Michigan occupies two great promontories of land largely surrounded by the waters of the Great Lakes. The state is associated with the United States automobile industry, but it also contains extensive wild forests in the north, and shares the rolling, richly fertile landscape of the Midwestern grain states that lie to the south.
The original inhabitants were Ojibwa, Ottawa and other Native-American peoples. French fur traders and missionaries began to arrive from the 17th century onward. The area passed to Britain in 1760, and became its power base until the end of the War of Independence. During the War of 1812 the British temporarily reoccupied Detroit, highlighting the need for ready links with the east. Road and rail systems were quickly established thereafter, and the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 opened a shipping route via Lake Erie to New York. Detroit became a major staging post for westbound migrants, many of whom settled in the farming regions.
Industry grew, encouraged by substantial ore reserves now accessible via the Great Lakes, and by the availability of labor. There was already a flourishing manufacturing base at Detroit when the Oldsmobile automotive plant was established in 1899, followed by Ford and General Motors. The city's booming prosperity vanished in the Great Depression of 1929, only to recover again after World War II.
State Motto: "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you."
Michigan was admitted to the union as the 26th state on January 26, 1837.
Michigan sits in the middle of the largest continuous body of fresh water in the world-- the Great Lakes.
Four flags have flown over Michigan - French, English, Spanish and American.
Michigan is the nation's top producer of Christmas trees, red tart cherries, blueberries and potted geraniums.
75% of all bedding plants sold in the U.S. come from Kalamazoo.
The Upper Michigan Copper Country is the largest commercial deposit of native copper in the world.
The world's highest man-made ski jump is in Iron Mountain.
Michigan leads the nation in the number of state parks and prepared campsites.
Michigan has the only state highway where automobiles are banned-- M-185 around Mackinac Island.
The world's first auto traffic tunnel was the Windsor-Detroit tunnel under the Detroit River.
The name Michigan is derived from the Indian words "Michi-gamma," meaning great or large lake.
Size of State: 59,954 square miles of land 1,573 square miles of inland water 38,575 square miles of Great Lakes water area 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline Highest point: 1,980 feet above sea level, Mt. Curwood Lowest point: 572 feet above sea level, along Lake Erie Inland lakes in state: 10,083
Number of counties in state: 83
Number of representatives in U.S. Congress: 16
Number of state senators: 38
Number of state representatives: 110
Michigan's lower peninsula is 277 miles long from north to south and 195 miles from east to west. The upper peninsula is as big as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Delaware combined. No point in Michigan is more than 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes. Lake Superior, the largest Great Lake, is the largest freshwater lake in the world. The Great Lakes bordering Michigan give the state a spectacular coastline...the longest freshwater coastline in the nation. Michigan has the longest shoreline of any state, 2,242 miles and another 879 miles if islands are included. This equals the length of the Atlantic Coast, from Maine to Florida. There are 11,037 inland lakes, all ten acres or more in size. Michigan has over thirty-six thousand miles of rivers and over 150 waterfalls.
Three great Indian tribes once controlled Michigan: Potawatomi - in southern Michigan Ottawa - in upper half of lower peninsula Ojibwa or Chippewa - in upper peninsula Other smaller tribes were scattered throughout the territory. First explorer to come to Michigan in early 1600 was Etienne Brule, a Frenchman.
Sault Ste. Marie was founded 100 years before the American Revolution. It is the oldest city in the Midwest. Michigan became the 26th state in 1837.
In 1622 two French explorers, Brule and Grenoble, became the first Europeans to set foot on Indian lands in Michigan. The French explored the area and brought along their religion and trade. To protect their interests, they built Fort Michilimackinac near Mackinaw City and Fort Pontchartrain at Detroit. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris gave most of France's colonial empire to Britain. Following the Revolutionary War, Michigan became part of the Northwest Territory in 1787. After the War of 1812, farmers began settling in Michigan. The head of the family usually came first, found the land he wanted and then bought it from the government. He then returned home to bring his family, livestock and possessions to the new land. In 1847, Lansing was selected as the state's capital, and telegraph communications came to Michigan.
Thomas Edison, who grew up in Port Huron, invented the incandescent light bulb in 1879.
Logging became an important industry with centers in Saginaw, Muskegon and Menominee. Every autumn lumberjacks forged their way up swift rivers to logging camps. During winter they cut trees from sunrise to sunset. In the spring, they hauled logs on huge carts known as "big wheels" to rivers where they were floated to sawmills.
Henry Ford hand-built his first car in 1896, while Ransom E. Olds founded the first auto company in Michigan in 1897. Ford's first production car was the 1908 Model T, which sold for $950. By 1912, Michigan led the nation in auto production and Detroit became known as the "Motor City." Today Michigan remains the hub of the auto industry, with the headquarters of all four major auto companies located in the state.
Michigan produces 85% of cars, trucks, and other automotive vehicles made in the United States. Michigan is the nation's leading builder of ships and pleasure boats. Detroit is the industrial capital of the world. The nation's No. 1 producer of canned baby foods is located in Fremont. Michigan has one of the world's greatest chemical centers at Midland. The largest pharmaceutical plant in the world is at Kalamazoo. The world's largest cement plant is at Alpena. The largest book paper mill is at Kalamazoo. The nation's only wooden shoe factory is at Holland. Michigan is the salt center of the world. Michigan has the world's largest limestone quarries at Rogers City in the lower peninsula and Port Inland in the upper peninsula. Michigan's upper peninsula's copper country has the world's largest deposit of native copper. The Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie handles the most ship traffic in the western hemisphere, except for the Panama Canal. The Detroit River carries more tonnage than any other one shipping lane in the world. The Lake Superior district in the upper peninsula is part of one of the greatest iron ore producing regions in the world.
Michigan ranks first in pie cherry production - more than half the entire U.S. cherry crop is grown here. Michigan leads the nation in the harvest of dried navy beans, red tart cherries, blueberries, eastern soft white winter wheat, pickling cucumbers, and plantation Christmas trees. Michigan is among the nation's four leading producers of commercial apples. Kalamazoo is the celery center of the world. Michigan produces 21% of America's peppermint and spearmint supply. The world's largest bean elevator is located at Saginaw. Estimations are that the white pine cut in Michigan exceeds by 10 times the value of all the gold ever taken out of Alaska and triples the value of all the gold found in California. Michigan ranks second among the north central industrial states in the size of our forest acreage. From the forests in Michigan's upper peninsula come 95% of the world's supply of bird's-eye maple. It has been reported that there are 85 varieties of trees growing in Michigan, more than in any other state in our country. This is also more than can be found in all of Europe. Michigan has the second largest tree nursery in the nation at Higgins Lake.
The Mackinac Bridge is one of the greatest man-made wonders of the world. It spans the Straits of Mackinac to connect Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas, is five miles in length and higher than Michigan's second tallest skyscraper. It has become one of the most familiar tourist attractions in the Midwest since its opening in 1957. Michigan had the world's first concrete road built in 1901 at Detroit. Michigan was the first in the nation in developing roadside parks and picnic tables. The first auto traffic tunnel between two nations is the mile-long Detroit-Windsor tunnel under the Detroit River. Michigan ranks fourth in the nation in income from our tourist, resort, and travel business. Michigan sells more hunting and fishing licenses than any other state in the nation. Iron Mountain boasts the world's highest man-made ski jump. Michigan established the first state university in 1817 - the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and also the first agricultural college in the world - Michigan State University in East Lansing. Michigan was the first state to legalize tax support for high schools. Michigan had the first separate state education department and the first state superintendent of public education. The largest outdoor music training center in the world is the famed National Music Camp at Interlochen.
The Apple Blossom, the symbol of springtime beauty and the bounty of Michigan's orchards and agricultural lands, has been the official State Flower since its adoption April 28, 1897, by the Legislature. At least one of the most fragrant and beautiful flowered species of apple, the Pyrus coronaria, is native to our state. Michigan has been one of the leading producers of apples and apple products since those early days.
The Robin Redbreast became the official State Bird May 21, 1931, when the Legislature by resolution made the selection as the result of an election conducted by the Michigan Audubon Society. Nearly 200,000 votes were cast, of which Robin Red Breast received many more votes than any other bird as the most popular bird in Michigan. The resolution added that the Robin Redbreast is the best known and best loved of all the birds in the State of Michigan.
Legislators chose the wily trout as the official State Fish in 1965. The trout, from the family Salmonidae, genus Salmo, is an inhabitant of many of Michigan's lakes and streams. It is highly esteemed by sportsmen for its gameness, finely flavored and rich flesh and handsome coloration. Most trout live the year around in fresh water.
The towering white pine of Michigan's lush forests of the pioneering days was adopted as the official State Tree March 4, 1955. It is known to science as the Pinus strobus L. The white pine was the focal point of one of Michigan's greatest industries, lumbering, and the northern woods rang with the sound of the lumberman's axe.
Michigan adopted the Petoskey Stone as the official native
stone of the State of Michigan under Act No. 89 of the Public
Acts of 1965. It is named for the northern tourist area where
it is most often found, polished and sold in the form of curios,
mementos and souvenirs. The origin of the Petoskey Stone is attributed
to a coral reef which existed in the northern counties of the
lower peninsula in Devonian times. This reef is now the limestone
formation of the Traverse group. The Petoskey Stone is a fossil
coral of the genus Prysmatophyllum.