Old Victoria

Yesterday, I included a picture of me standing by a North Country Trail sign pointing to the line, Old Victoria - 76 miles.  I had no idea where Old Victoria is, or, more importantly, what it is.


Today, we were on U.S. 45 headed south toward another waterfall and were passing through Rockland, Michigan.  I saw a sign announcing, "Old Victoria, 4 miles."  I quickly made a turn and headed West to Victoria.

It turns out that Victoria was once a small mining settlement.  It has been preserved as a historic and archaeological site.  It yields quite a few artifacts.  I suspect that the "artifacts" are mostly whiskey bottles and snoose containers, but a historical artifact is what it is.  You can do a self-guided tour or, for $5, get the guided tour.  The volunteer answering questions said we were the first to ever arrive because of a sign on the North Country trail.




The site is described in more detail here.  If you are ever passing through Rockland, just turn west when you see Bussiere's Bunkhouse on the east side of U.S. 45.