On This Day in History

Spanning Nations On this day in history, work began on one of North America’s most impressive feats of cross-border engineering — the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge. Stretching across the St. Marys River, this steel truss arch bridge connects Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario — known affectionately as the “Twin Soos.” Before the bridge, the only way to cross between these two border towns was by ferry. The ferry service dated back to 1865. The dream of a fixed crossing took decades of planning. When construction finally began in 1960, the project moved swiftly toward a… Read More »

Michigan Tech, Then Called Michigan Mining School, Holds First Classes On September 15, 1886, the future of higher education in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula began… in a fire hall. That’s right — the first classes of the Michigan Mining School (today’s Michigan Technological University) were held in the Houghton Fire Hall, with just four faculty members and 23 students eager to learn the science and engineering of mining. The school’s founding was the result of determined lobbying by Jay Abel Hubbell, a local politician who convinced the state legislature to establish a school to train mining engineers for the booming copper… Read More »

The Six-Foot Strike Leader Who Defied Calumet Police in 1913 On September 10, 1913, a tall, determined woman named Anna “Big Annie” Clemenc made national headlines. She refused to step aside during a tense miners’ strike in Calumet, Michigan. Standing over six feet tall, carrying herself with quiet but unwavering strength, Big Annie became a symbol of labor resistance in the Copper Country Strike of 1913–1914. Married to a miner Annie was deeply connected to the struggles of the Western Federation of Miners. Annie threw her support behind the fight for better wages and safer working conditions. On that September… Read More »

The Legacy of America’s First Finnish College On this day in history, September 8, 1896, a groundbreaking institution opened its doors in Hancock, Michigan — Suomi College, the first Finnish college in the United States. With just 27 students in rented quarters, the small school had an ambitious mission: to train Lutheran ministers and preserve Finnish language and culture in America. The driving force behind this mission was J.K. Nikander, a Finnish immigrant and pastor with the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (the Suomi Synod). Nikander saw the influx of Finnish settlers to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — many drawn… Read More »

Farewell to Michigan’s Summer Passenger Trains In the golden age of American railroads, the journey north to Michigan’s summer paradise wasn’t just about the destination — it was about the ride. For decades, the “Fishing Line” of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad (GR & I) whisked vacationers from bustling cities to the cool breezes of the Straits of Mackinac. But on this day in 1961, the Northern Arrow — the last summer-only passenger train on the Pennsylvania Railroad system in Michigan — rolled out of Mackinaw City for the final time, ending a chapter of northern tourism history. The… Read More »

The Day Michigan Changed Hands (Sort Of) On September 3, 1783, Great Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris, officially ending the Revolutionary War. Among its many consequences, it ceded Michigan—and the rest of the Northwest Territory—to the United States. Sounds neat and tidy, right? Well, not exactly. Britain, eager to keep its profitable fur trade alive, refused to give up its military or political strongholds in Michigan for another thirteen years. In fact, British troops didn’t pack up and leave until after Jay’s Treaty in 1796. Their influence still lingered until after the War of 1812…. Read More »

History isn’t always about grand battles or dramatic speeches — sometimes, it’s about the quiet but powerful moment when one flag comes down and another rises. That was the scene on Mackinac Island on September 1, 1796, when the British finally left Fort Mackinac, handing it over to the United States. The transfer marked the end of over a decade of lingering British control after the American Revolution. The story begins much earlier. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 officially ended the Revolutionary War and ceded Mackinac Island to the newly formed United States. But the British didn’t pack up… Read More »

August in Northern Michigan isn’t just about sun-soaked shorelines and cherry harvests—it’s a month rich with fascinating stories from the past. From ambitious settlers and powerful treaties to underwater memorials and legendary lumberjacks, history left its mark all across the region during this warm and vibrant time of year. Here’s a look back at the events that shaped Augusts of years gone by. August in Northern Michigan History August 1, 1856 – Horton Bay Settled Samuel Horton, with his family and the sailing vessel Rover, landed on the shores of what is now Horton Bay. As the first white settlers… Read More »

On August 21, 1984, the legendary Chief Wawatam retired after more than seven decades of faithful service across the icy waters of the Straits of Mackinac. But her story begins long before that—on August 26, 1911, when she was launched into the waters of Toledo, Ohio, by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company. By October 18, she was hard at work for the Mackinac Transportation Company. A joint venture created by three railroads: the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway, the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, and the Michigan Central Railroad. These rail lines relied heavily on the Chief to ferry train… Read More »

Reimund Holzhey’s Wild Ride Through Michigan History Before the Old West officially rode off into the sunset, Michigan had one last brush with outlaw justice. On this day in 1889, 22-year-old Reimund Holzhey—known dramatically as the “Black Bart of the Upper Peninsula”—staged the final stagecoach robbery east of the Mississippi River. What unfolded that day was part dime novel, part tragedy, and all true Michigan history. Holzhey wasn’t your run-of-the-mill bandit. He was a young man with a flair for drama, a penchant for train and stagecoach holdups, and an unfortunate taste for dime novels, including those about the infamous… Read More »

End of an Era: On this day in history, August 21, 1984, a storied chapter in Michigan’s maritime legacy came to a close. The Chief Wawatam, the last hand-fired, coal-burning vessel on the Great Lakes, sailed across the Straits of Mackinac one final time. This marked the end of railroad car ferry service between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. For over seven decades, the Chief defied the elements and carved paths through frozen water. She delivered passengers, cars, and railcars across one of the most critical and treacherous waterways in the Midwest. Launched August 26, 1911, the 338-foot Chief Wawatam… Read More »

A Presidential Slice If you ever doubted the power of pie, look back at August 18, 1926, that is when a giant Traverse City cherry pie earned a spot at the President of the United States’ dinner table. Yes, a 46-pound, three-foot-wide, 5,000-cherry-filled pie. The pie that took a road trip from Northern Michigan to the Adirondacks, and along the way, it became a sweet slice of American history. It all started with a fruitful cherry harvest on Old Mission Peninsula. Frank Burkhart, owner of a local fruit packing company, saw an opportunity to promote the region’s prized Montmorency cherries…. Read More »