| Birch Lodge Hospital and Summer Resort Sanitarium | |
| Location: | Co. Rt. H-40, .6 mi. W of MI 123, Trout Lake, Michigan |
| Coordinates: | 46.1906°N -85.0328°W |
| Built: | 1911 |
| Architect: | Dr. Edgar Ford |
| Builder: | H. Emery |
| Added: | November 29, 1996 |
| Refnum: | 96001376 |
| Designated Other1: | Michigan State Historic Site |
| Designated Other1 Date: | November 20, 1987 |
| Designated Other1 Num Position: | bottom |
The Birch Lodge, also known as the Birch Lodge Hospital and Summer Resort Sanitarium or the Trout Lake Sanitarium, is a resort facility located on the northern shore of Trout Lake, off County Route H-40, west of MI-123, in Trout Lake Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1987.
Birch Lodge was founded as one of a crop of resorts built in upper Michigan around the beginning of the 20th century.[1] It was started by Dr. Edgar David Ford and his wife Cornelia[1] of Cambria, Wisconsin[2] as a combination of a summer resort as tuberculosis sanitorium.[3] The Fords obtained property on Trout Lake in 1911[4] and hired H. Emery, also of Cambria, to construct the lodge,[1] designing it as a resort that combined outdoor recreation and medical health.[2] However, before the lodge opened, Edgar Ford died of rabies.[4] Despite this, the resort was opened in 1912 by Cornelia Ford and her sons.[4]
However, the Birch Lodge Hospital quickly ran into financial trouble.[1] In 1915, the title was transferred to mortgage holder Oliver W. Smith.[4] One of the first mounted State Constabulary units (a precursor to the state police) occupied the site from 1918 - 1922, and it was used as a private residence for a time.[4] Charles and Estelle Moore purchased Birch Lodge in 1926. They re-established the property as a resort and operated it until 1938.[1] [4] The resort went through three more owners and some remodeling[4] until Cliff and Anna Badgley purchased it in 1952.[1] The Badgleys constructed an eight-room brick motel on the property in 1964.[4] Cliff Badgley died in 1981, but Anna continued to operate the resort.[4] The lodge was closed in 1985,[4] but the motel was operated until Anna died in 2006.[5] In 2010 the property was sold to new owners, who reopened it.[4]
Birch Lodge is situated on 20 acres located along the northern shore of Trout Lake.[1] When it opened, the lodge had cottages, a recreation room, boating equipment, and a dancing pavilion; it also boasted hospital facilities such as an operating room and a linen room.[2] There are currently six structures on the property: the main lodge, three frame utility buildings that were once cabins, and two log cabins.[1] The largest of these, the main lodge, is a three-story wood-framed structure on a fieldstone foundation, built in 1911.[1] It is constructed on a T-plan and is clad primarily in clapboard, although the third-floor mansard gables are now covered with vinyl siding.[1] The windows are rectangular lights, and set between green-painted shutters accented with diamond shapes.[2] The roof is clad in asphalt shingling.[2] Much of the interior furnishings of the lodge date to its construction, and it remains a well-preserved example of early 20th century resort architecture.[1]