News & Fun in Michigan
We examine stories and events that shaped the history of the Upper Thumb and Michigan. While we focus on the Thumb region, other Great Lakes historical events are covered. Major events include the lumbering era and the 1871 and 1881 great fires. We cover major pioneers and personalities that shaped the region. To hear many of our best stories, visit and subscribe to our Podcast, “The End of the Road in Michigan.”
Our best Michigan history posts are found below.
The history of WKAR and early educational radio is marked by periods of experimentalism and growth. It has been a subject of intense political debate and scrutiny. Yet for all the changes it has endured, the alternative programming that educational radio …
This historical Drugstore is deemed as being Michigan’s longest family owned continuously operating pharmacy in Michigan. It stands today as a boutique shop in Port Sanilac.
The picture post on our sister site about the huge dock in Forrestville gives rise to the question. Why did they name the boathouse the Iron Chief? A little exploring showed that there indeed was a ship with this unusual name but she was not made out of iron. Today, she lays in over a hundred feet of water off the shore of the Grindstone City in the Thumb Area Bottomland Preserve
While railroads had been in service for much of the major cities in southern Michigan, excursion steamships were still a comfortable and viable option to get to Michigan’s northern resort areas. You could board a ship on a Friday evening, have dinner on board, and arrive in north Michigan the next morning.
The Coast Guard Station at Harbor Beach, originally built in 1910 and relocated in 1935, served as a training facility during WWII before closing in 1987. Despite preservation efforts, the station was demolished in 2004. It played a significant role in the Great Lakes waterway system and local maritime history.
While neglected, with broken windows, faded peeling paint and vines almost covering one end, this historic depot helped make the region an economic powerhouse for the eastern shore of the Thumb for decades
In October of 1871, a great forest fire swept across much of the Thumb region including the section of Michigan that included the lands of the former colony of Ora Labora. The colony was in the process of being disbanded and the lands sold off, but large holdings remained including some cabins and buildings. The colony’s benefactor and primary landowner, the Harmony Society immediately sent $200 for distribution among the needy.
Jacob Parkhurst was born in 1771. During his youth, his family lived in West Virginia he and traveled extensively into the Northwest Territory in the Ohio River Valley. This is his adventures told in his own words.
