Constructed of native raindrop-shaped sandstone from Jacobs Quarry, it was designed by Marquette’s main architect, D. Frederick Charlton, and landscaped by Frederick Regulation Olmstead, of Central Park fame.
The mansion contained 65 rooms, together with an octagonal entrance corridor with a Tiffany stained glass dome, a library, a music room, a billiards room, and even a bowling alley within the basement. The home and its property occupied the complete block between Ridge and Arch streets and from Spruce Road downhill to Lakeshore Boulevard.
Sadly, the Longyears’ 19-year-old son Howard drowned in Lake Superior in 1900, starting a collection of occasions that led to the Longyears transferring away from house.
Mrs. Longyear, devastated by the lack of her son, wished to construct a park in his reminiscence alongside Lakeshore Boulevard beneath her house. Nevertheless, the Marquette and Southwestern Railroad wished to construct a railroad via that space.
In the long run, the town of Marquette sided with the railroad. Mrs. Longyear couldn’t forgive the town and she or he by no means returned to reside in Marquette.
The Longyears then went on trip to Paris, France. At some point, whereas driving in a carriage alongside the Champs-Elysees, Mr. Longyear requested his spouse what they need to do together with his home in Marquette, which had not been bought. She might have been joking, however she advised transferring him to his new place of residence in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Mrs. Longyear agreed and in 1903 work started. My great-great-grandfather, William Forrest McCombie, was one of many employees employed to assist dismantle the home. In the long run, it took 190 railroad automobiles to maneuver the complete mansion to the positioning the place it will be reassembled.
Since then, some spectacular properties have been constructed on the Marquette property the place the Longyear Mansion as soon as stood.
I’m honored that the Marquette Regional Historical past Heart chosen my e book. “The Eye of Odin: A Marquette Time Journey Novel” in your group learn this February.
As a neighborhood historical past lover and author, I’ve typically wished I had a time machine so I might expertise firsthand what Marquette was like in its early years. At some point, I had the concept to do the subsequent smartest thing: write a time journey novel with a major character who would have that very same alternative to see Marquette’s previous.
One of many major plots of time journey fiction is that an individual might change the previous with out realizing it. With that in thoughts, I thought-about what occasion in Marquette historical past I might change if I might. There have been many prospects, however the one he stored coming again to was stopping the elimination of the Longyear Mansion from Marquette. Think about the delight Marquette residents would really feel as we speak if this historic house remained one of many crown jewels of the Queen Metropolis.
Written “The Eye of Odin” I devised a plot that resulted in the home not being moved. For that to occur, different occasions within the story wanted to be modified. When my major character, Neill Vandelaare, inadvertently causes these adjustments, he’s unprepared for the stunning outcomes.
Whereas I researched the 12 months 1900 and the Longyear household to create the principle plot of the novel, different intervals of Marquette historical past additionally come into play within the novel. Neill is from the current previous in the course of the coronavirus pandemic.
The novel’s title is a reference to the Norse god, Odin, and performs on the speculation that Vikings might have visited Higher Michigan.
The mysterious dolmen, formed like a stone altar and situated on the summit of Mount Huron within the Huron Mountain Membership, is of basic curiosity within the plot of the novel and could also be a Viking creation.
Since time journey can be a type of science fiction, a have a look at what Marquette’s current and future may need been like if the Longyear Mansion had not been moved offers one other stunning plot twist.
My hope is that “The Eye of Odin” will provide readers an unique alternative to expertise Marquette’s previous in a extra practical manner than could be obtained by merely studying a historical past e book.
An added bonus is that Neill can talk together with his Marquette ancestors (the principle characters in my earlier collection, The Marquette Trilogy) and study further particulars about his family historical past. What genealogist would not need to journey again in time if it have been doable to fulfill his or her ancestors?
Ebook and historical past lovers are invited to learn. “The Eye of Odin: A Marquette Time Journey Novel” out there on the MRHC reward store and different native shops, after which attend the group studying dialogue on the Marquette Regional Historical past Heart at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, February 7.