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History & Culture

Porch Notes

History & Culture notes

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Domino's began in Ypsilanti with a $900 loanDomino's traces its start to a Ypsilanti pizza shop bought with a $900 loan in 1960. A year later, James Monaghan traded his half to his brother Tom for a Volkswagen Beetle.
Eddie Tolan: Detroit's Midnight ExpressDetroit's bespectacled Midnight Express won double sprint gold at the 1932 Olympics and became the first African American called the world's fastest human.
Eloise: the poorhouse that grew into a medical cityEloise began as Wayne County's poorhouse in 1839 and grew into a 902-acre medical complex with 75 buildings, 10,000 patients, and 2,000 staff.
Faygo Started as Cake Frosting — ReallyFaygo's flavors started life as cake frosting — reworked into pop by two immigrant bakers in 1907 Detroit.
Fielding Yost and the Little Brown JugFielding Yost's point-a-minute Wolverines and a 30-cent water jug gave college football its oldest trophy.
Five Million Tulips Bloom in One Michigan Town Every MayHolland, Michigan throws the longest-running tulip festival in the U.S. — five million-plus tulips every May, a tradition begun in 1929.
Flint's Grand Funk Railroad Sold Out Shea Stadium Faster Than the BeatlesGrand Funk Railroad, a hard-rock trio from Flint, sold out Shea Stadium in 72 hours in 1971 — faster than the Beatles had.
For a Few Electric Years, a Detroit Dance Hall Was Rock's Wildest RoomFor a few electric years in the late 1960s, Detroit's Grande Ballroom — home of the MC5 — was one of the wildest, most important rooms in rock.
George Gipp: The Gipper from LauriumThe Gipper from Laurium became Notre Dame's first All-American — and the source of the most famous deathbed line in sports, true or not.
Gordie Howe and the Making of HockeytownMr. Hockey gave Detroit its claim to Hockeytown: 25 seasons, four Stanley Cups, and a career that somehow stretched to age 52.
Grand Hotel's 660-Foot Front PorchGrand Hotel says its Mackinac Island porch stretches 660 feet and is the world's largest. The length is documented by the hotel; the ranking is its claim.
Grand Island: A Tycoon's Private Kingdom on Lake SuperiorFor ninety years, 13,500 acres off Munising were one iron magnate's private kingdom; today it's a wild National Recreation Area.
Has wind ever blown a car off the Mackinac Bridge?No. The Mackinac Bridge Authority says two vehicles have gone over the railing since 1957, but neither case was a vehicle being blown off by wind.
Henry Ford Moved Thomas Edison's Actual Laboratory to Michigan — Brick by BrickHenry Ford moved Thomas Edison's actual Menlo Park laboratory to Michigan, brick by brick, and had a frail Edison relight his lamp there in 1929.
High Island: perched dunes and a working-island pastHigh Island is 3,495 acres of state wildlife land west of Beaver Island, with perched dunes, sensitive habitat, Odawa fishing history, and remnants of a House of David work camp.
Houdini's Last Trick Was in Detroit — and It Killed HimHarry Houdini gave his final performance at Detroit's Garrick Theatre in 1926, then died on Halloween of a ruptured appendix at Grace Hospital.
How 'Yooper' Made It Into the DictionaryIt took one Yooper more than a decade of letters (and a few pasties) to get the word 'Yooper' into the dictionary.
How "Live Bullet" carried Bob Seger beyond DetroitBob Seger built his reputation around Detroit before the Cobo Hall performances on 1976's "Live Bullet" brought him significant national attention.
How a former consul brought Hawaii to MarshallAfter returning from Honolulu in 1860, former Michigan chief justice and U.S. consul Abner Pratt built Marshall's Hawaiian-inspired Honolulu House.
How a Tiny Island Became the "Fudge Capital of the World"Mackinac Island is the "Fudge Capital of the World," a tradition the Murdick family started in 1887 with marble-slab fudge and aroma-fans.
How Close Am I to Water in Michigan, Really?You're never more than six miles from an inland lake or stream in Michigan — and never more than 85 miles from a Great Lake. Both are true at once.
How Diego Rivera Put Detroit Industry on Four WallsDiego Rivera's 27-panel Detroit Industry fresco cycle surrounds Rivera Court at the DIA, pairing factory work with the promises and costs of modern industry.
How Do You Actually Pronounce "Mackinac"?Mackinac — the bridge, island, and straits — is pronounced MACK-in-aw, with a silent 'c,' thanks to a French respelling of an Ojibwe name. Here's the rule for Michigan's tricky place names.
How Frankenmuth Became Michigan's Little BavariaFrankenmuth began as a German Lutheran mission colony in 1845; the Bavarian streetscape visitors know today took shape more than a century later.
How Many Great Lakes Does Michigan Actually Touch?Michigan touches four of the five Great Lakes (everything but Ontario) — the only state that does — and Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake entirely inside the U.S.
How Northern Michigan Made Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway spent his boyhood summers at the family's Windemere cottage on Walloon Lake, and northern Michigan shaped his early fiction.
Hush Puppies Were Born in a Small Michigan Town — and Named After Fried DoughHush Puppies — the soft suede casual shoe — were born in 1958 in Rockford, Michigan, and named after the fried dough that quiets barking dogs.
Inside Detroit's 5,000-seat Fox TheatreDetroit's Fox opened in 1928 as the city's largest movie palace. Its six-story lobby and roughly 5,000-seat auditorium still welcome shows, concerts, and guided tours.
Is It "Michigander" or "Michiganian"?Michigander or Michiganian? Both are valid — the state never picked an official term — though 'Michigander' (once an insult from Abraham Lincoln) is what most people actually say.
Is It "Pop" or "Soda"? (And What's a "Party Store"?)In Michigan it's 'pop,' never 'soda' — and a 'party store' sells beer and chips, not balloons. A quick guide to two words that out-of-towners always get wrong.
Is the Whole Lower Peninsula Really Shaped Like a Mitten — and What's "The Thumb"?Michigan's Lower Peninsula really is mitten-shaped, and 'the Thumb' — the part jutting into Lake Huron, around Huron, Tuscola, and Sanilac counties — is a genuine, official nickname.
James Oliver Curwood built a writing castle on the Shiawassee RiverOwosso-born adventure novelist James Oliver Curwood built a French-chateau-style writing studio beside the Shiawassee River in 1922 and 1923.
Joe Louis: The Brown BomberBorn in Alabama but made in Detroit, the Brown Bomber held the heavyweight title nearly twelve years — the longest reign in history — and became a national hero.
Kalkaska SandFew states have an official soil; Michigan does. Kalkaska sand is found nowhere else on Earth, covering close to a million acres of the state's glacial, sandy ground.
Koegel's Viennas: The Snap Heard 'Round the MittenThe natural-casing snap that a century of Michiganders grew up grilling — Flint's Koegel Vienna, made the same way since 1916.
Madonna was born in Bay City before growing up near DetroitMadonna was born in Bay City, raised in Pontiac and Rochester Hills, and studied dance in Ann Arbor before leaving Michigan for New York.
Magic Johnson: From Lansing to HistoryFrom Everett High to a 1979 national title at Michigan State, the kid from Lansing helped change basketball forever.
Manoomin, Michigan's official native grainMichigan enacted its manoomin designation in 2023. The law names wild rice as the official native grain and recognizes its wetland and Indigenous cultural importance.
Meadow Brook Hall is a 110-room Tudor Revival landmarkMatilda and Alfred Wilson built the 110-room Meadow Brook Hall from 1926 to 1929, then included it in the gift that founded Oakland University.
Michigan Grows Nearly Three-Quarters of the Nation's Tart Cherries (and Throws a 100-Year Party for Them)Michigan grows nearly three-quarters of the nation's tart cherries, and Traverse City throws its 100th National Cherry Festival in 2026.
Michigan Has More Lighthouses Than Any Other StateMichigan's Coastal Management Program counted 129 lighthouses in 2026, the most of any state. Not every one is open for a tower climb.
Michigan Stadium is North America's largest stadiumThe Big House seats 107,601. Michigan Athletics says it has drawn more than 100,000 fans for 329 straight home football games.
Michigan's "Black Eden": The Resort Town Where Black America VacationedIdlewild, in Lake County, was one of Black America's premier vacation resorts during segregation — the "Summer Apollo of Michigan," drawing tens of thousands.
Michigan's Capitol Looks Like Marble and Walnut — but a Lot of It Is PaintMuch of the marble and walnut in Michigan's 1879 State Capitol is actually paint — over nine acres of hand-painted surfaces designed to fool the eye.
Michigan's First Governor Was 24 Years Old. They Called Him "The Boy Governor."Stevens T. Mason became Michigan's first state governor in 1835 at age 24 — the youngest in U.S. history, a record that still stands — after being named territorial secretary at just 19.
Michigan's oldest city is older than the United StatesSault Ste. Marie's 1668 French mission date makes it Michigan's oldest city. Anishinaabeg had gathered at Bahweting, the rapids, for millennia before Europeans arrived.
Mishipeshu, the Great Lynx Beneath the WavesIn Ojibwe oral tradition, Mishipeshu is an underwater panther associated with Lake Superior, sacred copper, storms, and safe passage.
Montague's 48-foot weathervane tells a shipwreck storyThe City of Montague calls its 48-foot weathervane the world's largest, but the schooner model and recovered nameplate give it the better story.
Old Mackinac Point: The Castle the Bridge Made ObsoleteA castle-like lighthouse at the Straits of Mackinac that guided ships from 1892 until the Mackinac Bridge made it obsolete in 1957 — now a museum.
One Michigan City Quietly Promised to Pay for Every Kid's College — and Won't Say Who's Funding ItOn November 10, 2005, anonymous donors created the Kalamazoo Promise — paying up to full college tuition for every Kalamazoo Public Schools graduate, with no income or grade requirement — and they're still anonymous.
One of America's First Radio Stations Went on the Air in DetroitDetroit's 8MK — later WWJ — went on the air in 1920 as the first newspaper-owned radio station, and is still broadcasting more than a century later.
Paczki Day: Hamtramck's Donut HolidayHow Polish immigrants made the Tuesday before Lent into Hamtramck's biggest donut day.
Power Island: Henry Ford's Island GetawayA roughly 200-acre island in Grand Traverse Bay that Henry Ford once owned, now a quiet county park reached only by boat.
Punk Rock Has Michigan Roots — Meet the MC5 and the StoogesBefore anyone called it punk, the MC5 of Detroit and the Stooges of Ann Arbor were already playing it — and the world's punk bands took it from there.
Round Island: The Little Lighthouse That Became a Movie StarA picture-perfect red-and-white lighthouse near Mackinac Island that nearly fell to ruin before locals saved it — and that you may recognize from the film 'Somewhere in Time'.
Sanders: The Hot Fudge That Built a Detroit EmpireThe German immigrant's candy counter that gave Detroit its hot fudge, bumpy cake, and a maybe-claim to inventing the ice cream soda.
Shipwreck Alley, where you can see wrecks without divingNOAA counts 100 discovered shipwrecks in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and estimates 100 more await discovery off northeast Michigan.
Stannard Rock: The Loneliest Lighthouse in AmericaTwenty-four miles out in open Lake Superior with no land in sight, America's most isolated lighthouse — built against brutal odds, and now a lonely climate-research station.
Styrofoam Was Invented in Midland (and What You Call 'Styrofoam' Probably Isn't)Dow invented Styrofoam in Midland in 1941 — and here's the twist: the foam cups and coolers you call 'styrofoam' aren't actually Styrofoam at all.
Techno Was Invented by Three Teenagers in a Detroit SuburbTechno was born in the basements of three Belleville teenagers — Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson, the Belleville Three — before it conquered dance floors worldwide.

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