A Once Busy Stop
Today, only two stone markers show where Sprague’s Corners, also called Wheat, used to be. Located on Petoskey Road, this small but busy stagecoach stop was important for travelers and settlers. After the first sawmills were built, people moving to Whitehall would first stop at Sprague’s Corners to rest and change horses.
Important Places in the Town
Just east of present-day Whitehall Road in Whitehall Township, there was a church and schoolhouse combined in one building. Nearby, there was a blacksmith shop, a store, a hotel, and a barn. Fresh horses waited there for travelers heading to the busy new town of Whitehall. The town even had a cemetery next to the hotel. This cemetery had about 60 white settlers, several Native Americans, and a Civil War veteran named Amasa Trowbridge, who died in 1880.
The Cemetery and Its Stories
The cemetery showed that the town was well-established. Graves were marked with white crosses and simple stones. Rev. Griffith, who preached at the church-school, was also buried there. However, over time, the shifting sands and winds from Lake Michigan uncovered many coffins. The last burial in the cemetery happened in 1884.
The Town’s Memory
Now, Sprague’s Corners is a ghost town. Only two stone markers are left. One marker is for Amasa Trowbridge, a Civil War veteran. The other marker reads, “A.P. Lanphar… 65 Years… 3 Months… Died March 6, 1872.” Everything else from the once busy town is gone, leaving these stones to tell its story.
Interactive White Lake History
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