The first state prison opened in 1838 near Jackson and started with a temporary wooden prison. In 1839 the first 35 prisoners were incarcerated. It started with three log cabins, and walls built with huge wide logs, almost like a fur traders post, and 7 of the original 35 prisoners escaped over the walls. Then
The town of Byron sits between Lansing and Fenton. It was the last stop on a stagecoach run from Detroit that ran west along what is now Rose Center road and Silver Lake road. The Village of Byron was incorporated in 1873 and the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northern Michigan Railway was built through Byron
On the corner of Alicia and Bishop roads in Saginaw County was the town of Alicia. It was the largest town in the Praire Farms which at one time was the largest farm in Michigan. The Town was named after William Lewis Claus’s oldest daughter. Mr. Claus was the chairman of the board of Pittsburgh
The first Lighthouse built on Point Aux Barques near the tip of the Thumb guided sailors and ships across Lake Huron after it was built in 1847. It withstood the Michigan storms and even survived the Great Fire of 1881 because the men of the life-saving station created a bucket brigade to douse the flames surrounding
After the Polar Vortex last week and freezing rain this week, I figured I would post an older photo for a Throwback Thursday pic. I saw this Autumn photo of a house in the Bay View Association in Petoskey and figured it was a nice break from Winter. A warm sunny Autumn day in northern Michigan
The suburbs where I live are steadily expanding outward slowly taking over the farmland, and the old barns that once stood on them. When I am out roaming the backroads, and I see an old barn I love, I have to stop and take a photo of it. I saw this barn somewhere near North Branch. Every barn has
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Henry Richardi moved to Bellaire with his father in 1881 after moving the family business from Missouri. They made wooden utensils and with the hardwood forests around the Bellaire area, they thought it was the perfect location to set up shop. Partnering with Frederick Bechtold the established the company of Richardi & Bechtold. Henry Richardi purchased the business from
Project Sanguine was a U.S. Navy project, proposed in 1968 for communication with submerged submarines using extremely low frequency (ELF) radio waves. A test system consisting of two linked ELF transmitters located at Clam Lake, Wisconsin and Republic, Michigan in the middle of the U.P. It was constructed in 1982 and operated from 1989 until
It’s hard to believe this quite narrow street lined with antique stores and gift shops was once known for its alcohol-fueled brawls. In the late 1800s, lumberjacks would take the train into Holly and spend their hard earned money at the saloons on this downtown street. On many occasions, a fight in one of the bars broke
