News History & Fun in Michigan
Watch this Michigan Moments episode as we travel back to downtown Elkton, Michigan, in 1940, when a single photograph captured a community on the brink of change. One vintage photograph tells an entire story. Parked automobiles line Main Street beneath the …
The History of Deford Michigan comes alive through rare early 1900s photos showing the depot, Bruce Block, post office, hotel, school, grain elevator and Standard Condensed Milk Co. plant. Together, they show how a small Tuscola County town became a working farm and rail hub.
Sigma, Michigan, rose around 1910 as a railroad lumber town in Kalkaska County. Its depot, camps, shops and holiday crowds show a brief boom built on timber and rail service.
Crystal Falls Michigan rose on iron ore, railroads, and hydroelectric power. These rare photos and stories reveal how the Upper Peninsula town survived boom years, deadly mine collapses, the Great Depression, and WWII.
The history of Lake Ann Michigan centers on timber, railroads and fire. In 1897, flames destroyed nine blocks, left 75 families homeless and killed an elderly resident trying to save valuables. The disaster changed a promising lumber village into something smaller.
Hillman, Michigan, grew from Brush Creek into a village shaped by timber, railroads, farms, fire and Lake Avalon. Its story includes department stores, hotels, grain elevators, service stations, resort cottages and a late-arriving railroad that changed the town, but did not define it.
Tuscola’s c. 1900 Main Street looks calm, but the road carries a bigger story. The village rose along the Cass River with mills, stores and early settlers, then slowed when railroad growth favored other towns in Michigan’s Thumb.
This Michigan Moments video looks at Fairgrove, Michigan, through historic postcards showing village streets, the railroad depot, grain elevator and local businesses.
Watch this Michigan Moments short about Henry Ford’s Gas-Electric Train. The 30-second video looks at Gas-Electric Car No. 35 of the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad during a 1926 run through Tecumseh, Michigan. About This Video In the autumn of 1926, …
Watch this Michigan Moments short about the Passenger Steamer Topinabee on Burt Lake. The video looks back at a time when steam-powered passenger boats carried travelers through northern Michigan’s inland waters. About This Video The Passenger Steamer Topinabee on Burt Lake …
