News History & 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.
Quarry Works Grindstone City in the 1920s This shot of the quarry in Grindstone City in the early 1900s reveals the basic tools used to extract the stone to be used for grindstones. Note the ginpole’s in the distance and horse-drawn …
Back in 2012, we noted with great interest an advisory posted by the National Weather Service. It noted the start of Michigan’s Warmest Weather in over a century. The string of warm weather in March is unprecedented. The National …
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.
Gretchen Whitmer’s order to “Stay Home, Stay Safe” is a Michigan shutdown of the nonessential business due to the coronavirus outbreak. This was done once before by Michigan governor Albert Sleeper in October 1918.
Over the past 100 years, the United States and Michigan have been hit with four influenza pandemics. Of all of these, the 1918 outbreak was the most serious in terms of mortality and the two-year duration of the epidemic.
In 1831, two 26-year-old, French aristocrats, Alexis De Tocqueville, and Gustave de Beaumont, decided to strike out, in what today’s terms, would be the ultimate road trip. Namely, traveling overland from Detroit, to the last “white” settlement in the Northwest Territories, to Saginaw Michigan.
Ora Labora’s final viable year as a religious colony in the wilderness of the upper thumb of Michigan was 1866. We reveal the final desperate attempts to keep it going.
