I identify and locate vintage aerial photos as a hobby. I’m working in Michigan right now. Many of the houses in this area have a round pond in the backyard. Often fenced off and sometimes with a straight path maintained to them. Sometimes with a cleared area around the pond. I have looked at literally several hundred thousand aerial photos across the US and this is the only area I have ever seen them. Perhaps fire protection, but why only in the UP? Here is an example:
Maybe a slough used as a skating rink in the winter?
According the Michigan DNR site, the ponds are built to store water for irrigation and livestock, to provide fire protection, to attract wildlife, and to raise fish for recreation. Michigan has a relatively flat topography and groundwater that is close to the surface, which makes building and maintaining these ponds easier.
I was going to bring up “fire pond” – In rural areas too far for hydrants it gives fire fighters a place to get water.
I recall rural friends of mine mentioned getting a swimming pool and saying something about fire protection (I could see a break in fire insurance, but then you’s have to add drowning insurance). Or maybe they were lying to me (I don’t know any that had a pool)
Brian
In the rural Canadian prairies (and likely elsewhere) there have been various agricultural programs aimed at water and soil retention. Many older farm houses dug and maintained dugouts to catch surface water and hold it for irrigation or livestock use. Often there are government programs that will subsidize such efforts, though you probably have to follow a standard template or construction process to qualify.
So, it may be that there was a State program that encouraged people to build these small ponds for cheap, and they may all be the same because they were required to follow a common template. It seems your photo is only from 1992, I was thinking these were older photos.
If I lived in the same state as Flint, I’d make sure I had my own water supply.
Nothing further useful to add, but I see you’re pasting the opposition when it comes to edits. There’s you, lots of daylight, then the rest of the field.
I’m not sure what you mean, Banksiaman?
Anyway to add a bit more. These are not deep water ponds for fish raising. Too small. They are also not on farms, just rural suburban lots. And they are only in Chippewa County now that I think of it. No where else. Looking at them on Google today they have mostly fallen into disrepair and are weed filled and the ones that had neat paths have overgrown.
I have found numerous examples of some local feature before. Take next door Schoolcraft County, Michigan. Many of the farm’s have the owner’s name shingled on the roof. That’s not common in Michigan. Just that county so far.
One county in Ohio has over 100 names painted on the ends of barns instead of the roof. Adjacent counties have few or none.
So some of these things may be the work of one guy, or one shop. If I measured all those ponds I bet they are the same diameter.
Remember those giant satellite antennas from 30 or 40 years ago? Some poor manufacturer or distributor in the UP had to figure out a way to unload a bunch of them locally.
I had a look at the home page and on the Global Leaderboard [I assume for annotations or edits or something worth counting] you are well in the lead with 232,745, then waaaaaaay behind [i.e. plenty of daylight] is the second place getter with 123,232 and the rest of pack.
Nothing more complicated than that.
What home page and what global leaderboard? I see no such thing.
My neither, I’m still mystified. Also, why “opposition”?
To to the Vintage Aerial main page. On it:
What the hell is a vintage aerial homepage? A simple link would dispel all confusion.
Sorry if I sound testy, but color me baffled. Absolutely baffled. Despite thinking I have some decent clue about finding my way around Discourse & SDMB.
It’s just the main page of the OP’s link:
I’m going to suggest that those “ponds” might be cesspools for disposal of household waste water. Used to be the most common disposal system in rural areas but mostly replaced by septic systems with drain fields. The fence is a marker that I see in my area.
Still allowed in rural and agricultural areas.
Well, I emailed to the Dafter Township official (where the photo was taken) and asked him. I’ll let everyone know what he says.
You get 5 points for a comment (identifying what is in the photo) and 4 points for pinning the location with a Geo reference. If you click on a member’s name their stats show up. I have Identified 29,759 photos and pinned 20,118 locations in 40 years. Points have cash value for purchasing products from the company. I have over $11,000 worth of points.
It’s a lot of fun and a good way to pass time for a retired person with an attention to detail. Some photos have led to me writing an article for a local history group. I have even found potential clues in a cold case murder investigation.