The Best Stories, Sites and Fun From Around the Great Lakes State.
by Roscommon, Michigan’s colorful past is full of surprises. From its logging origins with freight trains to 1930s lakeside resorts, this small town’s history defies expectations. Dive into Roscommon Michigan history with five key photos.
by A boat-shaped “Hotel Pioneer” sign and a “Liquors” banner mark this roadside stop on M-15 at Bald Eagle Lake in Ortonville — a snapshot of Michigan travel culture from a bygone era.
by Before Belleville Lake, the Huron River powered mills like Belleville’s ‘White Mill’ — a busy loading platform scene that disappeared after fires and a flood.
by A crowded log “toboggan house” in Grayling shows how big winter weekends could get Up North — sleds loading, riders bundled up, and a blur of speed heading down the tracks. What stories have you heard about these runs?
by A dirt road, log buildings, and an early car — a snapshot from Michigan’s border-country mining and logging era. The scene is linked to the Michigamme Falls area north of Florence, Wisconsin, where the river and falls were later reshaped by a dam.
by Before refrigerators, Harbor Springs stayed cool the hard way: ice delivered by wagon, with a steamer — possibly the Manitou — smoking across the bay.
by A Holland storefront once welcomed tourists with wooden shoes and Dutch souvenirs — and inside, a craftsman carved clogs by hand. Did your family ever stop here or bring a pair home?
by For more than a century, one dish has appeared on the United States Senate menu every day without interruption: bean soup. It is not a law. It is not ceremonial. …
by A Sinclair station with a handwritten challenge — “Ask Chum — He might know” — helped turn a simple highway junction south of Traverse City into the place name we still use today.
by The history of Shelby Michigan is a story of orchards, rail lines, and restraint. This feature traces how a small fruit town grew carefully from the 1860s through the early 20th century.
