways Map, 1932.
- ^ "Plans to Replace Historic Bridge Underway", WLUC-TV6, 2006-05-02. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
- ^ a b c Mayor, Archer (1988). in Dodge, Murray, ed.: Huron Mountain Club: The First Hundred Years, Dykema, Rosemary, photography ed., Dexter, Michigan: Thompson-Shore, pp.88-9. ASIN B0007BJB02.
- ^ Negaunee, MI 49866 - Google Maps. Google Maps (2007-03-15). Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
- ^ Upper Peninsula Luge Club. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
