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History & Culture

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History & Culture notes

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Jiffy: the little blue box made only in ChelseaEvery box of Jiffy mix comes from Chelsea, where the Holmes family has run Chelsea Milling Company for generations.
Lansing, birthplace of Oldsmobile and REORansom E. Olds made Lansing an auto town, from Oldsmobile and REO to today's R.E. Olds Transportation Museum.
Meijer: the Grand Rapids store that invented one-stop shoppingMeijer's 1962 Thrifty Acres store in Grand Rapids helped invent one-stop shopping, and the company is still headquartered in Walker.
Monroe and the River Raisin: "Remember the Raisin"Monroe's River Raisin National Battlefield Park is the only national battlefield marking a War of 1812 site, and it follows the story through its aftermath.
Monroe: an old French town, the "Floral City," and the home of La-Z-BoyMonroe's identity reaches from its Frenchtown roots and Floral City nursery history to La-Z-Boy's global headquarters.
Mount Clemens: the town that was 'Bath City'Mount Clemens was once a nationally famous mineral-bath resort town, and the Crocker House Museum still tells that story.
Muskegon's three museum ships are three different visitsThe Milwaukee Clipper, USS Silversides, and USS LST 393 tell different waterfront stories. In summer 2026, Silversides is away for dry-dock work, but its Muskegon museum building remains open.
Niles, the City of Four FlagsNiles is the City of Four Flags because Fort St. Joseph passed through French, British, Spanish, and American claims.
Rockford: a shoe town on the river, and the water cleanup that followedRockford's Wolverine footwear history is part local pride and part PFAS cleanup story.
Romeo's Peach Festival returns each Labor Day weekendRomeo's Peach Festival began in 1931. It has paused more than once, but the Labor Day weekend tradition keeps returning to northern Macomb County.
Saugatuck and Douglas: Michigan's Art CoastSaugatuck and Douglas are known as Michigan's Art Coast, with Ox-Bow, galleries, LGBTQ+-welcoming resort history, and the buried town of Singapore.
Selfridge: one of America's oldest air basesSelfridge Air National Guard Base opened in 1917 and still anchors Macomb County's military aviation history.
South Haven: beaches, blueberries, and the maritime coastSouth Haven is known for Lake Michigan beaches, blueberries, the Michigan Maritime Museum, and Liberty Hyde Bailey's hometown history.
St. Joseph's Silver BeachSt. Joseph's Silver Beach carries a century of amusement-park history, carousel nostalgia, and Lake Michigan lighthouse views.
Sterling Heights: from missiles to Ram trucksSterling Heights' Ram truck plant began as a missile plant, then became one of Macomb County's major auto plants.
The 'Industrial Versailles' in WarrenWarren's GM Technical Center is a National Historic Landmark and a landmark of modern corporate-campus design.
The 'rapids' that vanished from Grand RapidsGrand Rapids was named for real rapids on the Grand River, and a restoration project is set to bring them back.
The Centreville fair began in 1851 and got a second start in 1916Centreville's fair began in 1851, was discontinued after financial trouble, and returned under the Grange in 1916.
The Grand Rapids Chicks: women's pro baseballThe Grand Rapids Chicks played women's professional baseball from 1945 to 1954 and won two league championships.
The Gun Lake Tribe and Gun Lake CasinoThe Gun Lake Tribe is based in Wayland Township, and Gun Lake Casino has become a major Allegan County employer and regional destination.
The Lowell ShowboatLowell's riverfront showboat began as a Depression-era variety show and now carries both community pride and a hard history.
The Medical Mile: how Grand Rapids became a research hubGrand Rapids' Medical Mile turned a stretch of Michigan Street into a major hospital, research, and medical-school corridor.
The Michigan State Capitol: a domed landmark you can tour for freeMichigan's 1879 State Capitol is a free-to-tour National Historic Landmark and the working center of state government.
The Packard Proving GroundsThe Packard Proving Grounds in Shelby Township preserves part of a luxury automaker's 1928 test track and grounds.
The Whitecaps: minor-league baseball (and a 4,800-calorie burger)The West Michigan Whitecaps bring Tigers prospects, summer baseball, and famously over-the-top ballpark food to the Grand Rapids area.
The Ypsilanti Water Tower: 1890 landmark on the city's highest hillYpsilanti's 1890 limestone water tower is a National Register landmark, a local icon, and a famously suggestive piece of civic infrastructure.
There are miles of old mine tunnels under Grand RapidsOld gypsum mine tunnels run under parts of Grand Rapids, Wyoming, and Grandville, and some are still used for storage.
Three Rivers, where three rivers meetThree Rivers is named for the meeting of the St. Joseph, Rocky, and Portage rivers, with a historic downtown and St. Gregory's Abbey.
Warren's tank plant: the Arsenal of DemocracyWarren's Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant was the first U.S. factory built to mass-produce tanks and remains tied to Army vehicle work.
What Dexter Cider Mill's 'oldest' claim meansDexter Cider Mill dates to 1886 and calls itself Michigan's oldest continuously operating cider mill — a narrower claim than simply having the oldest mill history.
Why DeVos and Van Andel are on so many Grand Rapids landmarksRich DeVos and Jay Van Andel built Amway in Ada. Later, their families helped create or support major Grand Rapids venues, hospitals, schools, and research institutions.
Why Eastpointe used to be called 'East Detroit'Eastpointe was once called East Detroit, and its 1992 name change carried both identity and border-city context.
Why Grand Rapids is called Furniture CityGrand Rapids was a center of the furniture industry from the 1870s through the 1930s, and its office-furniture legacy is still visible today.
Why Holland is so Dutch — tulips, a windmill, and an 1847 beginningHolland's Dutch identity traces to its 1847 founding, Tulip Time, and De Zwaan, the working Dutch windmill on Windmill Island.
Why Mason, not Lansing, is the county seatMason remains Ingham County's county seat, making Michigan unusual because Lansing is a state capital that is not a county seat.
Willow Run: where Rosie the Riveter built bombersWillow Run mass-produced B-24 bombers during World War II and helped make Rosie the Riveter a national symbol.
Zeeland: a tiny Dutch town that builds world-famous thingsZeeland's Dutch roots run deep, and the small city is home to major design and manufacturing names like MillerKnoll, Gentex, and Howard Miller.
'Midnight' — Detroit's Secret Code Name on the Road to FreedomOn the Underground Railroad, Detroit was code-named 'Midnight' — the last dark stop before the 'Dawn' of freedom across the river in Canada.
"Runaway": A Coopersville Carpet Salesman's Worldwide #1Del Shannon — born Charles Westover, raised in Coopersville — turned his 1961 song 'Runaway' into a #1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
A $10,000 Bet on Pizza Built a Detroit EmpireMike and Marian Ilitch bet their $10,000 life savings on a Garden City pizza shop in 1959 — and Little Caesars money later bought the Red Wings and Tigers.
A B-24 Bomber Rolled Out of a Michigan Plant Every Single HourAt Ypsilanti's mile-long Willow Run plant, Ford built B-24 bombers on an assembly line — nearly one an hour — and helped give the world Rosie the Riveter.
A Factory Worker Turned Detroit's Hastings Street Into a #1 RecordBluesman John Lee Hooker came to Detroit for factory work, played the Hastings Street clubs at night, and turned his sound into the 1949 #1 hit 'Boogie Chillen'.
A Fort Where History Is Literally Being Dug Up, Summer After SummerA reconstructed 1715 French fort under the Mackinac Bridge, sitting atop one of North America's longest-running archaeological digs — active every summer since 1959.
A Michigan UFO Sighting Got So Big That a Future President Demanded a Congressional HearingIn March 1966, UFO sightings near Dexter and Hillsdale drew Walter Cronkite, an Air Force "swamp gas" explanation, and a congressional-hearing demand from a young Gerald Ford.
A Newspaper Family Turned Their Estate Into One of the World's Great Design SchoolsThe Booth newspaper family turned their Bloomfield Hills estate into Cranbrook — a 300-acre campus designed by Eliel Saarinen and one of the most influential places in American design.
A Self-Taught Builder Made Two Dozen "Hobbit Houses" Out of Beach BouldersIn Charlevoix, self-taught builder Earl Young spent some fifty years making about thirty curving, boulder-walled 'Mushroom Houses' that exist nowhere else on Earth.
A Whole 1800s Town, Frozen in Time on a Lake Michigan CliffAn entire 1800s iron-smelting company town on the remote Garden Peninsula, abandoned in 1891 and so well-preserved it's one of America's best ghost towns.
A Whole Block of Detroit Is a Polka-Dotted Outdoor Art MuseumDetroit's Heidelberg Project turned a blighted east-side street into a world-famous outdoor art environment of polka dots and salvaged objects.
A working Dutch windmill crossed the Atlantic to MichiganHolland calls De Zwaan America's only authentic working Dutch windmill. It was built in 1884 with some older parts and moved to Michigan in 1964.
America's First 'Walking Mall' Was a Michigan ExperimentKalamazoo opened America's first outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in 1959 — designed, ironically, by the inventor of the enclosed mall.
Barry Sanders: The Most Exciting Lion of AllFor ten seasons the most electrifying runner in football played in Detroit — then walked away, near his peak, just shy of the all-time record.
Beaver Island and James Strang's Self-Crowned KingdomJames Strang was crowned king of his religious community on Beaver Island in 1850. He was not a recognized sovereign, but his authority shaped the island.
Belle Isle: Detroit's 985-acre island parkBelle Isle puts an aquarium, conservatory, beach, trails, and Detroit-and-Windsor views on a 985-acre island in the Detroit River.
Better Made: Detroit's Last Chip StandingThe last of Detroit's twenty-plus hometown chip makers, still frying on Gratiot Avenue since 1930.
Big Gus is Ishpeming's Guinness-record chainsawGuinness World Records lists Big Gus as the largest chainsaw: a 22-foot-11-inch working machine built in Michigan and displayed in Ishpeming.
Carhartt Started in a Detroit Loft in 1889Carhartt, the rugged workwear brand, started in a small Detroit loft in 1889 and is still family-owned and based in metro Detroit today.
Cudighi: The U.P.'s Sweet-Spiced SecretThe U.P.'s sweet-spiced Italian sausage sandwich — a Marquette County staple that Italy itself wouldn't recognize.
Detroit's 'Red Dwarf' — the Goblin Blamed for 300 Years of Bad LuckDetroit's Nain Rouge — a 'red dwarf' said to appear before disaster since Cadillac's day — is folklore, and now has its own springtime parade.
Detroit's Grand Train Station Came Back From the DeadDetroit's grand 1913 train station sat abandoned for 30 years as a symbol of the city's decline — until Ford spent roughly $950 million restoring it, reopening in June 2024.
Detroit's Pewabic Pottery still works in its 1907 studioFounded by Mary Chase Perry and Horace Caulkins, Pewabic became known for iridescent glazes and architectural tile seen across Detroit and the country.

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