North shore ghosts of summers past
A view of Escanaba's north shore, ore dock and the dirt road leading to the north shore circa 1950. (Photo courtesy of Delta County Historical Society)
Jim Champ plays at a 4th of July fiddlers contest 1942. He is seated on the right and wearing black, James Champ settled on Escanaba's north shore in the 1860s. (Photo courtesy of Delta County Historical Society)
A view of Escanaba's north shore, ore dock and the dirt road leading to the north shore circa 1950. (Photo courtesy of Delta County Historical Society)
Jim Champ plays at a 4th of July fiddlers contest 1942. He is seated on the right and wearing black, James Champ settled on Escanaba's north shore in the 1860s. (Photo courtesy of Delta County Historical Society)
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Escanaba often refers to its "north shore" area near Basic Marine and the Reiss Coal Dock. But that's what the city wants you to believe!
Esky's true "north shore extends far beyond that nearly all the way to the mouth of the Escanaba River.
It's a huge, haunted area of rust, decaying timber, ghosts, relics and wildlife.
It was the home of many ore docks over the decades and once one of the biggest ore ports in the world!
Now it is the land that time forgot. Except on silver-mooned summery nights. Spirits roam!
The frogs sing in the humid air. An ancient drum beats along with the rhythm of the waves. Violin music floats through the reeds and the sweet ferns.
There's a face in between the twisted jack pines and the tall oaks.
A breast plate of sinew and quills rises and falls slowly on the chest of an Ojibwa man. On a rolling hill of sand, he sits cooling his moccasins on the moist earth.
A small birch bark canoe emerged from the darkness. Gentle waves lap at the canoe, and a pretty and gentle smile brightens the night sky. Drums beat and fireflies' glow!
Then the ghosts are gone!
And now the tune changes. A violin handmade right there on the north shore of Escanaba begins to play a soothing song. It is 1870 and a man with long whiskers, wire-rimmed spectacles and black clothes leans against his homestead along Little Bay de Noc.
It is one of Escanaba's earliest pioneers, Jim Champ. He will live on the north shore until he is ninety years old. He never had a music lesson but would build and repair many violins. He also was a weaver of carpets and an Escanaba City Councilman.
The breeze suddenly shifts on Little Bay de Noc and another apparition appears. He's a railroad man, bib overalls and a brimmed hat and he's whistling a country western song. "Delta Dawn what's that flower you got on", he sings out loudly with his Yooper ascent. His muscular arms throw the switch choosing the rails the many tons of pelletized iron ore in the train cars will take until they reach the boat.
Yes, Escanaba's "real" north shore is very haunted. But they are wonderful ghosts that live down there. In the name of progress, most Escanaba residents have never laid eyes on the "old" Bay Shore area.
But I am an old timer who can recall playing down there as a small girl. Swimming in the summertime with my aunts and uncles, chasing frogs and catching fish with my brothers, picking lilacs and wild strawberries with Sandy, picking bundles of lilies of the valley by the foundation of Champ's old place and getting green apples from Harry, Alex and Borris the immigrants, are sweet memories!
And then there was the Tarzan swing on the north shore. No kid would ever forget that!
Sometimes it is a good thing to listen to the ghosts of summer's past. There is so much history on Escanaba's "real" north shore. I hope and pray that some day that wooded strip of land with the most wonderful natural sandy beach will hear children's laughter again!