Platts Drug Store, Port Sanilac c.1930
Step onto Port Sanilac’s main corner in the early 1930s. Platts Drug Store serves medicine, sodas, and gossip as Model A-era cars roll past. A tiny Lake Huron village stands at the edge of big changes.
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Detroit’s 1910 Elks Arch – When Woodward Turned into a Parade Gate
In July 1910, Detroit built a towering “Welcome” arch over Woodward Avenue for the Elks national convention. For one week, Grand Circus Park turned into a ceremonial gateway for parades, streetcars, and early motorists, offering a vivid snapshot of a rapidly modernizing Motor City.
Ford’s Rouge Steel Rolling Mill – Where Michigan Ore Became Model T Parts
The vintage postcard of the Rouge Steel Plant’s rolling mill freezes a moment inside one of Michigan’s most ambitious industrial projects. Long banks of rollers stretch away under a high steel roof. On the right, heavy machinery crowds together, ready to …
Curwood Castle, Owosso MI, c. 1925 – An Unsurpassed Writer’s Riverfront Studio in Owosso
In the reel image from about 1925, Curwood’s Castle rises behind bare trees along the Shiawassee River. The small stone-and-stucco building looks like something lifted from a European story, yet it stands in Owosso, a mid-Michigan city about 40 miles northeast …
The Underground Forest – Michigan’s Lost Roadside Wildlife Tunnel
North of Grayling, Michigan, the Underground Forest drew 1950s families into a 240-foot tunnel lined with taxidermy wildlife scenes. Built into a sandy hill along Old US-27, this odd roadside stop thrived on vacation traffic until I-75 opened and the cars — and the cave — slowly disappeared.
The Pontiac Asylum for the Insane – Michigan’s Grand Psychiatric Experiment
In the 1910 postcard, the Eastern Michigan Asylum for the Insane looms over a bare yard in Pontiac. Tall brick towers, steep roofs, and long wings stretch across the frame. It looks more like a grand hotel than a hospital. Yet …
Hedges Wigwam, Pleasant Ridge- 1930s Roadside Icon of Woodward Avenue
Hedge’s Wigwam once stood at Woodward and 10 Mile as a concrete teepee cafeteria serving barbecued beef and chicken pot pie to generations of Michigan motorists. This article traces its rise from juice stand to landmark, its 1967 closure, 1972 fire and the statues that remain.
Stump Battles of Edmore Michigan
These scenes from around Edmore Michigan, in Montcalm County, show what came after Michigan’s great lumber boom. Once this ground held a deep white pine forest; by the early 1900s, it was a sea of stumps. Crews of farmers and hired …