LonBon22, Saginaw, MI (2026)

08/24/2026

The Pickle Barrel House Museum, a whimsical, two-story historical cabin located in Grand Marais on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The unusual history of the structure spans a century:
Cartoon Origins (1914) - Cartoonist William Donahey created The Teenie Weenies, a popular Chicago Tribune comic strip featuring two-inch-tall characters who lived in a pickle barrel.
Built as a Gift (1926) - To promote their product line, Reid, Murdoch & Co. (makers of Monarch brand pickles) had a life-sized, 16-foot-tall version of the barrel built by the Pioneer Cooperage Company. It was given to Donahey and his wife as a summer cottage on the shores of nearby Grand Sable Lake.
The Looky-Loos (1937) - Tired of a constant stream of curious tourists trying to catch a glimpse of the cartoonish home, the Donaheys sold the cabin. It was moved two miles into the town of Grand Marais.
Over the next several decades, the building served various purposes, operating as an ice cream stand, a visitor information center, and a gift shop.
Restoration & Museum (2003–Present) - After falling into disrepair, the Grand Marais Historical Society acquired the property in 2003. They completely restored it to its original 1920s interior layout. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and now operates as a museum displaying Donahey's original artwork and memorabilia.

08/24/2026

This butterfly is an Idea leuconoe, commonly known as the Paper Kite butterfly or Rice Paper butterfly. At the Dow Gardens Butterfly House located in Midland, Michigan.
They are famous for their large, translucent silvery-white or pale yellowish wings patterned with dark, deep black veins and distinct outer spots.
They are native to Southeast Asia but are incredibly popular in live butterfly houses and conservatories globally due to their calm demeanor.
Their slow, drifting, glider-like flight style makes them easy to observe up close. Because they lack strong flight muscles, they float gracefully through the air like a piece of paper.
Like many relatives in the milkweed family, they are poisonous to predators. They accumulate toxic chemicals from the host plants they feed on during their caterpillar stage.

08/24/2026

The famous Colgate Clock sitting atop the former Colgate-Palmolive factory in Clarksville, Indiana, directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.
Long before soap was made here, the red brick building opened in 1847 as the Indiana Reformatory South (a state prison). Following a severe cellhouse fire in 1919, the state relocated the inmates.
Colgate purchased the complex in 1923 and actually utilized inmate labor to help convert the prison cells into a soap manufacturing facility.
The massive clock was designed by Colgate engineer Warren Davey and built by the Seth Thomas Clock Company for the company's 1906 centennial. It originally stood atop Colgate’s Jersey City, New Jersey facility. When Jersey City replaced it with an even larger clock, this original timepiece was shipped to Indiana and officially began ticking on November 17, 1924.
For decades, this massive industrial complex was an economic powerhouse. At its production peak, the plant manufactured roughly 95% of all Colgate-brand toothpaste sold in the United States before the facility permanently closed its doors in 2008.
The octagonal clock face spans 40 feet (12 meters) in diameter. It is one of the largest single-facing clocks in the world, significantly outsizing London's famous Big Ben!
The minute hand is over 20 feet long, the hour hand is 16 feet long, and each individual hand weighs more than 500 pounds. Because of its immense scale, the tip of the minute hand travels more than half a mile every single day, totaling roughly 200 miles of structural movement per year!
Why Eight Sides? The distinct octagonal perimeter of the clock framework was purposefully designed to honor the shape of "Octagon Soap," an incredibly popular early laundry cleanser produced by Colgate.
During the catastrophic Great Ohio River Flood of 1937, rising waters knocked out power to the area, freezing the massive hands of the clock precisely at 4:10.
Although the factory has been closed for years, the clock remains an actively preserved regional landmark. The surrounding property is currently undergoing a massive $500 million redevelopment project spearheaded by Weyland Ventures to transform the historic prison-factory into a vibrant district featuring a boutique hotel, restaurants, residential spaces, and a sports complex.

08/23/2026

Grand Marais, Michigan
A historic harbor village located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula along the southern shores of Lake Superior. The classic look of the town's dense Northwoods setting, featuring custom-built wood siding log homes nestled below towering hillsides of maple and pine trees.
With a small permanent population of around 200–300 residents, this quiet hamlet transforms throughout the seasons into a major recreation destination.
The town sits right at the eastern entrance to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore via the scenic County Road H-58. It is uniquely positioned near the massive Grand Sable Dunes, the towering Log Slide Overlook, and the cascading sandstone steps of Sable Falls.
Named by early French voyageurs who mistook the word for a sheltered pool or "great pond", Grand Marais features a naturally protected harbor that historically provided a vital refuge for sailors navigating Lake Superior's dangerous shipwreck coast.
The town is home to the famous Pickle Barrel House Museum, a 16-foot-tall barrel built in 1926 as a summer cottage for cartoonist William Donahey.
It also serves as an official "Trail Town" for the North Country Trail. Travelers frequent the area for rock hunting (especially looking for agates) along the beaches in the summer, viewing vibrant fall colors, and snowmobiling via direct trail systems in the winter.

08/23/2026

The Wright Tower/ Kaden Tower is an iconic 15-story mid-century modern skyscraper located in Louisville, Kentucky.
The construction process was entirely reversed. Builders erected the solid central concrete elevator core first. They then built and hoisted the floors from the top down, suspending them using cantilevered steel beams branching outward from the core.
Because the entire weight of the structure is held up by that central core, the office floors are entirely column-free.
The lacy grillwork facade serves as a giant functional solar screen. The blueprint was originally designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the late 1940s as a hotel for Ahmedabad, India, where the stone jali-inspired screen would provide natural temperature control.
When it debuted in 1966, local residents and critics fiercely loathed it. It became the first building in generations to stir up a massive public design debate in Kentucky, with critics aggressively mocking it as a "giant Kleenex box" and the "Pink Monstrosity".
While based on a Wright concept, the building was actually executed by Wright’s protégé and son-in-law, William Wesley Peters. In a bizarre twist of history, Peters went on to marry Svetlana Alliluyeva—the only daughter of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin—after she defected to the United States.

08/22/2026

The Louisville Water Tower, the world's oldest standing ornamental water tower located along the banks of the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky.
This site functions today as both a historic landmark and the Louisville WaterWorks Museum.
In the 1830s and 1840s, polluted local wells caused severe epidemics of cholera and typhoid. This health crisis prompted voters to approve a municipal water system. The facility official opened on October 16, 1860, to clean and deliver safe drinking water to the city.
Chief Engineer Theodore Scowden built the structures in the Classical Revival style. The grand Roman and Greek temple motifs were intentional. They hoped beautiful public architecture would convince skeptical residents to abandon private wells in favor of tap water.
The 185-foot-tall structure on the right is actually a standpipe cover. It enclosed a heavy iron pipe to steady the massive, rhythmic surges from steam engines drawing water from the river. The large brick chimney structure on the left was added in 1893. It served a small boiler house needed to power Pumping Station No. 2.
In 1896, rapid-sand water filtration experiments conducted at this property by George Warren Fuller revolutionized sanitary engineering and municipal water treatment worldwide.
On March 27, 1890, a severe tornado snapped the original wood-paneled tower at its base, destroying most of the complex. It was subsequently rebuilt with an interior iron frame.
Ten zinc statues depicting Greek and Roman mythological figures (along with a Native American hunter and hound) line the tower base. Bought for $1,700 from a New York foundry, they replaced the originals destroyed by the tornado.
The pumps officially ceased operations in 1909 when city infrastructure moved to modern treatment reservoirs. The Department of the Interior named it a National Historic Landmark in 1971. It is also highly regarded as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

08/22/2026

The Louisville Water Tower, the world's oldest standing ornamental water tower located along the banks of the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky.
This site functions today as both a historic landmark and the Louisville WaterWorks Museum.
In the 1830s and 1840s, polluted local wells caused severe epidemics of cholera and typhoid. This health crisis prompted voters to approve a municipal water system. The facility official opened on October 16, 1860, to clean and deliver safe drinking water to the city.
Chief Engineer Theodore Scowden built the structures in the Classical Revival style. The grand Roman and Greek temple motifs were intentional. They hoped beautiful public architecture would convince skeptical residents to abandon private wells in favor of tap water.
The 185-foot-tall structure on the right is actually a standpipe cover. It enclosed a heavy iron pipe to steady the massive, rhythmic surges from steam engines drawing water from the river. The large brick chimney structure on the left was added in 1893. It served a small boiler house needed to power Pumping Station No. 2.
In 1896, rapid-sand water filtration experiments conducted at this property by George Warren Fuller revolutionized sanitary engineering and municipal water treatment worldwide.
On March 27, 1890, a severe tornado snapped the original wood-paneled tower at its base, destroying most of the complex. It was subsequently rebuilt with an interior iron frame.
Ten zinc statues depicting Greek and Roman mythological figures (along with a Native American hunter and hound) line the tower base. Bought for $1,700 from a New York foundry, they replaced the originals destroyed by the tornado.
The pumps officially ceased operations in 1909 when city infrastructure moved to modern treatment reservoirs. The Department of the Interior named it a National Historic Landmark in 1971. It is also highly regarded as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

08/21/2026

The Crescent Hill Baptist Church, a historic and prominent landmark located in the Crescent Hill neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky.
Built primarily in the grand Neoclassical style, the structure features elements reminiscent of Greek Revival architecture, paired alongside an Italian-style bell tower. The building is recognizable by its expansive stone stairs flanked by detailed baluster railings, which lead up to an impressive portico supported by six towering Corinthian columns.
Above the columns is a large triangular pediment showcasing the church's name and a detailed bas-relief concrete frieze featuring musician angels. These ornate sections were molded in the early 20th century by the George Rackle Artstone Company.
The entrance features triple double-doors set into brick archways. Inside, the building hosts a classic wrap-around balcony, original stained-glass windows, and a massive historic pipe organ.
The church was officially organized on January 12, 1908, when 43 charter members from the nearby Clifton Baptist Church met with the goal of expanding their ministry into the rapidly growing Crescent Hill railroad suburb.
The congregation initially gathered in a local hardware store before completing its first official 400-seat sanctuary at the corner of Frankfort and Birchwood Avenue on Christmas Day, 1910. As the neighborhood was officially annexed into the city of Louisville and grew over the subsequent decades, the church grounds underwent major structural expansions to form the massive brick complex seen today.

08/21/2026

We visited The Wright Tower (long known as the Kaden Tower), a prominent 15-story mid-century modern skyscraper located in Louisville, Kentucky.
The tower opened in 1966. While local lore often credits the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright, it was actually designed by his protégé and son-in-law, William Wesley Peters, alongside Taliesin Associated Architects (the successor firm to Wright’s studio). Wright's widow, Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, also provided aesthetic influence.
The building's iconic, intricate concrete grilles, frequently nicknamed the "giant white doily" or "Kleenex box", were adapted from a late-1940s unbuilt Frank Lloyd Wright design intended for a hotel or shop in Ahmedabad, India. In a hot climate, the screen was meant to act as a functional, passive solar block.
The tower features a cantilevered structure. Its office floors are entirely column-free because they are suspended by steel beams branching outward from a solid central concrete core.
The building was highly controversial when it debuted. Local critics fiercely debated its bold aesthetics, but it quickly became an undeniable suburban landmark alongside the Watterson Expressway.
It originally opened as the corporate headquarters for the Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company. A consortium of local investors called the Kaden Group purchased and extensively updated the building in 1986, changing its name. This era cemented its identity for decades and welcomed its most famous longtime tenant, Ruth's Chris Steak House, into the top-floor penthouse.
In September 2023, the skyscraper was officially renamed Wright Tower to honor the historical architectural influence of the Frank Lloyd Wright legacy.
In August 2026, the Louisville-based restaurant giant Texas Roadhouse bought the architectural landmark for $12 million to expand its surrounding corporate support campus, ensuring the historic tower remains a key element of the city's modern footprint.

08/20/2026

The rooftop of Waverly Hills Sanatorium located in Louisville, Kentucky.
The rooftop was also used as a heliotherapy pavilion. This specific part of the building holds immense historical significance regarding early 20th-century medical practices and modern paranormal folklore.
When this massive Tudor Gothic structure opened in 1926, the fifth floor and roof area housed the hospital’s heliotherapy department. Because effective antibiotic treatments like streptomycin had not yet been discovered, doctors relied on natural treatments to fight tuberculosis.
Patients suffering from tuberculosis of the bone were brought up to this open-air roof and the glass-enclosed pavilion to be treated with direct sunlight and fresh air.
The flat roof area famously featured a rooftop swingset and play area built specifically for pediatric tuberculosis patients. Medical professionals believed that keeping children active in the fresh mountain-like air would stimulate their immune systems.
This rooftop and the adjacent fifth-floor rooms are considered major paranormal hotspots. Urban legends often focus on the spirit of a young boy named “Timmy,” whom ghost enthusiasts claim can be coaxed into moving plastic balls left on the rooftop or in the nearby hallways.
The structure visible at the back of the roof is the elevator maintenance tower (often locally referred to as the “bell tower”). It houses the motors for the elevators.
Today, the property is owned by the Waverly Hills Historical Society, which funds structural preservation efforts including the massive job of replacing the roof and windows through historical and overnight tours.

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