News History & Fun in Michigan
This tag hints at articles and stories about Michigan history and the Michigan Thumb region. Michigan was part of the Northwest territory, and starting in 1815, the fur trade and influx of settlers and land speculators began.
By the time Michigan became a state in 1838, much of the southern third was already cris-crossed with improved Indian trails and initial roads. In a few short years, the lumbering era would begin, followed by the agriculture growth resulting from the cleared land.
Linkville, a small unincorporated village in Michigan, thrived between 1890 and 1930 as a farming community and key railroad stop. However, post office closures and improved transportation led to its decline, leaving St. Paul Lutheran Church as its enduring landmark.
Berne, Michigan was a quiet farming hamlet in 1900. This report covers daily life—farming, schoolhouses, church gatherings—and the families who helped build this rural Thumb-area village.
Once a quiet farming village, Walled Lake became one of Michigan’s busiest summer destinations. Dance halls, amusement rides, and lakeside crowds reshaped the town between 1890 and 1940.
The production of salt from the deep brine wells around the Upper Thumb propelled the fishing industry to national prominence because they could preserve fish.
Omer, Michigan was once a busy lumber town with banks, mills, and a growing Main Street. Fire and floods nearly erased it. This story explains how Omer endured—and why its history still matters.
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.
