There’s not much to say about me. This is all about the places I go and the things I get to bring back to you via photographs. It’s about history and reclaiming pieces of our own heritage that those who came before us have discarded. It’s about curiosity and preservation and documentation, but first and foremost, it’s about the story behind it all.
For a more detailed introduction, please follow the link below to my first post.
https://thewaywardwanderlust.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/an-introduction/
Foreign and Forlorn 
I read with interest the post about my Grandmother Rosenberger’s house. My mom lived there growing up and the house was the scene for many, many family gatherings–especially the annual 4th of July family picnic (still held nearby for over 100 years) and sleepover and the annual Plenge/Rosenberger family reunion held each August. We too have been dismayed by the neglect of the house. The back of the house which my mother always said was the oldest part of the house was torn off much to the protests of my mom. In the basement of this part of the house there was evidence of much older foundation and some sort of mysterious structures. The steps you point out as broken were never a part of the original house but have been put there by Metro. My cousin posted this on Facebook. The Rosenberger and the Collette/Moormen families were great friends and neighbors. The church is darling and hopes are that evidently the house will be a reception venue for the weddings held in the church. It would restore this home to the fine entertaining which was hosted there for many years.
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Hi Carol,
Thanks for reading and for your interesting post! I’m so glad to hear that the Rosenberger family is still in the area and keeping an eye on the house. I too hope that the funds to restore the home will eventually be amassed and the house will one day be a part of the park’s touring loop along with the chapel and the Moormen house.
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Hello i may have some older information regarding this property if you could contact me that would be great
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Hi Theresa,
Thanks for your comment! I’m certainly curious as to what kind of information you might have. Would you be able to reply to me on this forum? I do not give out my email address, nor do I encourage others to post their own.
Thanks!
WW
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Hi, I really enjoy your articles – do you have a web address, Facebook, or primarily operate via blog/wordpress? Would like to follow your work. cbenebig@outlook.com
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Hi C,
Thanks for your comment! I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying the blog. This blog is my only page, so if you follow me via WordPress, you should be in good shape.
Thanks again!
WW
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My name is David. I lived there with my family in 1963. My dad began working there in 1957. The window you are wondering about was, at one time, a balcony. The house was beautiful and well structures when I lived there. At the time I lived there, the company name was Murphy oil and Spur. My dad worked in the terminal and drove a gas truck. His name was Joe Smothers. The graveyard located in the back of the house may be a key to finding out more information and dates back to the Civil War.
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Hi David,
Thanks for your post and for the offer for information! I edited your phone number out of your original post so there’s little to no chance of someone unseemly getting ahold of it.
While I appreciate you providing me with such a direct link to contact, I would be happy to further our conversation either here or over email as I prefer to keep phone numbers out of the online equation. Anything you or your father could tell me about the house would be much appreciated. It looks like the window you mentioned has been remodeled a few times, and I can definitely see how it would’ve been a balcony from the way it’s been bricked over! Thanks again!
WW
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Hi very interesting read. I have some information for you my aunt and uncle lived in Dr Hicks office on 28th street in the upstairs apartment for many many years. They moved out in the early to mid 60’s. I can remember the banisters where solid oak or mahogany. It was my understanding that Dr Hicks lived in the bottom apartment with his wife for many years but I can’t remember him living there. My aunt cleaned the office and building for part of the rent and washed there dishes in the clawfoot tub. I spent many night there. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s and lived there with them. She passed away there from a fall out one the large windows upstairs because she though she was going out a door. If I had to make and estimate my aunt and uncle lived there for at least 20 yrs. There names were Wilber (W.S.) Porter and Shellie Porter and my grandmothers name was Mary Wilkerson. They moved to Clarion Drive in Shively and I always heard they had financial help from the Hicks to move there because they were going to demolish the building.
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Hi Debra,
Thanks for your comment and for the information about your family members who were past tenants of the Hicks house! It’s clear to me as I research the home further that, despite a dearth of public records on the matter, Dr. Hicks clearly did live at this location at a point in time in addition to maintaining an office there as this is recalled quite clearly by many of the area locals.
Do you know which building your aunt and uncle might have lived in in the 60’s? The reason I ask is because the home in the photos was used as a rental into the early 2000’s and was certainly in good shape after your aunt and uncle would have moved out in the 60’s. However, there were other homes on the property that were in fact demolished well before the turn of the century.
Thanks!
WW
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I really am enjoying your blog and I live in the Louisville area. Recently picked up metal detecting as a fun hobby and have been looking for very old places to do it, but have also been leery about trespassing, getting fined, or endangering myself. Wondering if any places on here or you know of any places that would be excellent spots for detecting? Thanks!
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Hi Chris,
Sorry to be replying to you so late. I can’t give you any recommendations for historic locations to go metal detecting where it wouldn’t either be 1) illegal (for example, most established historic sites prohibit metal detecting) or 2) trespassing. As mentioned in my intro post, there are certain risks inherent in just photographing/walking around old, abandoned locations that happen to be private property. You’d probably be wise to stick to public parks where metal detecting is allowed, beaches, etc.
~WW
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RE: Dr. John H. Hicks – I ran across this blog today while researching the obit for Dr. John H. Hick, III who died this past week. He was 67 and the son of John H. Hicks, II , son of Dr. John H. Hicks
I can assure that Dr. Hicks and his family lived in that big white house on Dixie Highway. My family was very close to Dr. Hicks and his sons, John II and Stanley. John II built the house up on top of the hill and Stanley had a little house just north of the big white house – same side of the road and near the railroad track. It is no longer there. I spent a lot of time there in the late 40s and early 50s. My father and John Jr. were deacons at the same church and we would visit frequently on Sunday afternoons. Dr. Hicks did indeed have an office there at his residence.
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Hi there! I am part of a historical Ludington Facebook page and a gentleman who works at the Ludington State Park shared with us some maps, photos, and plans of Camp Lucy Mac that will answer a lot of your questions. Feel free to email me and I’ll email you the photos so you could add them to your blog posts!
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