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.
Michigan’s history is often told through well-known events—Detroit’s auto industry, the Mackinac Bridge, or lumber booms. But across the state, smaller and often forgotten stories still sit in plain sight. While many people think of its big factories and industrial growth, …
Genealogy research in Michigan is entering a new phase, driven by faster access to vital records, advances in DNA technology, and expanded historical archives. Recent developments across the state point to a shift: Michigan genealogy research and family history are no …
Did you know that in the 1920s, the Red Cross provided essential health care services to Michigan’s rural Thumb region? Even in those days, the Red Cross was dedicated to reaching communities in need with creativity and determination.
Railroads built Reed City. Lumber sustained it. Then a massive oil well briefly turned the town into national news. This story traces the surprising history of Reed City Michigan.
Learn how a remote Michigan town went from logging outpost to global arts mecca. A 1917 state park purchase between two lakes gave rise to the National Music Camp and Interlochen Arts Academy.
Brown City began as a railroad station in 1879 and quickly grew into a farm and shipping hub for Michigan’s Thumb region. Railroads, grain elevators, and later motorhome manufacturing shaped the town’s unusual history.
St. Johns, Michigan, has long been the place in Clinton County where the official business gets done. It is the county seat, and for much of the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was also a hub of commerce—a place where …
These early postcards capture Cheboygan when the riverfront did the heavy lifting. Steamships tied up at the dock, a canning plant and paper mill hummed nearby, and Main Street stayed crowded day after day. It’s a snapshot of a town built to move goods, not commuters.
Learn how St. Helen, Michigan transformed from a bustling lumber town into a peaceful lake community and even the boyhood home of Charlton Heston.
Before bridges spanned the St. Clair River, the Port Huron ferry carried thousands across the border. Three wooden steamers tell the story of a risky, vital crossing.
