News & Fun in Michigan
After extensive research and sand in our shorts, we have collected ratings and descriptions of the 50 top beaches in Michigan. These beautiful bits of shoreline are ideal spots to stick your toes in four of the five Great Lakes.
The devastation of the 1911 Oscoda and AuSable fire that wiped out these eastern Michigan towns would be compared to the Great Peshtigo Fire in 1871
These two bustling shoreline towns were wiped off the map in one day.
Recent extreme weather patterns and sub-zero conditions across the Upper Great Lakes region have blown away forecasts of yet another year of below-average ice cover. The recent polar vortex spikes Great Lakes ice coverage. Currently, four out of the five Great Lakes are significantly above average reported ice coverage data. Except for Lake Superior which is near its average ice coverage norm for this date in the year.
Excerpt on the Pointe Aux Barques Resort taken from the Standard Guide to Mackinac Island and Northern Michigan Resorts 1899.
The Standard Guide; Mackinac Island and Northern Lake Resorts. It is a visitors handbook written in 1898 detailing early tourism to Mackinac Island. For 25 cents it gave the potential visitor a glimpse of what to expect at Michigan’s premier tourist destination. However, the ads and descriptions of the other northern Michigan resorts of the day are fascinating.
In the late 1800’s Caseville Michigan was a booming town. This included large ship building.
Found this little poem in the book Huron County Illustrated History. I thought it was a bit interesting to know how the origin of the place names for Huron County township names.
Also, did you know the name “Huron” was a Chippawa word? It’s pronounced “u-ron” meaning curved coast.
Henry Schoolcraft was asked to join an expedition organized by Governor Cass of Michigan in 1819. Its purpose was to locate the source of the Mississippi River’ and explore the Great Lakes region. As an expert mineralogist, he was tasked with describing Michigan’s significant topographical features, natural history, and mineral wealth. The expedition took approximately 40 men in five long voyageur canoes commonly used in the fur trade on the Great Lakes. At 35 feet long and 6 feet wide, the canoe had an amazing capacity of four tons. They started the journey on May 24, 1820.
The Washington Post published an article this week that signaled an ominous warning. “Earth’s lakes are warming at a feverish pace, with the Great Lakes leading the way” It’s looking more and more like the Great Lakes water temps are experiencing …
