Lake Bluff Sancutary - History

Like Otis Sanctuary, this property came with a house and out buildings. While initially it seems a great idea, it poses many problems for organizations who get donated buildings. Generally structures are old, historic and in need of maintenance. Increasingly these organizations simply don't have the funding to take care as is needed for unused structures. A good example is the National Park Service; buildings conflict with their mission to keep properties natural, so in the past they've demolished and removed buildings. At Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore a different problem arose - they have a whole lot of buildings! The park encompasses Port Oneida farm community of farms typical of the century. It is rare to find such a large collection of older farms free of modern development.  However there now exists the Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear group that has partnered with NPS to preserve the 360 buildings. (Sadly this was my favorite site in the park as no one else visited!)

John M. Peterson

This brings us to Lake Bluff. John M Peterson began Lake Bluff Farm at the turn of the 20th Century. John was born in Denmark 1859; by age 22 he lived in Greenville, MI. He made his way to Manistee and Buckley & Douglas Lumber Co. where he worked his way up from bookkeeper. Then he became the purchasing agent for Manistee & Northeastern RR. He was involved with the construction of Ruggles & Rademaker Salt Co. then became their purchasing agent in 1920. His work history reflects Michigan economic development.  Meanwhile he operated a model fruit farm at Lake Bluff for 20 years. He retired in 1928. And In 1936 sold the property to the Grays. He died in 1939.

The Ruggles factory was built on the site of the Buckley Sawmill! Worked out well for John. In 1930 the salt factory was purchased at auction by Morton Salt, a name that comes up in the Gray family history. The Visit Manistee County website has great information about Manistee's history (even if it mistakenly attributes the house as being built by the Morton family).

For a time a Bed & Breakfast operated in the home. Audubon closed all facilities at Lake Bluff in Oct 2016. Sanctuaries are free to visit, relying on Michigan Audubon for financial support. A request for proposal was issued by MAS for an organization to run and maintain the facilities. Lake Bluff Farms Inc was formed hoping to get ownership of the property. They have a website and Facebook page but the actual status of the property is unclear.

Lake Bluff Sanctuary

In 1988, the Michigan Audubon Society received as a gift the M.E. and Gertrude Gray home and property, which later became Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary.  Atop an 100- foot-high bluff overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan, Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary boasts over 1,700 feet of Lake Michigan frontage on its 75 acres located just north of Manistee, MI. Originally landscaped as an arboretum, many notable specimens have been preserved on the grounds surrounding the home such as California Redwood, Ginkgo, and two Michigan Champion Trees, a Giant Sequoia and a Sycamore Maple.  Over 170 different types of birds have been seen on the property, there are many resident woodpeckers, and eagles are frequently seen flying up the beach or perching in the trees along the shore.

The grounds are open to the public year-round, every day from dawn until dusk. There are 2 miles of maintained trails and beach access.

In October 2016, the Michigan Audubon closed the facilities at Lake Bluff. The following year a group of like-minded individuals interested in protecting the history and integrity of the property met to see what could be done to insure that Lake Bluff is still around for future generations. The group put together a corporation called Lake Bluff Farms, Inc. to form a non-profit in response to the Michigan Audubon Society issuing a Request For Proposal in order to transfer ownership of the property. Lake Bluff Farms, Inc. is one of the applicants hoping to preserve the property of the farm. At this time the status is unknown.

2890 Lakeshore Rd., Manistee, MI 49660

Lake Bluff Farms Inc. has a website with gorgeous photos of the house and grounds. They also have a Facebook page. Lake Bluff Farms – Manistee, MI