Beaver Lake was a station on the Michigan Central's Mackinaw Branch about 2 miles southeast of St. Helen. This was a junction with an MC branch line which went east to Sage in Ogemaw County.
1879. January. This is a little lumbering place with a mill being active cutting shingles every day with about 200,000 piled up in sheds adjoining the railroad track. There are a few dwelling houses which constitute the village. [DFP-187-0104]
1881. At McFee's two camps at Beaver Lake, 4,200,000 feet of logs have been put in. [AAN-1881-0323]
1881. All of the logs in Beaver Lake with the exception of about 3 million feet have been got out all right, but this had to be left on account of low water. [AAN-1881-0525]
1881. M.D. Cady has broke camp at Beaver Lake, having banked 1.7 million feet of logs, and succeeded in clearing his skidways of timber. [AAN-1882-0322]
1882. November. F.L. Barker is about to embark in another railroad survey, this time from or near Beaver Lake to Alpena. [CCA-1882-1130]
1882. December. E.H. Phelps, secretary to [MC] manager Ledyard and civil engineer, returned today after a week's absence looking over the ground between Beaver Lake and Alpena, where the Michigan Central proposes to build a branch road. The country to be penetrated by this branch was gone over on foot and in a wagon by engineer Phelps and a line selected. On Monday a party will be started for the preliminary survey and when that is finished the company will decide definitely whether the road will be built, and if it is, there will be no delay in the work of construction. The line will be about 75 miles long and a valuable feeder for the MC as the valuable lumber region between Beaver Lake and Alpena, and even beyond the latter point will be tributary to it and give it abundant business Evening News. [AAN-1882-1213]
1883. February. Messrs. Turrey and Baker will be in town [Alpena] last Saturday. These gentlemen are engaged in surveying the MC railroad from Beaver Lake to Alpena, a distance of some seventy miles, and concerning which we made mention some weeks ago. The line has been surveyed to the junction of Wolff Creek and the South branch, and about 21 miles are yet to be surveyed. [MORE] There is good reason for believing that the MC will construct their line to this city [Alpena]. It seems that the object of the MC is to shut out the Pere Marquette railroad, which desires a feeder from this section to the country. [AAN-1883-0215]
1883. February. The Mulvaney brothers have banked some 3.6 million feet of logs, of which 2.8 million were put in at Beaver Lake and the balance at Turtle Lake, where the camp is now at work. [AAN-1883-0228]
1883. The surveyors who are surveying the MC railroad from Beaver Lake to Alpena have nearly finished the survey and are within five or six miles of Alpena. [DFP-1883-0306] 1883. March. The railroad from Alpena to Beaver Lake, if constructed, will be seventy three miles long, and as the distance is an air line there will not be many crooks in the road and the route will be a good place to test the speed of locomotives. It took 95 days to make the survey and the surveying force consisted of 17 men. [AAN-1883-0314]
1883. May. The Oscoda Mail says it has learned that the building of the railroad from Beaver Lake to Alpena has been indefinitely postponed. [AAN-1883-0530]
1883. December. The managers of the MC appear to have abandoned the project and they are reported to have entered into an agreement with the Detroit Bay City & Alpena railway, by which the said Beaver Lake & Alpena railway will not be built the coming year. [AAN-1883-1219]
1908. November. Edward Brown, the famous 72-year-old trapper of Beaver Lake, has visited Alpena with his annual bunch of fur pelts. He had four wolves, one lynx and six wildcats, besides a large quantity of mink, coon and other furs. [KGAZ-1908-1128]
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