A habit of mine is to randomly scroll Google Maps and look for things. I was meeting a guy at the Platte River fish hatchery to buy some weight plates off of Facebook Marketplace, a fact which is completely irrelevant to this post. But that is how my Google Maps trip led me to search the area near the intersection of Maple City Highway and US 31. Nearby, down a seasonal road and another road or two that weren't on the map, I found the Brundage Cemetery:
It wasn't until I started writing this post that I decided to look into Brundage, MI. Lost in Michigan had a paragraph describing the namesake Brundage family. The village of Brundage once existed in the area and the cemetery is one of the few remaining signs that it ever existed. And as old as the cemetery is, it is still being used. There were headstones with dates of only a few years ago. If you want a very quiet resting place, this may be the spot for you.
But what really drew me to the area were the remains of the mill. Near a pond on the Brundage Creek are four stone and concrete pillars, all that is left of the mill.
If you want peace and quiet, this is an excellent spot. The slow-moving creek and the frequent chatter of birds are the only thing you will hear.
Pines are the dominant trees in the area, and those trees combined with the dry, sandy soil gives thee area what I call an Up North scent. It brings to memory hikes on isolated trails on hot summer days. Good memories. South of the creek, a stand of cedars with a mossy forest floor gives the area the feeling that is farther away from civilization than it actually is. I wondered what used to be here when Brundage was more than a memory and a few stone columns.
Visiting places like Brundage Creeks makes me want to wander into the more remote areas around Traverse City. There is so much history, much of lost, and much of it ignored. Traverse City is more than wineries and water; it's a history of those who carved out their own spot in a wilderness far away from the settled area to the south.