The Rise and Fall of Pere Cheney, Michigan
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.
One of the best known agencies from the Great Depression was the WPA, or Works Progress Administration (”Work Projects Administration” after 1939). The reach of the WPA projects is legendary–from bridges to stream improvements to roads to arts, crafts and writing projects. The WPA even thought about holiday planning.