Tired? Hungry? Bored? The Ultimate Guide to the Traverse City Area

Michigan extends as far east as parts of South Carolina. Parts of Canada, actually lie south of northern Michigan. Michigan is the only state that is divided into two peninsulas-Upper and Lower. The Upper Peninsula is sparsely populated and quite rural, whereas the Lower Peninsula contains all the large cities and most of the industry and agriculture. Michigan is a state in which almost half its area is fresh water; with water and land combined it is the largest state east of the Mississippi River. Michigan created a capital in the wilderness (Lansing) and elected the youngest governor to serve anywhere in the United States. The world automobile industry was established here (Detroit), and Michigan leads the United States in auto production.

First in U.S. automobile production.
World's busiest ship canal.
Detroit River carries the world's greatest tonnage.
Most million-ton ports in the United States.
Largest U.S. producer of salt, mint, navy beans, and sour cherries.
First in baby food and carpet sweepers.
Greatest variety of trees in the United States.
Largest copper reserve in the United states.
The state stone is actually a fossilized coral (Hexagonaria pericarnata) from a coral reef that existed in the northern Lower Peninsula during the Devonian era, 350 million years ago. The Petoskey Stone was adopted as the "state stone" by Public Act 89 of 1965.
First university established by a state.Coming from French Canada, Etienne Bruli reached present-day Michigan during his journeys of 1618-1622.
In 1668, Father Jacques Marquette and Father Claude Dablon founded the first permanent European settlement in what is now Michigan, Sault Sainte Marie-at the Soo.
In 1679, Robert Cavalier, Sieur de Salle, constructed the first French fort in lower Michigan, where St. Joseph now stands.
Detroit was begun in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac; it became the first major city founded in the Midwest.
In 1760, Major Robert Rogers and his Royal English Rangers captured Detroit without a struggle, and French rule came to an end.
Angered by British mistreatment, Chief Pontiac laid siege to Detroit in 1763. Lasting for 175 days, it was the longest siege in an attempt to preserve Native American land.
The Treaty of Paris in 1783 gave Michigan to the young United States, but the British continued to occupy most of the area until General "Mad Anthony" Wayne asserted American control, confirmed by the Jay Treaty of 1795.
In 1805 much of Detroit was destroyed by fire.
During the War of 1812, the British retook Detroit, but the Americans returned in September 1813.
The cholera epidemic of 1832 took many lives, including that of the beloved priest Father Gabriel Richard.
In a "border war" both Michigan and Ohio claimed the area now occupied by Toledo. Finally, Michigan accepted the entire Upper Peninsula in exchange for giving up its claim.
Michigan became the 26th U.S. state on January 26, 1837.
In 1840 the rich copper lands in the Upper Peninsula were discovered.
In 1847 the legislature chose an unoccupied woodland site as the state capital, and Lansing became the "capital in the forest."
A Republican party was created at Jackson on July 6, 1854, and later the same year Michigan became the first state to elect a Republican governor.
During the Civil War the Michigan Cavalry Brigade played a key role in the Battle of Gettysburg.
By strange coincidence a terrible fire roared through Holland and other arm of Michigan on the same day of the great Chicago fire, October 8, 1871.
Around the turn of the century, Detroit began its rise as the principal center of automobile production.
In World War I, the 32nd Division, with many Michigan troops, was the first to reach German soil.
During World War 11, Michigan factories manufactured an eighth of all war materiel produced in the nation.
In 1957, Big Mac, the bridge, linked the Upper and Lower peninsulas for the first time.
The riots of 1967 destroyed much of the inner city of Detroit.
During the 1980s, Michigan auto industries began to encounter stiff competition from Japanese automobiles.
In 1992 scientists announced that the largest living thing in the world was a fungus, Armillaria bulbosa, growing beneath 37 acres near Crystal Falls. (However, an organism in Washington State was later claimed to be larger.)
Michigan's shoreline of 3,177 miles is second only to that of Alaska.
Michigan history took a peculiar turn when Mormon leader James Strang proclaimed himself King of Beaver Island. He was
assassinated in 1856, and mainland forces took over the Mormon properties.
Disguised as a man, Sarah Emma Edmonds fought through four major Civil War campaigns before her identity was discovered.