Carsten & Elizabeth Burfiend Farm

This is a historic Port Oneida farmstead spread across Port Oneida Road. The farmhouse, garage and outbuildings sit on the west-side bluff above Lake Michigan; across the road are the barn and silo and milkhouse foundations, a corn crib, a machine shed and old farm equipment. It’s a good stop if historic working landscapes interest you: the family home, garden remnants and farm remains are all part of the visit. Look at both sides of the road to see the farm as a whole. Building interiors and tours aren’t documented, so check before expecting to go inside.

Carsten Burfiend left Hanover, Germany, for the United States in 1846, when he was 20. After marrying Elizabeth James in New York, he worked as a logger and fisherman on North Manitou Island, then bought 275 acres on this Lake Michigan bluff as immigrant settlement expanded into the area. The couple raised eleven children through farming and gardening, ferrying passengers to the islands and commercial fishing. The family became Port Oneida’s first non-Native settlers; their daughter Magdalena became a matriarch to many later Port Oneida families.

Peter Burfiend moved onto the farm in 1891 and was known for hewing timber with a broad ax and adze. The main barn across the road burned in 1982, leaving its foundation; the silo and milkhouse foundations, corn crib, machine shed and old machinery still show the work that happened here. Peter’s quieter Sunday ritual was to walk to church, then sit looking over the lake and passing ships before returning to evening chores.

The Burfiend garden is still legible in its apple tree, lilacs, grapevines, hops, rhubarb, roses and other surviving plants. The houses face the lake and turn their backs to today’s road because the original Port Oneida Road ran behind them along the bluff. That road moved in 1923 after storm washouts and picnickers began using farmers’ lawns. For a photo, include a farmhouse or outbuilding with a glimpse of Lake Michigan if the view is clear; it captures the setting as well as the architecture.