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Common Name: Camp Filbert Roth Address: 281 University Road, Stambaugh Township Ownership: Public-The University of Michigan Nomination to National Register declined History: The complex contains four extant structures dating from the beginning of lumbering operations at the Von Platen-Fox Lumber Camp in 1921. This company, headquatered in Iron Mountain had extensive lumbering operations in both the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin in the early twentieth century. At this time, Iron County had already been scoured of hard pine, and logging operations concentrated on the harvesting of hardwoods such as elm and basswood. These hardwoods, due to their density, could not be floated to the lumber mills; instead they were transported by rail. The Von Platen-Fox Lumber Camp at Golden Lake was ideally situated a mere two and one-half miles southwest of Basswood, where the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad provided a means to transport the logs to lumber mills in Crystal Falls and locations further south such as Menominee. Von Platen-Fox used the camp until 1935. In 1937 the University of Michigan leased the campsite and 10 acres for a five year period as a summer training camp for its forestry students. The site became known as Camp Filbert Roth. Three classroom buildings were constructed at this time near the four existing structures. In 1942 the University purchased 90 acres along the western shore of Golden Lake, which included the logging camp site. A cluster of 18 log cabins has since been built about 400 feet west of the complex. However, these and the several structures in the immediate vicinity of the complex display a sensitivity of design and do not conflict aesthetically with the complex buildings. The original lumber camp structures remain intact and in a setting where they provide an easily interpreted example of a logging campsite. |
