Entrance NeighborsBurnham

Burnham, Michigan

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About two miles north of Arcadia was Burnham, Arcadia's closest neighbor to the north. Burnham started with a pier into Lake Michigan and a sawmill. The local supply of lumber was consumed in a few years, and like many other lumbering towns, Burnham did not last long after the lumber was gone. Where Was Burnham?
	1882 Map of Northwest Manistee County Burnham is north of Starky's Pier in Arcadia. (Arcadia's pier should be spelled "Starke's Pier" after Henry Starke.)
Burnham. A village on the shore of Lake Michigan, in Arcadia Township, in the extreme northwest of Manistee county, 22 miles north of Manistee, the county seat, from whence it has daily mail stage communication, it being the nearest railroad point and bank location. A large pier extends into the lake, and wood timber, lumber, ties and bark are shipped. There is a large quantity of hardwood timber in the vicinity, and there is a good opening for stave manufacturing, etc. Population 250. Daily stage with mail to Manistee; fare, $1.75, and Frankfort; fare, 75 cents. D.A. Hull, postmaster. Burnham Wood & Pier Co, Mnfrs Hardwood Lumber, General Store and Wood and Bark Dealers. -- Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1885
	1903 Map: Northwest Manistee County This map shows the location of Burnham relative to landowners in the area. The Burnham pier is not shown at this point. The sawmill for the Burnham Wood & Pier Co. closed around 1895. It is likely that the pier was abandoned, which led to its rapid deterioration.
	1903 Burnham Plat Map By 1903, many of the buildings in Burnham had been moved to Arcadia.
	Burnham Pier into Lake Michigan This is probably a photo of the Burnham pier, a standard bridge pier that extended several hundred feet into Lake Michigan. Piers like this one could only be used in fairly calm weather after the ice was gone in April or May and before the ice returned in November or December. The ship moored at the end of the pier is similar to the Arcadia, and there is evidence that the Arcadia visited the pier at least once in 1889 as did many other ships.
The Story of Burnham Begins in Pierport By 1870, a dock had been built at Pierport for the shipment of timber products. The Milwaukee firm known as the Burnham Wood & Piering Company soon hired young [Dean Alexander] Hull to manage their timber business in the Pierport area. Besides handling logging and wood cutting operations, the firm also purchased cordwood, logs, and tanbark from local farmers. Burnham’s schooner Boaz made 27 trips between Pierport and Milwaukee, and the firm shipped a total of 2,954 cords of firewood. … In reminiscing about the village of Burnham, Mary Gilbert, an early resident recalled a general store owned by the Burnham Wood and Piering Company, the Shaw Brothers mill, barns, a hotel, a blacksmith shop, dance hall, and numerous dwellings. With time the supply of lumber around Burnham ran out and the firm ceased operations. About the same time, the sawmill burned leaving the community without an industry. Many of the new buildings were moved two miles to the nearby village of Arcadia. … -- Steve Harold. “The life and times of Dean Hull.” Manistee News Advocate. Saturday, September	Dean Hull 1903 Dean Alexander Hull was the foreman of the Burnham Wood and Piering Company in Burnham.
	Burnham in the 1890s Judging by the hills in the background, this is probably a northerly view.
Records of Ships Landing at Burnham The following list of ships was extracted from four ledgers documenting vessel landings for the Burnham Wood and Pier Company. These ships generally hauled wood products to other ports and, less often, brought supplies to the settlement. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of landings at Burnham. The dates document the first and last trips of the seasons. 1884 Barge Geo. Burnham (3) April 1, 1884 First Landing: Maple bound for Milwaukee Barge Milton (8) First Landing: “50 Cds dry sawd Maple Wholes full only, finished at Starkie’s Bound for Milwaukee” J. M. Hill (1) “Bound for Milwaukee Maple in Hold Saw Beech on Deck about 140 Cds” Schooner Boaz (29) First Landing: “Bound Milwaukee Hold full Slabs Deck Landing Hem. Lumber” Supply (4) First Landing: “60 Cords Maple (mostly) Bound Milwaukee” Scow Prime (11) First Landing: “Lumber Hatch Holbrook Co Chicago” Scow Dunham (1) “85 Cords of Body Maple more or less Bound Milwaukee” Scow Gladiator (1) “Hold full of Maple Deck Landing of Beech & Chopped more or less (125 cords)” Barge Burroughs (1) “90 Cords of Sawed Beech Wood and slabs more or less Bound for Milwaukee” Scow May Guthin (1) “Consigned to G. B. & Sons 100 Cords of Sawd Maple Wood more or less” Barge Seymour (3) First Landing: “Hold full cull Maple Deck Landing sawd Beech Consigned G. B. Sons” Scow Dan Mabee (6) First Landing: “180 Cords Brickyard Wood & Slabs more less Consigned Geo. Burnham & Sons” Emma Leighton (1) “Wood 75 Cords Sawd Maple” Dan Hays (2) November 2, 1884 First Landing: “120 Maple Lumber 500 Posts” Last Landing: no description No 1884 landing is described as having brought goods to the town. 1885 Barge Geo. Burnham (2) April 27, 1885 First Landing: “Hold full Hardwood Lumber Deck Landing Wood dry maple” Schooner Boaz (26) First Landing: “55 Cords Maple Wood 50,000 feet Lumber (about) c/o Milwaukee” Suzie Shipman (1) no description of load Thos. Paine (1) no description of load Scow Helen (1) November 18, 1885 no description of load No 1885 landing is described as having brought goods to the town. 1886 Barge Geo. Burnham (4) April 8, 1886 First Landing: “Lumber” Barge Hilton (1) “Wood Slabs” Scow Dunham (1) no description of load Schooner Scud (4) First Landing: “Wood” Schooner Persia (1) no description of load Schooner Boaz (22) First Landing: “Lumber” Second Landing: Brought goods to town (e.g., potatoes). First description of ship used for this. Departed with “Lumber” Last Landing: October 30, 1886 1889 Schooner Boaz (11) April 26, 1889 First Landing: “All Wood” Scow Dan Mabee (16) First Landing: “Wood Slabs 2 ft Lumber” Third Landing: brought “Hardware from Pritzlaff” left with “Wood” Barge Arcadia (1) November 16, 1889 brought a variety of goods to the town 1890 Schooner Madonna (11) May 24, 1890 First Landing: “50 Cds Maple Wood more or less” also brought goods to the town Steamer John D. Dewar (1) brought goods to the town Schooner Boaz (3) Second Landing: “Cedar Ties” also brought goods to town Scow Sassacus (2) First Landing: “Cargo 48 Cds Maple Wood 40 Cds Slabs 80 Hem. Poles” Schooner Minnehaha (1) “Cargo 65,000 ft 3 ft 6 in Flooring” Schooner Ruby (2) Second Landing: “70 m ft Elm 20 Cds Beech Wood” Schooner Guide (4) Third Landing: “24 ½ Lumber 25 Cds B. Wood” Schooner Annie O. Hanson (1) December 15, 1890 brought goods to the town 1891 Barge Hilton (16) May 7, 1891 brought goods to the town O. Shaw (1) “Estimated 30 Cds Maple Wood” Annie O. Hanson (10) December 24, 1891 brought goods to the town The Demise of Burnham Like many other lumbering towns, Burnham came and went with the local lumber. In 1895, the sawmill for Burnham Wood & Pier Co. closed, and the Burnham post office closed. With the primary business gone, the pier was left to deteriorate, and the school and many of the houses were moved south to Arcadia. In 1905, the Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory began describing Burnham simply by saying "Manistee county. Send mail to Arcadia."

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