Lake, MI: Pere Marquette Coaling Tower and Depot

(Satellite)

Dan Farrow posted

I have forgotten about this structure on the Pere Marquette Trail until someone posted it in another group. It is a coal tower used to refuel steam locomotives. The first time I saw it was in '96 while cycling the undeveloped trail.

Here is a link to a good description of what a coal tower is and how they operated.

https://bluelemon.me/tag/coal-tower/

Timothy M Shanahan shared
Dennis DeBruler Michigan has significantly more remaining coal towers than does Illinois.
http://www.michiganrailroads.com/coaling-facilities

BlueLemon
[The coaling tower is in the background whereas the depot is close to the foreground. Given the perpendicular tracks, the shed in the foreground probably stored a couple of hand-powered carts for the section gang.]

At first I didn't think this Dan's post was in Lake because the trail curves in the photo but the trail looks straight in the satellite image. Then I saw a curve in some other photos clearly labeled as Lake, MI. When I zoom out the satellite image, I can see a slight curve. So the above photo must have used a telescope lens that compressed the distance.

Edward Gross, Aug 2002

The Lake coal dock was built in 1929 and could hold five railcars worth of coal (approximately 250 tons) with more stored underground. The timing for building this dock is puzzling given the changes that were already taking place in railroading and the fact that steam locomotives had been plying this same track for decades; however, the tower might have been planned years earlier, but was delayed until Consumers Power—the local utility—could extend lines to Lake to supply electricity to the winch that would raise the coal buckets to the tower. Power finally came to Lake in the later part of the year, according to an article* in Aug. 16, 1929 issue of The Clare Sentinel....The tracks used by passenger and freight trains running between Saginaw and Ludington were removed in the 1990s and the grade turned into a rails to trails pathway within the last decade.

* NEW COAL DOCK COMPLETED AT LAKE The ‘Pere Marquette railroad company have just completed a concrete coal dock at Lake Station that has a capacity of five cars of coal. It is reported that the dock as well as a new pumping station that is expected to be installed will be run by electricity as soon as the new Consumers Power Company’s line is completed to Lake.
Summary of Michigan Railroad History

[BlueLemon]

It was engineered by Robert and Schaffer, a firm out of Chicago.

Bob Mcgilvray Jr. posted

Lake, Michigan - October 2017 - 43.851764, -85.001158 - Pere Marquette Rail Trail

MichiganRailroads

The former Pere Marquette coal dock at Lake, Michigan (Isabella County) still stands though it is no longer is use nor are the rails present. This was one of two coaling facilities on the PM's line between Saginaw and Ludington. The other was located at Baldwin.

1905 improvements: The PM builds a new water station at Lake, replacing an older model. [PMAR-1905]

Dave Kuntz posted four photos with the comment: "Concrete relic from the time of my grandparents. Coaling Tower in Lake, MI.  Now a side diversion from a rail trail.  Ever wonder what the top of one looks like?"

Tim Shanahan shared

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Clare County Historical Society posted

The coal tower at Lake is one of approximately 15 that remain standing in Michigan, and one of only two that you can walk up to and around. 

It was built by the Pere Marquette Railroad to provide coal for their locomotives in the late 1920s. It was one of the last coal towers built since diesel locomotives would soon suppliant the dirty and less-efficient coal engines. There's a marker that our historical society posted that talks about the tower and its height. 

The Pere Marquette State Rail Trail is a great way to visit the tower. If you ride or walk the trail, you can sometimes find pieces of coal next to the trail that fell off when trains still ran along the grade. Neat souvenirs of a bygone era.

Tim Shanahan shared

Lake, Michigan

Dennis DeBruler: Map applications give me the lake instead of a town. This link nails the location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NrdTpKaacYZkjAzJ6

Roger Patrick Bates commented on the above post
Was just there in June [2025]

Dave Kuntz Drone Photos posted four photos with the comment: "Concrete relic from the time of my grandparents. Coaling Tower in Lake, MI.  Now a side diversion from a rail trail.  Ever wonder what the top of one looks like?"

Tim Shanahan shared

Lake, Michigan

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