TOP 10 CREEPY Legends About Michigan - Just like any state across the country, Michigan has its fair share of legends, mysteries, hauntings and everything in between, so in this video, I’ll be knocking out 10 of the strangest things about the mitten state, stay tuned!
This video will be a little different than the ones you’re used to, and if you’re into mysteries, legends, and all around paranormal activities, I have linked part one, two and three to my video series about haunted places in Michigan in the description below to get your fix.
Grandpa Shorter's, a souvenir shop in Petoskey, Michigan since 1946 came out with this article a couple years ago, so I figured I would spend some time breaking it down for everyone out there.
Starting off with number 1, we have Little Mary’s Grave In Jackson, Michigan. What might be so significant about a child’s grave you ask? Well, as sad as that concept is already, according to this legend, back in 1892, little Mary, who was the daughter of a well known businessman in the Jackson area, put his daughter to rest in the Oaks Cemetery at the age of 7, and just a few days later, the mother of little Marry woke up in the middle of the night screaming that her daughter had been buried alive. To give some closure to this situation, they did what no parent would ever want to do, and they had the grave dug up to find that claw marks were found on the inside of the casket, and visitors who were visiting nearby graves claimed they heard crying a scratching coming from her grave sight.
Moving over to number two on this list, we have the Paulding Light. This is more well known in Michigan’s upper peninsula, when people refer to the phrase “I’ve seen the light”. Since 1966, There’s been this mysterious light that appears in a valley just outside of Paulding, near US 45 on Robins Pond Rd. Many tourists and locals state they have seen this mysterious light which actually changes color from white to red and green to blue. The legend says that this light comes from a lantern from a railroad brakeman who was killed on the tracks that run through the valley. Michigan Tech, a sought after university in the upper peninsula actually conducted a scientific study stating it simply comes from the cars driving around a nearby highway, but several of the locals and tourists find that outcome to be simply untrue, but rather an unexplained phenomenon.
Stepping over to number three we have the legendary bigfoot. There are several Michiganders across the state that will tell you they have either seen or simply believe in Bigfoot, and claim this hairy giant lives right here in the great lakes state. Over the years there have been several claims brought to the public eye of people seeing sightings of this creature. Mainly in the northern parts of Michigan, there have been trail cams that supposedly have caught this figure and the footprints and overall size of this legend has created a lot of unanswered questions. Due to the age of this article, there have easily been more than 107 documented cases of bigfoot sights and situations in Michigan. Most of these sightings are from the Huron National forest near Comins (co-mins), which has earned it's name as the Bigfoot capital of Michigan. For those of you watching or listening out there, do you believe in bigfoot? Drop your thoughts, experiences and theories in the comments, I’d be interested to hear your opinions.
Number 4, we have the Ada Witch. This is something I touched on in my most reason haunted places in Michigan video series, so I’ll touch on it briefly here. In reference to the Blair witch project, Michigan has the real thing. Back in the 1800’s, The Findlay Cemetery in Ada Michigan a local married woman snuck out in the middle of the night while her husband slept to find privacy for her late night lover. The husband ended up following her and saw all this go down and he ended up killing his wife and the mystery man according to my findings. The legend is, the local married woman became the Ada witch, who wears a white dress in the cemetery, as visitors claim to hear footsteps, screaming, crying and feel they have been touched by a ghost along with seeing a bluish green mist.
Moving on over to number 5, we have the Beeson mansion and crypt. This legend is based on the unbearable loss of a child. When the wealthy Beeson family in Niles passed away, he was buried in the family crypt right across the street from the family mansion. Legends say the mother went completely insane when the child passed away, and it’s said that she would visit the crypt every night, where she would feed, bathe and diaper the lifeless body of her child. She went as far as to leave a lantern lit in the crypt because she thought her child was afraid of the dark, she then took it to a new extreme and had gas lighting installed so she wouldn’t need to have the lantern. After who knows how long she continued on with this, the body of the child deteriorated while in her arms and she was institutionalized, and was unable to recover from the sight of that.
Stepping over to number 6, we have dogman. The first sighting of this creature was in Wexford county in 1887. Two lumberjacks spotted this creature and claimed it had a man’s body but a dog's head. Another sighting was in the upper peninsula, where people found horses who died of fright that were surrounded by large dog-like tracks. In 1938, 5 wild dogs attacked a man by the name of Robert Fortney, and claimed one of the dogs stood upright like a human being. There were also documented sightings from Allegan county, Manistee and cross village.
Moving over to number 7, we have the corn monster of wynn. This story gives off some jeepers creepers vibes, if you ever watched that movie. I just so happened to watch it at a very young age, and that probably wasn’t a good idea. Locals around the Wynn Michigan area claim there is a monster that lurks around in the cornfields. A figure of a large man emerges from the fields and scares anyone driving through this rural area late at night. In 2003, a delivery man confirmed this legend. He stopped off a country road near Wynn just to rest, and he got out to stretch his legs and he saw this human-like creature appear on the edge of a cornfield. This man hopped in his truck as fast as he possibly could and he never looked back. Which sounds a little more realistic than the scary movies out these days, I feel like if this were a movie, he would’ve tripped, taken his time, screamed and looked back for awhile, then run into the cornfield instead of getting in his truck and getting out of there.
Switching gears to number 8, we have the Denton Road Mystery. This one is a little close to home for us metro Detroiters. Off of Denton road, which is located in Canton, near Ann Arbor if you’re not familiar. There have been all kinds of unexplained happenings in the area, which is very interesting, because unlike the rest of these areas, Canton is nowhere near as rural. People have claimed that they see phantom headlights charge down Denton road after other drivers and pedestrians. They have heard cries from a baby, small footprints appear on nearby cars, and the glowing blue mist of a woman figure. Before they reconstructed the road, there was a nearby bridge where these events took place, that can be tied back to an accident that occurred on the bridge when a mother and her baby were killed by a jealous husband, but some locals believe it was all the work of pranksters.
Next we have number 9, The singing sands of bete Grise (bay-de-gree). Located in Michigan’s upper peninsula, the bete grise beach is known to make a singing sound when you press it down with the palm of your hands.When you are less graceful with the sand it tends to make a barking noise. Legends say when the sand is removed from the beach to another location, these events can’t be replicated. It’s said that the sounds of the sand mimic a voice of a native American maid crying out to a lost lover who died at sea in Lake superior. Scientists have commented on this phenomenon and said it can be replicated when all ideal conditions are met; size of the grains, humidity, and the overall makeup of the sand, but they are not entirely sure what creates the phenomenon.
Lastly we have number 10 on this list, Grand Island Lighthouse murder. With so many lakes in Michigan, we are known to have our fair share of lighthouses, but with that, we are known to have several stories that come with them, this is an interesting one to say the least. Let’s jump back to 1890, when a small sailboat was floating by Au Sable Point which had the body of a man named Edward Morrison. He was the assistant keeper at the grand island lighthouse in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Some witnesses have reported that his head had appeared to be smashed in with a baseball bat, but the autopsy indicated exposure was the cause of death, but a second investigation concluded it was in fact murder.
After discovering the body, and realizing the lighthouse beacon had not been lit for almost a week or so, some people from the Munising area went out to the island to investigate. The head lightkeeper was nowhere to be found, supplies from town were still piled high on the docks, and everything within the lighthouse had appeared to be undisturbed. They even consulted with the head lightkeeper's wife, who said she had no idea where he was. So to this day, he was never found and the murder of Morrison was never solved.
For those of you that have lived, vacationed or passed through the state of Michigan, what other mysteries, legends or all around haunted stories have you or someone you know experienced? Drop them in the comments, as always enjoy reading each one of them.
MENTIONED VIDEOS 🔗
→Haunted Places In Michigan Part One: https://youtu.be/rWCec9UaBtE
→Haunted Places In Michigan Part Two: https://youtu.be/yIQOm3xAEoo
→Haunted Places In Michigan Part Three: https://youtu.be/li6DCbG9K24
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew McManamon is a Michigan REALTOR® with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty and provides real estate services to Buyers, Sellers and Investors throughout SE Michigan including Livingston County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Genesee County & beyond. Andrew has become one of the rising stars of Michigan real estate agents. Prior to his real estate career Andrew was responsible for managing a senior living facility in Brighton, Michigan as a dining supervisor and an activities assistant. Andrew’s passion to help people is unlike any other, and he continues to strive to be best resource he can be. Andrew graduated from Cleary University in Howell, Michigan with a double major and currently resides in White Lake, Michigan.
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