Family History
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| Quartermasters Building |
In 1940, Dana’s Grandfather, Col. Malcolm S Jones, Sr
(affectionately known as Colonel-son) was called up from the Army Reserves to
serve as Quartermaster at Fort Brady in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. Fort Brady guarded the locks through which
important supplies of iron and copper ores mined along Lake Superior were
carried by freighter to mills elsewhere on the Great Lakes. Even though the US was not yet officially at
war, Hitler’s actions in Europe were causing concern about national security
and 15,000 troops were stationed at Fort Brady to guard the locks.
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| CO's Residence |
Col-son’s family did not go to Fort Brady with him. They remained in Chicago and then moved to
Seattle. They did come visit him at Fort
Brady one winter, and Dana’s Mom, Joy Perry, remembers it being very, very cold and
remote.
The Place
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| Officers Residences (duplexes) |
There were actually two Fort Brady’s. The “old” Fort Brady was established 1822 along
the St. Mary's River by the locks. When the locks
were widened, the “new” Fort was moved to a bluff overlooking the locks in
1893. Additional buildings were built in 1939 as the number of men based here increased. The Fort was transferred to the National Guard in 1944 and
surplused in 1946. The property was
then transferred to the Michigan university system, and eventually became the campus
of Lake Superior State University. 18 of
the original Fort buildings have been renovated and are being used as part of
the campus today. Lake Superior State
University has 3,000 students.
The Adventure
You see the LSSU campus as you come into Sault Ste Marie from I-75, so
that was our second stop in Sault Ste. Marie. [Our first stop was the Michigan
Welcome Center on that same street to get a map of the town.]
The campus is self-contained, and the older
brick buildings are obvious, though the newer buildings on campus bled in quite
well.
The University honors Fort Brady
in light pole banners with pictures of the old fort, and signs in front of the
old buildings describing what they were used for as part of the Fort and what
they are used for today.
There is also
an historical marker and a map of the fort on campus.
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| Officers Quad-plex - Did Col-son Live Here? |
Col-son was the Quartermaster, so his office would have been
in the Quartermaster’s building.
That
building serves as the Administrative building for the University today.
It is quite large.
The Base Commander's and XO’s residences
are huge and have a great view of the river and locks. Other officer’s homes
were duplexes and they are now residence hall’s for special groups of
students.
Another building marked as an
officer’s residence is a "quadplex" with two doors on each side of the
building.
These residences are smaller
and we think might have been where Col-son lived since he was there without his
family.
The enlisted men’s barracks are
now dorms.
Other buildings are being
used as classroom buildings and the on-site childcare center.
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| Enlisted Barracks 1939 |
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| Enlisted Barracks 1896 |
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