Tag: Michigan

Guardian Building Lobby Detroit[/caption]

Michigan is known as the Great Lakes State. Surrounded by five of the six Great Lakes. ThumbWind has a number of stories devoted to Michigan places, food, and places to visit. Here are a few to explore

15 Things You Should Know About Visiting Michigan’s Sleeper State Park

Posted on June 16, 2020November 15, 2021 by Michael Hardy

Sleeper State Park was the first state park in the Thumb. With an excellent beach and camp sites it has been a place to camp and visit for over 95 years. Visitors can watch both sunrises and sunsets on Saginaw Bay, relax in the shade and seclusion of the campground or roam the trails of the ancient dune forests. It’s one of the most widely visited parks in Southeast Michigan. Yet still contains amazing secrets.

Kinde Michigan Grain Elevators and Depot

Posted on May 28, 2020March 10, 2026 by Malcom Mott

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

Port Austin Farm Market Opens with Few Vendors, Sparse Crowds

Posted on May 23, 2020November 15, 2021 by Malcom Mott

The opening of the summer season at the tip of the Thumb is usually Memorial Day weekend. However visitors to this near-north Michigan town look to be down. It could change the landscape of Michigan’s tourism industry this summer.

The Lake Huron Shipwreck of the Iron Chief

Posted on May 19, 2020June 7, 2023 by Malcom Mott

The picture post on our sister site about the huge dock in Forrestville gives rise to the question. Why did they name the boathouse the Iron Chief? A little exploring showed that there indeed was a ship with this unusual name but she was not made out of iron. Today, she lays in over a hundred feet of water off the shore of the Grindstone City in the Thumb Area Bottomland Preserve

Aboard the Miss Port Sanilac 1960

Posted on May 15, 2020November 14, 2021 by Michael Hardy

The Miss Port Sanilac is a 38-foot fishing vessel that was built in 1958 in Pigeon Michigan. Today the Miss Port Sanilac operates out of Port Sanilac Marina for charter tours, wreck viewing, and diving.

The Pier Based Coast Guard Station Harbor Beach

Posted on May 13, 2020November 29, 2024 by Malcom Mott

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.

Sebewaing Railway Depot – The Historical Center of the Western Thumb

Posted on May 4, 2020June 15, 2022 by Michael Hardy

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

Emil Baur Gave Relief to the Indians at Ora Labora After 1871 Great Fire

Posted on April 30, 2020November 11, 2024 by Michael Hardy

In October of 1871, a great forest fire swept across much of the Thumb region including the section of Michigan that included the lands of the former colony of Ora Labora. The colony was in the process of being disbanded and the lands sold off, but large holdings remained including some cabins and buildings. The colony’s benefactor and primary landowner, the Harmony Society immediately sent $200 for distribution among the needy.