History
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St. Clair: The storybook Michigan town with a surprising world record
St. Clair, Michigan, not only exudes charm and offers plenty of adventures, but it also boasts an impressive world record.
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The fascinating histories behind 6 Michigan roads
Turns out, the roads we drive every day aren’t just pavement and paint—they’re pieces of Michigan’s ever-evolving history. Buckle up as we take you on a trip down six Michigan roads with names that tell the story of the state’s past.
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That one time in Michigan: When America’s only floating post office set sail
Learn more about the J.W. Westcott II, aka America’s only floating post office, which keeps Great Lakes freighters stocked with everything from mechanical parts to hamburgers.
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A historian’s guide to living history in and around Detroit
You’ve studied Michigan history, but why not live it? Check out one historian’s guide to the best ways to bring history to life in Metro Detroit.
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That one time in Michigan: When we had our deadliest tornado
June marked the 72nd anniversary of the deadliest tornado in Michigan’s history. Learn about the Flint-Beecher tornado, its impact, and its lasting legacy.
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75 years after the then-worst crash in US history, search ends for a plane in Lake Michigan
A group is ending a 20-year search for a plane that crashed into Lake Michigan in 1950.
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A guide to what the Juneteenth holiday is and how to celebrate it
It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — after the Civil War’s end and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The resulting Juneteenth holiday — its name combining “June” and “nineteenth” — has only grown in one-and-a-half centuries. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated it a…
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It’s the only Great Lake entirely within US. 10 things to know about Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan, the only one of the five Great Lakes entirely within the United States, spans the western coast of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, providing state residents with fantastic beaches to explore, but there are other fascinating and fun facts about Lake Michigan.
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A historian explores Michigan’s secret bootlegging empire
Want to learn about Michigan’s secret and spirited past? Here, a historian and U of M grad explores the state’s history as a bootlegging center.
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That one time in Michigan: When we established one of the most isolated national parks
It’s been nearly 100 years since Congress authorized one of the country’s most beautiful and remote national parks.
