The Sam Cohodas Lodge (also known as the Michigamme Lake Lodge) is a rustic lodge located off US-41 at the east end of
Lake Michigamme near
Champion, Michigan
Champion is an unincorporated community in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community is located within Champion Township. As an unincorporated community, Champion has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of ...
. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1991
and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1990.
Sam Cohodas
Sam Cohodas was born in
Kobylnik, Poland in 1895, the son of Aaron and Eva Cohodas.
In 1900 his father emigrated to
Marinette, Wisconsin
Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the south bank of the Menominee River, at its mouth at Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan; to the north is Stephenson Island, part of the ...
, fleeing the eastern European pogroms directed against Jews. The remainder of the family joined the elder Cohodas in 1903. Sam, his father, and his brothers worked in an uncle's produce business in the early part of the 20th century.
By 1915, Sam and his brother Harry opened their own retail and wholesale produce company, Cohodas Brothers Fruit Company, in
Houghton, Michigan
Houghton (; ) is the largest city and seat of government of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-largest city in the Uppe ...
.
Under Sam's direction, the company boomed during the 1920s he expanded the operation to become the largest of its kind in the
Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
and northern Wisconsin. His success continued even into the depths of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, with the company gaining national prominence as the nation's third largest fruit wholesaler.
Cohodas built this lodge in part as evidence of his success.
Cohodas also was involved in the banking industry, opening the Miners’ First National Bank in
Ishpeming, Michigan
Ishpeming ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,470 at the 2010 census, less than it was in the 1950s and 1960s when the iron ore mines employed more workers. A statue of ...
in 1934. He purchased other banks in local cities and formed the Michigan Financial Corporation.
Cohodas was also a great philanthropist, raising money for the
Mayo Clinic
The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...
the Shaare Zedek Jewish Hospital in Detroit, the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Sam Cohodas died in 1988.
Lodge History
In 1934, Cohodas hired local architect and Swedish immigrant David E. Anderson to design this lodge to serve as his personal residence as well as an entertainment center for his business. Finnish craftsmen built the lodge, using materials gathered from within 15 miles of the site, under the direction of Nestor Kallioinen, the region's finest log builder. Construction was finished in 1935, and the lodge served as Cohodas's wilderness camp until 1972. The lodge itself was later converted to a bed and breakfast, and remains largely intact.
Description
The Sam Cohodas Lodge in significant as a distinctive example of a large-scale, vernacular rustic log resort architecture constructed in the early 20th century. It is one of the largest log structures in Michigan which does not use an independent superstructure for support.
The lodge is a rectangular, two-story structure built of logs on the northern section of Lake Michigamme. The front facade is symmetrical with an enclosed central entrance porch, surmounted by a central dormer and flanked by two-story gable bays. The rear facade is asymmetrical with an intersecting gable over a centrally-located
balconet
Balconet or balconette is an architectural term to describe a false balcony, or railing at the outer plane of a window-opening reaching to the floor, and having, when the window is open, the appearance of a balcony. They are common in France, Por ...
te, and a rear entry. The lodge is built from locally furnished materials and features rustic ornamentation. The interior has a two-story greatroom, with the remainder of the rooms arranged in a surrounding U-shape.
See also
*
Granot Loma
References
External links
Sam Cahodas lodge for saleref>$1,350,000 - 6 acres
Off Market 6 beds • 4 full baths • 3,360 Sq.Ft. 58 Michigamme Lake Lodge , Michigamme, MI 49861 - Marquette County
Residential Property ID 8168104 6 acres in Marquette County, Michigan includes 50 photographs.
{{National Register of Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Houses completed in 1935
National Register of Historic Places in Marquette County, Michigan
Michigan State Historic Sites
Houses in Marquette County, Michigan
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan