For motorists, Moran passes by in the blink of an eye: a few storefronts and a gas station lined up facing the M-123 and a railroad right-of-way that's now a snowmobile trail. It's flat and plain, with hardly a tree in sight. You'd never suspect that Moran was born from a grand, Detroit-based colonization scheme aimed at Germans. In 1881 the town promoter platted 137 blocks, with 18 lots per block. Such "paper cities" were common in Michigan and other states in the the new west of the 1830s and later.
Bill Leipnitz, Jr. (1873-1957) told the tale of Jacob's City/Moran, leisurely and well. It can be read at www.moranmichigan.org/history. He recalled his family's long-awaited arrival at Jacob City (its original name) after dark, by train. That rail line from the Soo's main line to St. Ignace was the town's reason for being, along with the uncut timber. There was not a light to be seen. he wrote. It was "silent as death." The 80 acres his father had bought turned out to be worthless softwood, not hardwood to sell to St. Ignace's iron smelter. And ithe land was four miles from any road or the tracs.. Most of the German settlers "had never seen a tree except in a park, and couldn't tell poplar from hardwood," Leibnitz wrote.
Conductors announced the stop as "Humbug City." A few settlers succumbed to the winter. Others made the best of it. They formed a "deutsche evangeelische Gesandverein" (German evangelical singing society." A saloon was over the promoter's boarding house. A planned beer garden never got built. Some Poles joined the Germans. Most had to leave their holdings when it became apparent that the area offered no steady income or elmployment. The father's job as a mason in St. Ignace (he came home weekends) enabled the Leipnitzes to stay.
Still, the children, who had lived confined in towns and cities, loved life in Moran. "Here we had the world, so to speak, for a playground."
One imaginative settler, the "outstanding figure of those German dreamers," created a merry-go-round and a fountain, to no particular acclaim, then turned his interests in a more private direction, collecting butterflies and and developing a rare plant garden.
Today the names and dates of many of Moran's German pioneers can be found at the cemetery on the south side of Brevort lake Road, about a mile and a half west of M-123.
Back to St. Ignace & U.S. 2 to Naubinway
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MORAN
RESTAURANTS,
LODGINGS
& CAMPGROUNDS
These are our choices, not ads.
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MORAN
RESTAURANTS
KING'S FISH MARKET
(906) 643-1068
The Kings are a well-known commercial fishing family, based in Naubinway. Their new (2006) market here offers the fresh and smoked Great Lakes fish they catch, plus deep-fried whitefish with fries ($6.50 for 4 pieces) or shrimp with fries ($9). Three tables let customers eat in. No credit cards. On snowmobile trail.
3085 Mackinaw Trail in "downtown" Moran, north of the gas station. Open daily from Mem. thru Labor Day 10-8. After Labor Day thru Nov., closed Mon & Tues. Open 10-4 Wed-Sun, to 6 Fri & Sat. Probably closed in winter. Wheelchair accessible.
ROCK BOTTOM TAVERN
(906) 643-1156
This friendly bar offers a full menu of good food BBQ pork ribs, chicken or shrimp Alfredo, Italian dishes, whitefish) and a non-smoking dining room. The popular Friday-night fish fry, all you can eat, features fresh whitefish ($10 — normally it's a $13 dinner for less) or walleye (currently $13). The 1/3 lb. burger ($6) comes with a side; onion rings are a favorite. Kids' menu; high chairs. On snowmobile trail.
N-4054 M-123 in" downtown" Moran, 10 miles northwest of St. Ignace off I-75. Open daily. Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-2 a.m., Sun noon-2 a.m. Kitchen open to midnight. Handicap access: one step. Full bar.
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MORAN
LODGINGS
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MORAN
CAMPGROUNDS
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