LOCAL NEWS
Mystery dots on online maps lead to old wells nobody remembersThe wells connect, and Public Works has known since 1994
Residents who followed the marks found capped stone wells in fields off Baraga Dr. Public Works director Ray Dunleavy: "Nothing down there worth worrying about."Ray Dunleavy's own 1994 survey maps 41 shafts linked by tunnels under the east side. In the margin, in his handwriting: "Nothing down there worth worrying about."
BY HAL BRANDTBY R. CALLOWAY STAFF WRITERUNEDITED MONDAY, OCT 26, 2026
It started with a cluster of dots on an online map. A Bellwether High junior noticed a neat row of small grey circles in the fields off Baraga Dr. and went out on her bike to see what they were.It started with a cluster of dots on an online map. A Bellwether High junior noticed a neat row of small grey circles in the fields off Baraga Dr. The next week there were more of them.
She found a capped stone well. Since then, residents following the same dots have found eight more, each ringed with fieldstone and sealed with a concrete lid. None appear on any township record.She found a capped stone well. Since then, residents following the dots have found eight more, each ringed with fieldstone and sealed with a concrete lid. The lids are newer than the stone. Some are newer than this summer.
The Bellwether Historical Society believes they are farm wells from the 1880s, dug when the east side was orchards. “Every farm had one,” said society president Elaine Marsh. “People forget what's under a field.”The Bellwether Historical Society believes they are farm wells from the 1880s. “Every farm had one,” said society president Elaine Marsh. “But farms had one each. Not forty.”
WHAT PUBLIC WORKS SAYSTHE 1994 SURVEY
Public Works director Ray Dunleavy said his department is aware of the wells and has no plans to open them. “Nothing down there worth worrying about,” he said. He asked residents to stay off private land.A 1994 Public Works survey, signed by Ray Dunleavy, maps 41 shafts linked by tunnels under the east side. The tunnels meet under Hollow Creek. Dunleavy declined to comment. He asked residents to stay off private land, and away from the lids.
“People forget what's under a field.”“Farms had one each. Not forty.”
The student who found the first well asked that her name not be printed. She said she has stopped looking. “I just wanted to know what the dots were,” she said.The student who found the first well asked that her name not be printed. She said she has stopped looking. “I put my ear to one,” she said. “Somebody was knocking from the inside.”
