Finding Fun in Michigan's Thumb
The times of greatest shipbuilding in the Great Lakes region was during the lumbering era. From 1839 until the early 1890s, the virgin old-growth Michigan forests were cut down to produce lumber for growing towns and cities in the lower Great Lakes. Michigan was the nation’s leading lumber producer from 1869 until about 1900. The only way to transport finished milled lumber from the shore side mills in the Great Lakes was by ship.
The Port Austin Winter Carnival returns after a decade in hibernation. The weekend festivities at the tip of the Thumb begin Friday, February 5-7, 2021.
The Cartwheel Inn was an entertainment destination in Port Austin. Top bands and bikers from Detroit and Chicago would stop by for “fun.”
On the shores of Lake Huron near the tip of Michigan’s Thumb is a well appointed cottage community that used to be a thriving company lumber town. New River Michigan as been almost erased by time and nature.
M-25 is part of the Lake Huron Circle Tour from Port Huron to Bay City.
Making a road trip is considered a safe way to travel as long as you stay socially distant from other folks.
In the 1900s Michigan was known for its roadside attractions to draw tourists to stop. An early attraction in the Thumb region was Jenny, the Beer Drinking Bear in Quanicassee.