Stanton’s Cottages – A Charming Port Austin Roadside Resort History From the 1940s

Stanton’s Cottages was a small tourist resort of rustic cabins located along M-25 (formerly US-25) about two miles west of Port Austin, Michigan. The enterprise took its name from its proprietor, Carl Stanton, a resident who established the cottages with his family in the mid-20th century. Carl and his wife Bertha (Iseler) Stanton raised their family in the Port Austin area?, and by the late 1940s or early 1950s, Carl recognized the growing stream of automobile tourists coming up Michigan’s “Thumb.” He developed a cluster of modest rental cottages on his property to serve vacationers traveling the scenic shoreline. The L.L. Cook Company of Milwaukee even published a real photo postcard of Stanton’s Cottages (now preserved in the University of Michigan’s Tinder Collection)? , indicating the resort’s local popularity. This family-run business was part of a broader postwar trend of entrepreneurs turning roadside farmland into informal resorts. Carl Stanton essentially became an innkeeper on his own land, welcoming summer visitors under the sign “Stanton’s Cottages” for several decades.

A Mid-Century Roadside Retreat

During its peak years in the 1950s, Stanton’s Cottages operated as a classic “cottage court” – a row of simple cabins offering basic lodging and kitchen facilities for travelers. Advertising of the day highlighted the convenient location “2 miles west of Port Austin on M-25,” proximity to Lake Huron’s beaches, and “modern housekeeping” amenities (running water, electricity, and kitchenettes). Like many such cottage resorts of the era, Stanton’s offered an affordable, family-friendly alternative to big hotels.

Guests could rent by the night or week, often cooking their meals and enjoying outdoor recreation. The cottages sat near the shore of Saginaw Bay, allowing easy access to swimming, fishing, and boating. A period newspaper clipping (circa 1950s) shows Stanton’s Cottages promoting its lake breeze and scenic sunsets, appealing to “good-old-fashioned tourists” searching for a peaceful summer getaway. This humble resort likely consisted of only a handful of cabins, but it provided much-needed accommodations when Port Austin’s tourist trade was expanding rapidly. Postwar vacationers packing into cars were looking for precisely these kinds of clean, family-run cottages and motor courts along the highway.?

Stanton’s Cottages met that demand, becoming one of the many mom-and-pop resorts dotting M-25 mid-century.

Photographs, Advertisements, and Maps

Though Stanton’s Cottages was a small operation, it left behind a paper trail in the form of postcards, ads, and possibly map mentions. A real photo postcard entitled “Stanton’s Cottages on M-25, Port Austin, Mich.” survives in the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography.?

The postcard, published in vintage sepia tone, depicts a neat row of white cottages with green lawns, likely with the main highway in front. Such postcards were often sold or given to guests as souvenirs, and today, they serve as invaluable visual records of how the resort looked. In addition to postcards, Stanton’s likely advertised in regional newspapers and Michigan travel brochures. An archival advertisement from the 1950s (like the attached clipping) would have listed Stanton’s phone number (Port Austin exchange) and amenities – an approach similar to an ad for the nearby Grindstone City cottages that touted “plate dinners, light lunches, cottages, and a boat livery” to attract passing motorists?.

Stanton’s Cottages focused on lodging (without an on-site restaurant), so its ads probably emphasized the cabins’ comforts and lakeside recreation. Period highway maps and AAA guides from the 1950s–60s sometimes marked the locations of tourist cabins; Stanton’s may appear on a Huron County map as a little cluster of buildings west of town. These archival traces – postcards, clippings, and map notations – together depict Stanton’s Cottages as an integral part of Port Austin’s mid-century tourist infrastructure.

Role in Thumb Area Tourism

Stanton’s Cottages played a modest but significant role in developing tourism in Port Austin and Michigan’s greater “Thumb” region. During the early to mid-1900s, the Port Austin vicinity transitioned from a quiet farming and fishing community into a seasonal tourist destination. Small resorts like Stanton’s helped catalyze this change by providing lodging to the influx of visitors coming to enjoy the Thumb’s natural attractions. Travelers from Detroit, Flint, and other cities would drive the looping route of US-25 around the Thumb and stop over at roadside cabin courts. At Port Austin’s tip-of-the-Thumb location, tourists were drawn by sights such as Turnip Rock and Port Crescent State Park, as well as fishing charters and expansive beaches. Stanton’s Cottages and similar establishments “offered affordable accommodations to tourists visiting attractions like Turnip Rock and Port Crescent”, making it feasible for middle-class families to spend a week up north?

These cottage courts also kept tourism dollars in the local economy – patrons would buy groceries in town, rent boats, and participate in community events while staying there. In an era before franchise motels and vacation rentals, family-run cottage resorts were essential in building Port Austin’s reputation as a summer getaway. As one historian notes, they provided a gateway to Lake Huron summer memories? , enabling generations of visitors to experience the Thumb’s charm in an informal, homestyle setting.

Decline and Legacy

Like many mom-and-pop resorts, Stanton’s Cottages eventually declined as tourism patterns evolved in the late 20th century. The 1960s and 1970s brought new trends – interstate highways routed vacationers elsewhere, travelers demanded more modern facilities, and many visitors began buying their own cottages or campers. Family-run cabin courts struggled to compete. By the early 1970s, Carl Stanton was aging, and it appears the cottages ceased operation. Carl Stanton passed away by the mid-1970s (age 66) and was laid to rest after years of providing hospitality to Port Austin’s tourists.?

Stanton’s Cottages closed its doors with no successor to take over, ending a chapter of local history. Some old-timers in Huron County still recall staying at Stanton’s or similar spots during childhood vacations. Today, no sign remains of the little resort – the site west of Port Austin is believed to have been absorbed into either private lakeshore property or nearby Jenks Roadside Park, which now offers a public picnic area and beach access. However, the legacy of Stanton’s Cottages lives on in archives and memory. The Port Austin History Center preserves photos and stories of the area’s tourism heyday, and the postcard provides a tangible glimpse of Stanton as it looked in its prime. In the broader context, Stanton’s Cottages exemplified the mid-century roadside culture in Michigan’s Thumb: a time when “the Thumb’s shoreline was dotted with similar family-run establishments” catering to summer visitors arriving by car?

While modern travelers to Port Austin now find lodging in contemporary cottages, B&Bs, or campgrounds, pioneers like Carl Stanton laid the groundwork for the region’s tourist economy. Stanton’s Cottages may be gone, but they remain a fond part of Port Austin’s local heritage—a reminder of simpler times when a row of cozy cabins on M-25 beckoned motorists to stop and enjoy Lake Huron’s beauty.

---

Sources (MLA):

Port Austin Outdoor Adventure. “Jenks Roadside Park – Port Austin.” portaustinoutdooradventure.com, 2023. (Location of roadside park ~2 miles west of Port Austin on M-25, near former Stanton’s site.)

University of Michigan, Clements Library. Stanton’s Cottages on M-25, Port Austin, Mich. Real Photo Postcard published by L. L. Cook Co. (Milwaukee), David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography. University of Michigan Digital Collections, ID 23369. Accessed April 9, 2025?

Hardy, Michael. “Grindstone Grill And Cottages – A Glimpse into Grindstone City’s Roadside Past.” Thumbwind, 9 April 2025? (Describes the mid-20th-century roadside cottage courts in the Upper Thumb, with parallels to Stanton’s Cottages.)

Hardy, Michael. “Bay Crest Cabins US-25 Port Austin.” Thumbwind, 22 April 2024? (Notes on similar cottage resorts near Port Austin in the 1940s–50s and their fate.)

Huron Daily Tribune (Bad Axe, MI). “Wednesday 11/9/05 Obituaries.” michigansthumb.com, 9 Nov. 2005? (Obituary of Richard Stanton, noting he was son of Carl and Bertha Stanton of Port Austin.)