One of Michigan’s many lost lighthouses – which boasted a female keeper for 11 years – also has ties to one of the state’s most significant figures in American history. The Mamajuda Lighthouse was built in 1849 (and rebuilt in 1866) in the Detroit River. The last keeper served there in 1921 and by the 1950s, the light had toppled into the water (which today covers the island). All is lost to time…but the history remains!
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Over the past 170-plus years, women have been serving as lighthouse keepers in Michigan…sometimes officially recognized by the U.S. Lighthouse Service and sometimes not. Such is the case with Hansine Henrietta (Anderson) Bergh in Bete Gris. While she didn’t work at the official lighthouse she was known to hang a lantern in the window of her house so that her husband and other fishermen could find their way back home after dark. This story includes information gathered from her great great granddaughter, Nora Dee.
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Michigan was founded on January 26, 1837 as the 26th state of the United States of America. Currently home to nearly 10 million people, spread out throughout two peninsulas, Michigan is the Great Lakes State – the Mitten of Plenty – the Wolverine State. Michigan’s early business history is centered in industries that benefited from its proximity to the Great Lakes: fishing, lumbering, mining, fur trapping and agriculture.
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Each holiday season, we are inundated with hour after hour of movies about Christmas airing on television and now streaming services. A handful have ties to Michigan, like Prancer (1989) and The Polar Express (2004). But did you know the beloved 1954 classic White Christmas is believed to have actually been written right here in the Great Lakes State?
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Celery is an integral part of the Thanksgiving feast…as one of the main ingredients in homemade stuffing (or dressing, if you prefer). Did you know that Kalamazoo, Michigan is known as “Celery City” because it was the first place in the United States where this vegetable was commercially grown?
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While tropical storms and hurricanes continue to attack the region in and around the Gulf of Mexico, the “Gales of November” are stirring up the Great Lakes region just as they have for centuries. This unique weather phenomenon is created when cold, dry air from northern Canada converges with moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, over the still warm summer waters of the Great Lakes.
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By Dianna Stampfler Dozens of Michigan restaurants acknowledge being “haunted,” but only a handful celebrate their spirited side by hosting
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In June 1965, the Trout was officially named Michigan’s “State Fish” — joining other noted symbols like the Apple Blossom (named “State Flower” in 1897, the American Robin (Named the “State Bird” in 1931, the Eastern White Pine Tree (Named the “State Tree in 1955), and the Petoskey Stone (Named the “State Stone in 1965).
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I think I first heard the word census during the summer of 1980, when I was in elementary school, and we spent our summer vacation researching our family tree on a cross-state road trip. I’m not sure I recall what it was or what it meant back then, but in recent years – as I’ve found a growing interest in my family history as well as the lives of others while researching for my writing, I have been finding more and more reason to access census data online.
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There is a holiday for just about anything, but this one is well deserved – especially these days. May is MICHIGAN Wine Month…a time to pop a cork and pour a glass of locally made wine from one of the state’s nearly 150 wineries.
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On March 3, 1955 (65 years ago), the eastern white pine tree (Pinus Strobus, also known as a “soft pine”) was adopted as the official State Tree of Michigan. This conifer tree can be found in almost every county of the Upper and Lower Peninsula, typically growing in mixed forests and sandy plains. Click here to learn more about this and the other Michigan State Symbols.
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Saturday was spent traipsing around the snow-covered landscape at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, celebrating Michigan Winter Trails Day with the find folks at Great Lakes Winter Trails Council. After a snowshoe hike and a winter rafting trip, I was ready to warm my mind, body and soul with a relaxing massage at the Spa inside Treetops main lodge.
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Yesterday we celebrated my family Christmas at my dad’s house on Gilkey Street in Plainwell — the house where his mother was raised and where we lived from when I was about six until moving out on my own after college. My paternal grandparents lived next door at the time – until they sold the house and moved to the cottage at Pine Lake (and also spent winters in Florida).
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