John Robinson

6 days ago | 99wfmk.com | John Robinson

Old Lansing Road runs north from Michigan Plumbing, through Millett, and ends at the current Lansing Road. It's a six-mile jaunt that runs parallel to Lansing Road, past the Woldumar Nature Center, through the former village of Millett, past the old 5railroad depot (now the Lansing Model Railroad Club), the B&I Bar that stands alone alongside the road, and the old one-room schoolhouse. Old Lansing Road runs northeast smack between Lansing Road and the Grand River.

6 days ago | 99wfmk.com | John Robinson

Ever hear of Saints Rest on the MSU campus? It just happened to be MSU's very first dormitory. When the campus opened in 1857, there were only three buildings, which included Saints Rest. Nineteen years later – 1876 -  while the students were enjoying their winter break, Saints Rest burned down. The Lansing Fire Department took 45 minutes to arrive...and by then it was too late. It was never rebuilt, and over time, memories of the old dorm faded and it was basically forgotten altogether.

1 week ago | 99wfmk.com | John Robinson

The airport in Lansing as we know it did not begin where it currently lies. Nope – it's been historically noted that the first recorded flight in Lansing took place at an old race track on October 15, 1911. It wasn't a commercial flight – it was a stunt pilot performing his actions in his Curtiss biplane. That old racetrack would later become the Red Cedar Golf Course, which has now been closed since 2007.

1 week ago | 99wfmk.com | John Robinson

Here is one of the more interesting abandoned places we've seen: the old WWJ radio broadcasting building in Detroit. Currently, WWJ is the only 24-hour news radio station in Detroit, and the oldest radio station – PERIOD -  in Michigan. WWJ was founded by the founders of the Detroit News, the Scripps family. William Scripps had the idea that the Detroit News needed its own radio station, so on August 20, 1920 a new station known as 8MK debuted on the air.

1 week ago | 99wfmk.com | John Robinson

The first name and the last name of one of the world's most famous authors were given to two Michigan towns in the Upper Peninsula. Can you guess which towns they would be? Allenville & Pickford? Curtis & McLeod? Evelyn & Campbell? Nah. The towns in question are Rudyard and Kipling. They were named by Fred D. Underwood, then-vice president of the Soo Line Railroad, who was an admirer of author Rudyard Kipling. Some of Kipling's most famous works include The Jungle Book, Captains Courageous, and Kim.