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this is Michigan Moments Rediscovering
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the pioneering moments of the Great
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Lakes State Just 35 miles east of Bay
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City in Michigan's Thumb is a little
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town with a fascinating history Gage
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Town rose from the ambitions of Joseph
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Gage whose name graced the earliest
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plats and land records In the late 1800s
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Gagetown was a town in motion A huge
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grist and lumber mill on one end a
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bustling main street on the other where
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wagons rattled over muddy streets and
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trains whistled through the
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depot Life here revolved around the land
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rail Horses hauled loads of sugar beats
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farmers traded goods and the railway
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linked Gage Town to distant markets In a
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snapshot from the era towns folk gather
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for a summer parade children women in
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bonnets and men in straw hats all lining
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the street Another image captures a man
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and his horsedrawn buggy The umbrella
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above him advertising the local Ryan
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Brothers store a sign of smalltown
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marketing before the age of neon The
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opera house standing proudly on Main
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Street told of a community that valued
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not just commerce but culture a place
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for gatherings performances and meetings
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It was here that the heartbeat of
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Gagetown was most audible Winters were
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harsh Residents shoveled snow from
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storefronts and plowed muddy roads to
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keep business moving It was a time when
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the town pulled together neighbors
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helping neighbors and the steady rhythm
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of small town life pushed through the
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coldest months But in June 1925 fire
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tore through the town Fanned by fierce
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winds flames consumed 10 houses five
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stores and the St Agatha's parish hall
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where it was suggested that the fire
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started from a bootleggger's
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still For a time the entire village hung
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in the balance Firefighters arrived from
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five towns to battle the blaze Though
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the damage reached $50,000 the bank and
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opera house were saved and the town
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began its long rebuilding
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Gagetown's story is one of determination
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It's in the grit of farmers the whistle
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of a passing train the laughter of
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children on a parade day and the steady
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hands that rebuilt after the flames
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These photographs are more than images
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They are pieces of a community's soul
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This has been Michigan Moments offering
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bite-sized morsels of Michigan history
