News History & Fun in Michigan
Watch this Michigan Moments short about the Passenger Steamer Topinabee on Burt Lake. The video looks back at a time when steam-powered passenger boats carried travelers through northern Michigan’s inland waters. About This Video The Passenger Steamer Topinabee on Burt Lake …
Historic photos tell the story of Harrisville, Michigan, during the early 1900s. From the D&M Railroad depot and MacDonald Hotel to Sturgeon Point Lighthouse, Harrisville State Park and Main Street stores, the images show a Lake Huron town shaped by work and travel.
These six Michigan Moments videos follow small towns shaped by Lake Huron, Saginaw Bay, railroads, lumber, cheese, fishing and inland roads. From Tawas to Linwood, each town adds another piece to the story of northeast Michigan and the Great Lakes Bay region.
Alabaster, Michigan, grew around gypsum, rail cars and Lake Huron shipping. These early photos show the U.S. Gypsum quarry, the aerial dock, the school, the hotel and the 1910 mill fire that nearly stopped the town’s main source of work.
Standish, Michigan grew from a railroad stop into a farm-market town, highway stop and oil-era community. Old images show the depot, Main Street, fishing docks and Halloween pranks.
Falmouth, Michigan, had an early brush with county government, but its lasting story came from work. Rail service, lumber, dairy, farm tools, banking and general stores turned the Missaukee County town into a practical hub for rural families.
The Drayton Plains hatchery was not just a pretty pond. In 1918, it was part of Michigan’s push to raise fish, stock public waters and manage nature by hand.
Belding, Michigan, became one of West Michigan’s most unusual factory towns, built on silk mills, company boarding houses, rail traffic, iceboxes and a busy Main Street.
