20080322-DSC_8517 – American Byways

Home
Journal
Map
Destinations
- Historic Site
- National Park
- Nature
  - Arch
  - Bog
  - Canyon
  - Cave
  - Desert
  - Dune
  - Lake
  - Prairie
  - View
  - Waterfall
  - Wetland
  - Wilderness
- Point of Interest
  - Cemetery
- Transportation
Regions
- Mid-Atlantic
- Midwest
  - Indiana
  - Michigan
  - Ohio
- Northeast
- Southeast
  - North Carolina
  - Tennessee
- Southwest
  - Arizona
  - New Mexico
Prints & Downloads
About
Search

Home
Journal
Map
Destinations
- Historic Site
- National Park
- Nature
  - Arch
  - Bog
  - Canyon
  - Cave
  - Desert
  - Dune
  - Lake
  - Prairie
  - View
  - Waterfall
  - Wetland
  - Wilderness
- Point of Interest
  - Cemetery
- Transportation
Regions
- Mid-Atlantic
- Midwest
  - Indiana
  - Michigan
  - Ohio
- Northeast
- Southeast
  - North Carolina
  - Tennessee
- Southwest
  - Arizona
  - New Mexico
Prints & Downloads
About
Search

20080322-DSC_8517

Discover more from American Byways

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Type your email…

0

American Byways

Instagram

americanbyways

The Michigan City lighthouses mark one of the most

The Michigan City lighthouses mark one of the most distinctive harbor entrances on the southern shore of Lake Michigan in #Indiana. Together, the old shore light and the later pierhead light reflected the city’s growth as a working port, while their survival into the present gave Indiana one of its best-known maritime landmarks.

Michigan City’s lighthouse history began in 1837, but the surviving shore light was built in 1858 to replace the earlier structure on Lake Michigan. It remained in service until 1904, when its lantern and lens were moved to a new pierhead tower at the harbor entrance. Harriet Colfax, one of the station’s most notable keepers, served both the shore light and the harbor light before resigning in 1904 at age eighty.

A separate pier light was first established in 1871, but storms repeatedly damaged the exposed structure, and one tower was swept into the lake in 1886. The present Michigan City East Light was completed in 1904 on a concrete pier and built of steel and brick above a fog-signal building. Automated in 1960 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, it remains paired with the old shore light, now a museum. Together, the two landmarks preserve a continuous story of navigation, harbor engineering, and lighthouse keeping from the 1830s onward.

#HistoricPreservation #GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography #VisitIndiana

Winter travel set the pace for the day, with snow-

Winter travel set the pace for the day, with snow-covered roads and light traffic guiding a quiet drive through Putnam County, #Indiana. Moving steadily in my Subaru along secondary routes, the landscape drew attention toward creek valleys and crossings rather than distance or speed, leading naturally to Baker’s Camp Covered Bridge along Big Walnut Creek. Built in 1901 by Joseph J. Daniels, the single-span Burr arch truss reflected a period when timber bridges were engineered to meet everyday rural demands.

#WinterWonderland #VisitIndiana #RAWbridges #Total_Bridges

A winter snowfall settled over Big Walnut Creek as

A winter snowfall settled over Big Walnut Creek as Baker’s Camp Covered Bridge crossed the valley in Putnam County, #Indiana. Built in 1901 by Joseph J. Daniels, the single-span bridge uses the Burr arch truss, a timber system that combines a curved arch with kingpost framing to carry loads efficiently across rural streams. Seen from above, the bridge reads as part of the landscape it once served, an enclosed crossing shaped by local materials, late nineteenth-century engineering practice, and the practical demands of county roads.

#AmericanRural #VisitIndiana #RAWbridges #Total_Bridges

My partner and I spent the evening hiking a loop t

My partner and I spent the evening hiking a loop through the Fire Wave, Kaolin Slot Canyon, and White Domes Slot Canyon—several hours in the dry, 100°F heat of Valley of Fire. The trail led us through vivid bands of Aztec Sandstone, carved into domes and narrow passageways over millions of years. Despite the heat, the shifting light and color revealed a depth and detail in the landscape that made every step worthwhile.

#stayandwander #WildernessCulture #OptOutside #folkscenery #RAW_landscape #RAW_seasons #RAW_allnature #rawusa_jul25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa @visittheusa #Nevada #TravelNevada #VisitNevada #ExploreNevada #NVstateparks @travelnevada

We were in town for work but made time one cool ev

We were in town for work but made time one cool evening to explore the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip on foot. From the MGM Grand, we walked south to the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. Designed by Betty Willis in 1959 and installed in the unincorporated town of Paradise, the sign quickly came to symbolize the city’s glitz, neon, and optimism. In 2009, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places; by 2014, solar panels made it energy neutral—a small nod to sustainability in a city built on spectacle.

On our return walk, we passed the shuttered Diamond Inn, once the Desert Isle Motel (1955). Expanded in 1964 and later renamed, it featured a whimsical pink elephant statue. It closed in 2023, part of a wave of closures along the Strip’s older stretch.

Nearby, the towering neon sign of the Pinball Hall of Fame lit up the night—44-foot letters spelling “Pinball” and 6.5-foot circles in a 54-foot-wide display.

We also saw the remnants of the Laughing Jackalope, formerly Wright’s Motel (1950s), and later a quirky bar. Most of it is gone now. The Desert Oasis Motel, opened in 1963 as the Half Moon, stands in decay—perhaps not for much longer.

One bright spot: a small egg shop with great breakfast and the restored Nirvana Hotel—rare preservation in a corridor known for demolition. We ended at the ruins of the White Sands Motel, opened in 1959 as a quiet retreat. It closed in 1999 and was declared dangerous by 2015.

Even a short walk in Las Vegas reveals a layered past—marked by ambition, nostalgia, decline, and reinvention. Who knows what will remain next time.

#Historic #HistoricPreservation #Deserve2Preserve #Abandoned #urbex #UrbanExploration #AbandonedPlaces #SaveTheDecay #raw_abandoned #rawusa_may25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #VintageVegas #VegasHistory #OffTheStrip #HiddenVegas #ClassicVegas #NeonBoneyard #LasVegasPhotography #VegasLocal #GoogieArchitecture #RoadsideAmerica #Nevada #TravelNevada #LasVegas

Forty Mile Point Light stands on a low bluff along

Forty Mile Point Light stands on a low bluff along Lake Huron in Presque Isle County, #Michigan, about midway between Alpena and Cheboygan. The station was completed in 1896 after Congress appropriated funds in 1893 to close a long, unlit stretch of shoreline that had concerned Great Lakes mariners. Its square white tower rises from a two-story red brick keeper’s dwelling, a practical design used widely by the Lighthouse Board in the late nineteenth century. The original fourth-order Fresnel lens gave the light a range of roughly 15 nautical miles, guiding ore carriers, lumber steamers, and passenger vessels moving along Michigan’s northeastern coast.

Automation came in 1969 under the U.S. Coast Guard, ending the era of resident keepers. In 1996, ownership transferred to Presque Isle County, and the property gradually reopened as a museum while remaining an active aid to navigation. Visitors today can walk the grounds, view exhibits in the former keeper’s quarters, and follow the shoreline north of the station to see timbers from the 1905 wreck of the steamer Joseph S. Fay, still embedded in the sand. The setting is open and exposed, shaped by wind and water, much as it was when the light first went into service.

#HistoricPreservation #GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography #PureMichigan

Sturgeon Point Lighthouse stands along the Lake Hu

Sturgeon Point Lighthouse stands along the Lake Huron shoreline in Haynes Township, just north of Harrisville, #Michigan. Built where a shallow reef extends more than a mile into open water, the station marked a persistent hazard along Michigan’s northeastern lower peninsula. The brick tower, distinguished by its white and red daymark, remains an active aid to navigation while anchoring the broader landscape of Sturgeon Point State Park.

Congress appropriated approximately $15,000 in 1867 after the United States Lighthouse Board identified the reef as a danger between established lights on Lake Huron. A 60-acre site was secured in 1868, and construction of the limestone foundation, brick tower, and attached keeper’s dwelling was largely complete by late 1869. The light was first exhibited in 1870 using a kerosene-fueled lamp and Fresnel lens. Perley Silverthorn served as the first keeper, overseeing operations during a period of growing vessel traffic tied to lumbering and regional trade.

In 1876, a station of the United States Life-Saving Service was established adjacent to the lighthouse, reinforcing the site’s role in rescue work along this exposed reach of shoreline. Technological improvements led to automation in 1913, and after the creation of the United States Coast Guard in 1915, responsibility for the station gradually shifted. Full automation was achieved in 1939, and staffing ended by 1941.

Congress appropriated approximately $15,000 in 1867 after the United States Lighthouse Board identified the reef as a danger between established lights on Lake Huron. A 60-acre site was secured in 1868, and construction of the limestone foundation, brick tower, and attached keeper’s dwelling was largely complete by late 1869. The light was first exhibited in 1870 using a kerosene-fueled lamp and a Fresnel lens. Perley Silverthorn served as the first keeper, overseeing operations during a period of growing vessel traffic tied to lumbering and regional trade.

#PureMichigan #HistoricPreservation #GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography

A late-winter hike through the Red River Gorge Geo

A late-winter hike through the Red River Gorge Geological Area in #Kentucky in 2009 offered a quiet day on the trail with my dad, moving through bare hardwoods and lingering patches of evergreen and rhododendron. We followed well-worn paths to Princess Arch, a modest sandstone span, and continued on to Rock Bridge along Swift Camp Creek.

The gorge, carved into eastern Kentucky’s sandstone plateau, is defined by its natural bridges, cliffs, rock shelters, and seasonal waterfalls, features that have long made it one of the region’s most distinctive landscapes.

#OptOutside #Appalachia #appalachian_explorers #TravelKY

The walk to Whispering Cave at Hocking Hills State

The walk to Whispering Cave at Hocking Hills State Park in #Ohio began at the Old Man’s Cave trailhead, following a gentle winter route through open woods and along sandstone cliff lines. Icicles hung overhead, breaking apart in the winter sun as temperatures shifted through the day. The cave itself is a broad recess—nearly 300 feet wide—cut into the Blackhand sandstone, its scale felt before it fully came into view. A seasonal waterfall drops roughly 105 feet into the hollow, subdued by cold but still shaping the space. This spirited hike marked the close of our New Year’s winter visit to Hocking Hills. 💖

#OhioTheHeartofitAll #OhioStateParks #HockingHills #WinterWonderland

Over the New Year’s holiday, a winter visit to Hoc

Over the New Year’s holiday, a winter visit to Hocking Hills State Park in #Ohio followed an overnight snowfall that left roughly a half inch of fresh powder across the trails, softening sound and edges alike. We hiked at Cantwell Cliffs with my partner and Theo, our cattle dog, moving through long, quiet stretches shaped as much by cold as by terrain. The descent along Buck Run dropped into a narrow valley where rock shelters and tall sandstone walls closed in, the creek partly iced and moving slowly beneath them. From the rim, bare hardwoods opened winter sightlines across the gorge; below, the valley trail emphasized the scale of the cliffs from the cold floor of the hollow. Sparse crowds, kept away by snow and low temperatures, allowed the place to feel inward and deliberate, defined by season rather than momentum.

#WinterWonderland #HockingHills #OhioTheHeartofitAll #OhioStateParks

Rock House is the only true cave within Hocking Hi

Rock House is the only true cave within Hocking Hills State Park in #Ohio, formed over millennia as water cut deeply into the Black Hand Sandstone. The result is a long, high corridor with window-like openings and load-bearing sandstone columns that give the space a distinctly architectural feel. Archaeological evidence points to its use by Native peoples as a shelter and water-collection site, while 19th-century lore later cast it as a hideout for outlaws, earning the nickname “Robbers’ Roost.” Reaching the cave in winter, we hiked with my partner and Theo, our cattle dog, along snow-covered trails where icy climbs slowed the approach and demanded attention.

#WinterWonderland #OhioTheHeartofitAll #OhioStateParks #HockingHills

I woke before daylight in my rooftop tent along th

I woke before daylight in my rooftop tent along the Cheat River in West Virginia, wind shaking the fabric as fresh snow fell through the night. By morning, the riverbanks and forest floor were covered, and winter had stripped the landscape down to its essentials. It was bitterly cold, unsettled weather—the kind that slows movement but sharpens attention.

Snowshoeing into Coopers Rock State Forest, trails softened or disappeared beneath fresh drifts. The forest was quiet, broken only by wind and the compression of snow underfoot. Deeper in the woods, the Henry Clay Furnace emerged from the trees, its stone stack standing as a reminder of early Appalachian industry. Completed in 1836, the furnace once employed hundreds and produced iron that was floated down the Cheat River. In winter, it felt isolated and exposed, emphasizing the labor and endurance required to operate here.

Later, I followed ridgelines toward the cliffs above the gorge, passing stonework built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Near the overlook, the Almost Heaven swing stood empty, chains shifting slightly in the wind. Gusts swept the exposed rock and kept me back from the edge. Snowshoeing along the cliffs slowed the day and deepened the experience, turning a familiar place into something quieter, harsher, and shaped by weather, history, and restraint.

📸 Key:
1 - Coopers Rock overlook
2 - Henry Clay Furnace
3 - CCC-built picnic shelter
4 - Along the ridgeline
5 - Coopers Rock overlook
6 - Almost Heaven Swing

#AlmostHeaven #VisitWV #GoToWV #WinterWonderland #OptOutside #stayandwander #folkscenery #Appalachia #appalachian_explorers #wanderingusa #VisittheUSA #WestVirginia #WVPhotographer #wonderfulgrams

Search

Search for:

The Small Stuff

© 2003-2025American Byways. All Rights Reserved.