I feel fortunate to live in a country that I can travel freely and pursue my happiness. My ancestors came to this country looking for a better life for themselves and their families. I feel as if I owe it to them to do what I can to continue on with the dream this great nation was founded on. I know it’s not perfect and has many problems to still figure out, but I am grateful for the opportunities given to me.  Thank you all so much for following my journey around Michigan and hope you are able to celebrate this wonderful day.

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The southern border of Michigan has a pronounced notch where Indiana and Ohio meet up to form the border for all three states. Near the tri-state intersection is a boulder that reads:  I30 feet south is the point where Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio meet. This marker was erected by the Hillsdale County Historical Society in 1977

Michigan ended up with an odd notch in the border because Ohio which had already become a state in 1803 refused to relinquish Toledo to Michigan. After years of debating and even a short-lived “war”, it was decided to give Toledo to Ohio and the Upper Peninsula to Michigan. This stone marks the southernmost point in Michigan. Well, almost the southernmost point. I am not exactly sure why it is 130 feet from the tri-state point but when I visited it the exact location is in a low spot and drops off quickly from the road. I am thinking they placed the marker because it was a nice spot on a grassy knoll.

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Traveling up to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula near Northport I passed by the beautiful little Clinton F Woolsey memorial airport. It’s hard to miss the fascinating stone building with a black and yellow roof next to the road.

Clinton F. Woolsey was born in 1894 in Northport and grew up on his family farm, He took great interest in anything mechanical and after finishing school in Northport he studied engineering at Valparaiso University in Indiana. After college, He enlisted in the military eventually becoming a test pilot. While in the military he trained pilots and one of his students was Charles a Lindbergh ( think you know who he is) Interestingly Clinton was working on a plane he nicknamed the “Woolsey Bomber” and planing to be the first to fly non stop over the Atlantic ocean, but was called into duty for the Pan-American Goodwill Flight of 1926- 1927.

Capt Clinton F Wolsey (left) and co-pilot Leut. J. W. Benton with their amphibious planed the “Detroit” which crashed Feb 26th 1927

He oversaw the construction and testing of the five Loening OA-1 amphibian observation planes to be used on the tour. Tragically he was killed on the tour when his plane collided with another plane in the clouds on February 26^th 1927 in Buenos Aries. After the collision co-plot John W. Benton climbed out onto the wing without a parachute to try to lower the damaged landing gear. Captain Woolsey could have probably parachuted to safety but chose to pilot the plane with Benton on the wing. Without being able to lower the landing gear the plane crashed and both men were killed. “I have never witnessed a more courageous sacrifice,” said Capt. Ira Eaker, who witnessed the crash from his plane.

In 1934, during the Great Depression, Capt. Woolsey’s 85-year-old father Byron Woolsey wanted to ensure that Clinton would always be remembered. He donated 80 acres of his land to Leelanau Township on the condition it be used as an airport in honor of his son. The township added another 120 acres. A Works Progress Administration crew converted the farm, as part of a “New Deal” public works project, into a long grassy runway and expanded Woolsey’s creamery/milk transfer station into a terminal. The Northport Woman’s Club donated a bronze plaque honoring Capt. Woolsey, which was placed on a large boulder near the terminal.

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In 1886, William Crapo “Billy” Durant and business partner Josiah Dallas Dort leased this building along the Flint River to form the Flint Road Cart Company. Eventually, it became the Durant-Dort Carriage Factory and one of the largest carriage builders in the world.

In the early 1900s, Durant would take control of the Buick Motor Co., and using the Durant-Dort resources he grew the company into one of the most successful auto manufacturers in the country. Durant used Buick’s success to build General Motors in 1908 and as they say “the rest is history”

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One of the most influential cities in Michigan is the state’s capital city of Lansing. Strangely, when Michigan first became a state in 1837, Lansing was not much more than swampland. Michigan’s constitution required the state have a permanent capital ten years after it acquired statehood.   The temporary capital was in Detroit, but many representatives wanted somewhere more central in the state.  Several cities including Jackson, Marshall, and Ann Arbor lobbied hard to be the new home of the capital.

James Seymour, a land speculator with a mill in what is now North Lansing, campaigned for Lansing Township. He argued that it is equidistant from Detroit, Monroe, Mt. Clemens, and the mouths of the Grand and Kalamazoo rivers. In 1847, after voting fifty one times, out of frustration they finally agreed the permanent capital would be in Lansing township. The densely wooded and marshy township had less than one hundred residents when it was chosen.

The citizens of Michigan were highly skeptical of the new plan, many even though it was a joke. In the beginning, the city did not even have a name. The location was simply known as the “Town of Michigan” when it was first platted. A wooden two-story building was quickly erected to serve as the state capital. Many of the legislators and representatives had to sleep on the upper floor of the new capital or in people’s private homes while governing the young state. In April the state legislature considered naming the capital Pewanogowink, Swedenborg, or El Dorado, but chose Lansing.

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