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History & Culture, page 3
Michigan has stories you won't find anywhere else — shipwrecks that became songs, a sound that started in Detroit, a war fought over Toledo. Pull up a chair for the history and culture of the Great Lakes State.
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Posen, "Little Poland," and the Potato Festival
Posen's Polish roots and long-running Potato Festival give this small Presque Isle village one of northeast Michigan's best-known local traditions.
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Rogers City and the world's largest limestone quarry
Rogers City is tied to the vast Calcite limestone quarry, a Lake Huron industrial landmark and long-running local employer.
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Rothbury and the Electric Forest
Rothbury is the quiet Oceana County village beside the Double JJ Resort, where Electric Forest brings tens of thousands of festivalgoers each June.
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St. Ignace, one of Michigan's oldest towns
St. Ignace's 1671 Father Marquette mission anchors one of Michigan's oldest settlement stories at the Straits of Mackinac.
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The Cross in the Woods
Indian River's Cross in the Woods is a national Catholic shrine built around a huge redwood cross and bronze figure of Christ.
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The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians has roots in the Grand Traverse region going back to the 1830s; after two earlier denials, the federal government formally re-recognized the tribe on May 27, 1980.
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The great dams of the Muskegon River
Hardy and Croton dams turned the Muskegon River into a power source and still shape Newaygo County's river country.
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The little town that steered the world
Onaway once made wooden steering wheels for the auto industry, a boom remembered today in Awakon Park and the old courthouse downtown.
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The Mackinac Bridge, gateway to the U.P.
St. Ignace sits at the Upper Peninsula end of the Mackinac Bridge, the Mighty Mac gateway across the Straits.
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The Presque Isle lighthouses and the old harbor
Presque Isle Township's namesake peninsula has a historic Lake Huron harbor, two museum lighthouses, and one of the prettiest shoreline communities in the county.
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The Shrine of the Pines
The Shrine of the Pines near Baldwin preserves Raymond Overholzer's hand-built furniture made from white pine stumps and roots.
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The Sno*Drift Rally
The Sno*Drift Rally turns Montmorency County's winter forest roads into one of the toughest stops on the national rally calendar.
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The town that grew gemstones
Shelby was home to the Shelby Gem Factory, where synthetic gemstones were grown, cut, and shipped around the world for half a century.
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Thomas Edison grew up here
Thomas Edison spent his boyhood in Port Huron, selling newspapers on the railroad and experimenting in a baggage car.
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Thunder Bay and the shipwreck sanctuary
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary protects Lake Huron shipwrecks off Alpena, with museum and glass-bottom-boat access from downtown.
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Yale, the Bologna Capital
Yale is known as the Bologna Capital, thanks to C. Roy's Yale Bologna and the town's annual festival.
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Buckley and the Old Engine Show
Buckley swells each August for one of the country's biggest antique-engine and tractor shows.
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Cadillac's two lakes and the canal that built the town
Cadillac grew between Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell after George Mitchell's Clam Lake Canal connected lumber, mills, and the railroad.
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Falmouth: the town that almost kept the county seat
Falmouth briefly held Missaukee County's courthouse before the seat moved to the settlement that became Lake City.
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Hamlin Lake and the town that washed away
Hamlin Lake is Michigan's largest man-made lake, shaped by lumber dams and the lost town of Hamlin on the Big Sable River.
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Harrietta and the birthplace of Michigan's brown trout
Harrietta is known for Michigan's oldest operating state fish hatchery and its long brown-trout story.
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Idlewild: the Black Eden of Michigan
Idlewild in Yates Township was one of the nation's most important Black resort communities before the Civil Rights Act opened other vacation places.
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Jennings: the lumber town that all but disappeared
Jennings was once a busy Missaukee lumber town on Crooked Lake, then many of its houses moved away with the mills.
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Lake City: Michigan's Christmas Tree Capital
Lake City grew from lumber to Lake Missaukee resort life and then into Michigan's Christmas Tree Capital.
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Ludington and the great car ferries of Lake Michigan
Ludington's harbor is still home to the S.S. Badger, the last coal-fired passenger steamship in the United States.
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Manton: the town that lost the county seat in a raid
Manton briefly held the Wexford County seat before Cadillac seized the county records in the wild 1882 Battle of Manton.
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McBain: a Dutch farm town with a Rambler streak
McBain grew from a sawmill settlement into Missaukee County's Dutch-rooted farm town.
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Mesick, the Mushroom Capital
Mesick calls itself the Mushroom Capital of the United States and celebrates morel season with a spring festival rooted in its logging-town past.
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Reeder Township and the family that named it
Reeder Township keeps the name of one of Missaukee County's first settler families, even after Reeder became Lake City.
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The giant battery on the lakeshore: Ludington's Pumped Storage Plant
South of Ludington, the pumped storage plant works like a giant battery, moving Lake Michigan water uphill and back down to support the electric grid.
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The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Mason County
The 1855 reservation tied the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians to Custer and Eden townships, where Indian Town stood near the Pere Marquette River.
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The Pere Marquette name and Father Marquette
Around Ludington, the Pere Marquette name points back to Father Jacques Marquette and a long-debated Lake Michigan death-site tradition.
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The world-famous Scottville Clown Band
Scottville's long-running Clown Band has brought its joyful, noisy parade act to Michigan festivals for generations.
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Frankfort and Elberta
Frankfort and Elberta share Benzie's Lake Michigan harbor, beach-town life, and a railroad car-ferry past.
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Honor, Lake Ann, and the Platte River country
Honor, Lake Ann, the Platte River, and inland lake country anchor north-central Benzie County.
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Interlochen
Interlochen brings a world-famous arts campus, Michigan's first state-created park, and lake-and-woods living to Green Lake Township.
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Kaleva, the Finnish village
Kaleva's Finnish roots and the Makinen Bottle House give central Manistee County one of its signature village stories.
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Kalkaska, the Trout Capital
Kalkaska's railroad-and-lumber past, giant brook trout, and National Trout Festival make the county seat its own northern Michigan landmark.
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Leland, Fishtown, and the Manitou Islands
Leland, Fishtown, Lake Leelanau, and the Manitou Island ferry anchor the historic Lake Michigan side of the Leelanau Peninsula.
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Northport, the lighthouse, and the tip of the peninsula
Northport, Omena, Leelanau State Park, and the Grand Traverse Lighthouse anchor the quiet northern tip of the Leelanau Peninsula.
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The Old Mission Peninsula
The Old Mission Peninsula is Peninsula Township's scenic spine of orchards, vineyards, bay views, and old Grand Traverse history.
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The southern villages and countryside
Southern Grand Traverse County centers on Kingsley, Fife Lake, rural townships, rail history, farms, woods, and more affordable country living.
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Traverse City
Traverse City is northern Michigan's regional hub, with downtown, Grand Traverse Bay, the restored Commons, and busy Garfield Township close together.
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Beaver Island
Beaver Island is a remote Lake Michigan island with Strangite history, Irish roots, and a very different kind of property-buying rhythm.
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Beaverton: where two rivers meet
Beaverton began as Grand Forks at the Tobacco and Cedar river confluence and still works as a small gateway to water and woods.
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Bellaire and Shanty Creek
Bellaire is Antrim County's courthouse village and Chain of Lakes hub, with Shanty Creek nearby as a four-season resort.
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Boyne City
Boyne City is a lively Lake Charlevoix town with a working downtown, lumber history, and the National Morel Mushroom Festival.
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Charlevoix the Beautiful
Charlevoix the Beautiful is a premium resort town between Lake Michigan, Round Lake, and Lake Charlevoix.
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East Jordan
East Jordan is a working Lake Charlevoix town shaped by the Jordan River, EJ, and the Breezeway.
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Evart's Dulcimer Funfest: the world's biggest hammered dulcimer gathering
Every July, Evart hosts the ODPC Funfest, billed as the world's largest hammered dulcimer gathering.
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Fairview and Oscoda's Amish country
Fairview anchors Oscoda County's Amish community, farm country, small museums, and wild-turkey identity.
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Ferris State University: the heart of Big Rapids
How Ferris State University shapes Big Rapids as a college town and county employer.
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Gaylord, Michigan's "Alpine Village"
Gaylord is Otsego County's Alpine Village, county seat, snowbelt hub, and main shopping and service center.
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Gladwin's lumber-town history (and the Carriage Festival)
Gladwin grew from a lumber town called Cedar, and its historical village and Carriage Festival keep that local history visible.
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Grayling: the county seat and crossroads
Grayling is Crawford County's city hub, with highway access, healthcare, downtown, and year-round outdoor access.
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Harbor Springs
Harbor Springs is Emmet County's premium north-shore resort town, with a deep harbor, old summer colonies, and the Tunnel of Trees.
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Harrisville: Alcona's county seat on the lake
Harrisville is Alcona County's tiny county-seat city, Lake Huron harbor, and day-to-day hub.
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Higgins Lake's other story: the nursery that helped replant Michigan
The Higgins Lake Nursery and CCC Museum tells the conservation story behind the forests around Higgins Lake.
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Mackinaw City, the Straits, and Wilderness
Wawatam, Carp Lake, and Bliss townships anchor Emmet County's Straits end, from Mackinaw City and the bridge to Wilderness State Park.
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Mio: the heart of Oscoda County
Mio is Oscoda County's unincorporated county seat, service hub, courthouse town, and practical center.
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Omer: one of Michigan's smallest cities, and its spring sucker run
Omer is one of Michigan's smallest cities, with the Rifle River and Suckerfest at the center of local life.
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Petoskey
Petoskey is Emmet County's year-round resort hub, with the Gaslight District, Bay View, the Bear River, and Little Traverse Bay services.
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Reed City and "The Old Rugged Cross"
Reed City's heritage includes Reverend George Bennard, The Old Rugged Cross, logging roots, and the 1889 courthouse.
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Rose City: a little lumber town turned trail town
Rose City grew from a lumber settlement into a small trail town near the Rifle River Recreation Area.
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St. Helen: a lumber town turned lake town (and the Bluegill Festival)
St. Helen grew from a major lumber operation into an easygoing Lake St. Helen community with the Bluegill Festival.
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Standish: the county seat and gateway to the Sunrise Coast
Standish is Arenac County's county seat, crossroads, and practical gateway to the Sunrise Coast.
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Sturgeon Point Lighthouse and museums
Sturgeon Point Lighthouse, the maritime museum, and Old Bailey School sit on the Lake Huron shore in Haynes Township.
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Tawas Point: the lighthouse and the "Cape Cod of the Midwest"
Tawas Point State Park and its historic lighthouse define the Lake Huron shore in Baldwin Township.
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The Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State
A sober look at Ferris State's Jim Crow Museum and its anti-racism teaching mission.
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The Tawas twin cities: a Lake Huron resort town
Tawas City and East Tawas share Tawas Bay as Iosco County's resort and shopping hub.
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The village of Roscommon: county seat on the Au Sable
Roscommon is the county-seat village on the South Branch of the Au Sable, with logging roots and the Michigan Firemen's Memorial.
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The Wheatland Music Festival
Wheatland Township hosts one of Michigan's best-loved traditional music festivals near Remus.
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