Michigan Trivia

I got this email the other day and thought my other Michiganders may enjoy also.

Michigan Trivia


From 1910 to 1920, Hamtramck Michigan grew from 3,589 to 45,615
residents, leading the nation in growth for that period.

During the lumber boom era, the row of saloons that lined Water Street
in Bay City was known as "Hell's Half Mile". edited to say and on a good note
about my home town. Bay City is also where the wood floors in the whitehouse were milled.

In 1936, Escanaba, Michigan harvested and processed 100,000 sq. ft. of
bird's eye maple to be used in the English Luxury Liner, the Queen
Mary.

When the territory of Michigan was created on Jan. 11, 1805, Detroit
was chosen as its capital.

Bagley's Corner was the original name of Bloomfield Hills.

The world's only marble lighthouse is located on Belle Isle.
(Livingston Lighthouse)

Hog's Hollow was the original name of Utica, Mich.

There are over 11,000 lakes in Michigan.

The home offices of Life Savers Candy, Beech-Nut Gum, and Squirt soft
drinks are in Holland, Michigan.

In 1870, Detroit became the nation's first telephone customers to have
phone numbers assigned to them.

Charles A Lindbergh was born in Detroit on Feb. 4, 1902.

The Stars and Stripes first flew over Michigan soil on July 11, 1796.

In Sept. 1908, William C Durant organized several independent
automobile plants into what was to become General Motors.

Michigan began charging an annual license fee of 50 cents in 1905.

Michigan's first police woman began walking the beat in Detroit in
1893.

In 1942, the Davison Freeway in Detroit was completed and became the
world's first urban freeway.

The first soft drink, (Vernor's Ginger Ale) was introduced by a
Detroit Pharmacist, James A Vernor, in 1866. Note: There were several
"elixirs" on the market at that time, including what would later be called Coca
Cola. These contained alcohol, whereas Vernor's didn't. Thus the name
"soft" drink.

The intersection of Woodward Avenue and Grand Avenue in Detroit
proudly displayed the world's first traffic light in 1915.

In 1688, Father Jacques Marquette founded the first permanent
settlement in what would later become Michigan.

The world's first shopping mall (Northland Mall), opened in the
Detroit suburb of Southfield in 1954.

The world's first painted highway center lines were featured in
Trenton, Mi. in 1911. They were used in other towns and was how Centerline,
Mi. got its name.

Michigan ranks Number 1 nationally in the production of dog sleds.

The nation's largest indoor/outdoor museum complex is Henry Ford
Museum and Greenfield Village.

Opened in 1904, the nation's oldest freshwater aquarium is the Belle
Isle Aquarium.

The onion is Michigan's largest fresh-market vegetable crop.

This message was edited May 19, 2005 5:04 PM

i got that email a few weeks ago too!
neat wasnt it!

Very neat!!

Sad to say the city closed the Belle Isle Aquarium. last month.

Dori does my husband send you all that useless email too!!! LOL every now and again he finds a goodie to send.

Hemlady I am a history geek so yep I agree neat to know all those fun facts

Paul your kidding. That will teach me to never put off to tomorrow. Been planning on going to see that since I was young. Always one of those "I have to do that some day" things. Sad to hear it is no more.

This message was edited May 19, 2005 6:58 PM

I think that was cool !! neato to know we were the first on a ton of stuff,, neato neato,,

Missing from the list
Humongous Fungus, Crystal Falls, MI
http://www.crystalfalls.org/humongou.htm
also the original Big Mac
Longest suspension bridge in the Americas
http://www.mightymac.org/bridge.htm


This message was edited May 22, 2005 11:23 PM

Oh my I had never heard of the humongous fungus but how could they forget the big mac. I took a picture a few years back from the rangers station in the U.P. the only things you could see above the trees was the towers of the Big Mac Bridge and the Macdonalds sign that must of been raised up on a humongous pole. Thought it was pretty ironic.
Sandy