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.
Bishop Frederic Baraga was the first bishop of Marquette. For 37 years he was a missionary priest among the Indians and settlers in the Upper Great Lakes.
His presence shaped the region and he is revered for his defending Native American lands during treaty land acquisition by the U.S. Government in the 1800s.
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The USS Michigan was the United States Navy’s first iron-hulled warship. Commissioned in August 1844, USS Michigan was considered a technical experiment using new techniques and materials as a working experiment for the U.S. Navy.
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This picture of a street scene in Pigeon, Michigan is thought to be taken right around 1900. The amusement parlor
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This historical Drugstore is deemed as being Michigan’s longest family owned continuously operating pharmacy in Michigan. It stands today as a boutique shop in Port Sanilac.
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f Cass City Road in Cass City has stayed somewhat unchanged for the past 90 years. Some of the buildings remain, many have been remodeled. However, the ornate trim and front facades and balconies are long gone.
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Kinde was once renowned as the “Bean Capital of the World“. Michigan white navy bean soup has been a staple for over one hundred years in the U.S. Senate dining room in the form of Senate bean soup
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The Coast Guard Station at Harbor Beach, originally built in 1910 and relocated in 1935, served as a training facility during WWII before closing in 1987. Despite preservation efforts, the station was demolished in 2004. It played a significant role in the Great Lakes waterway system and local maritime history.
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While neglected, with broken windows, faded peeling paint and vines almost covering one end, this historic depot helped make the region an economic powerhouse for the eastern shore of the Thumb for decades
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