Dock Reserve

“Oscoda and AuSable are Wiped Off The Map!” headlined the July 12, 1911, Detroit Free Press. The day before, forest fires, fanned by thirty-mile-per-hour winds, had destroyed these “twin cities” and killed four people. Refugees fled to this beach without money or possessions; some spent the night on the beach near the Dock Reserve, or in Lake Huron waiting to be rescued. The lumber barge, Niko, and the Detroit and Mackinac Railroad carried the victims to Tawas, East Tawas and Port Huron, where they received food, clothing and shelter.