A leisurely Look at Michigan’s stories and traditions from yesterday to yesteryear.
During the boom years of Michigan’s lumbering era, many mill towns were founded practically overnight. Pere Cheney, platted in 1874, was one such town. Today, the ghost town of Pere Cheney exists only on old maps, and only a few gravestones remain to mark what was once the seat of Crawford County.
Fraser, Michigan was once home to a small airport—the Thomas B. Joy Airport. This small airfield was one of dozens found across Michigan in the years following World War II.
In 1894, the Lansing City Council authorized bonds to build a new City Hall on the corner of Ottawa and Capitol Avenues. Accepting the plans of prominent architect Edwyn A. Bowd, the Council spent $150,000 on this new structure.
Here, we see some fine silent film melodrama. The hero, played by Romaine Fielding, lies unconscious on the railroad tracks. Fortunately, this time, the Michigan State Police can ride to the rescue!
Traverse Colantha Walker was a world record holding Holstein-Friesian dairy cow. She was born on the grounds of the Traverse City State Hospital on April 29, 1916.
Michigan’s fruit industry started to boom about the time of the Civil War. Today, the state continues to be a leader in fruit production.
From 1909 to 1949, Western Michigan University students traveled to and from campus on the “Western State Normal Railroad” or “Toonerville Trolley.” Registered and classified as a railroad, the trolley is the only incline railroad ever operated in Michigan and possibly the only railroad owned and operated by a college or university.
“Oh, I do wish this crewel war was over.”
Mack Ewing penned this sentiment after his brother-in-law, Alvin Hank, was taken prisoner by the Confederate army. This is just one of the many events recounted in the Civil War Letters of Mack and Nan Ewing Collection.
Michigan’s first newspaper appeared two hundred years ago this week. The first – and possibly only – issue of the Michigan Essay; or, the Impartial Observer was printed on Aug. 31, 1809.
Each summer, Mother Nature brings us hot, humid days and nights that barely cool off. Thankfully, Michigan-born businesses offer some relief in the form of sweet, refreshing treats.
