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.
Michigan once supplied nearly all of America’s chicory. This report traces how farms, factories, and railroads built a quiet but profitable coffee industry across the state.
The Walker Tavern at Cambridge Junction was built in 1832 along the Old Chicago Road. Its story reveals how Michigan travel evolved—from Indigenous trails to stagecoaches, highways, and roadside tourism.
The Great Sauk Trail is a major Native American route that ran between Detroit, Chicago and terminated at Rock Island on the Mississippi river. Originally created by migrating bison, the trail was only about a foot wide but also a foot deep as eons of travelers walked along it single file. It was used over a thousand years.
Grave robbing was a gruesome yet common crime in the late 1800’s as medical schools sought bodys for study.
Before cottages and cars, Tower Beach Sylvan Lake Michigan thrived as a trolley-fed amusement park. Families packed picnic baskets, rode the interurban, and spent risky, unforgettable summer days by the water.
Polly Ann Railroad history still runs under your feet. Follow the 100-mile route from Pontiac to Caseville, meet the depot towns, and see how freight and mail shaped daily life.
The history of Harbor Springs Michigan traces a rare continuity from Odawa settlement to steamship resort town. This story explains how culture, commerce, and community shaped one of the Great Lakes’ most enduring places.
The history of Fayette, Michigan, begins in 1867, when manager Fayette Brown of the Jackson Iron Company chose a remote harbor on Michigan’s Garden Peninsula to build a new blast furnace. This site offered everything the iron works needed: a protected …
