Michigan

Things get made in Michigan. Consult a schematic of Detroit history to connect the Ford dynasty and the myriad auto companies that followed to the Willow Run assembly line churning out  B-24 bombers during WWII. But this ingenuity also lives in the crispness of Vernor’s Ginger Ale and the handcrafted perfection of Pewabic Pottery. From the postwar idyll of Detroit’s Grand River and Greenfield neighborhood to the ghostly trickster at the capitol in Lansing, flip the switch on Michigan history with our Michigan history books. [View all Michigan books]
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Rochester and Rochester Hills
Rochester and Rochester Hills
$24.99
Grand Rapids in Stereographs
Grand Rapids in Stereographs
$24.99
Detroit's New Center
Detroit's New Center
$24.99
The Works Progress Administration in Detroit
The Works Progress Administration in Detroit
$24.99
Presque Isle County
Presque Isle County
$24.99
Detroit's Holy Family Church
Detroit's Holy Family Church
$24.99
Detroit's Holy Cross Cemetery
Detroit's Holy Cross Cemetery
$24.99
Dowagiac
Dowagiac
$24.99

Rochester and Rochester Hills

9780738583488

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Rochester and Rochester Hills grew in a territory of three rivers, abundantly fertile pastures, and rolling oak forests on land once considered uninhabitable. Though only 30 miles from Detroit, official government reports of swampy and barren land deterred settlers. In 1817, the Graham family disregarded these reports, instead following the advice of Native Americans to reach a territory governed by a triumvirate of creeks, which were forceful enough to power several mills yet gentle enough to support thriving farms. Only 20 years later, every plot in Rochester had been sold. Later the village was made a stop on the network of Michigan railroads, cementing its fate as a vigorous and popular community. With a past boasting such illustrious citizens as auto baron John Dodge and internationally prominent obstetrician Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen, with corporations like Parke-Davis and philanthropic organizations such as Leader Dogs for the Blind, Rochester remains a source of innovative leadership as well as a model for successful suburbia.
Rochester and Rochester Hills

Grand Rapids in Stereographs

9780738551227

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Beginning around 1865, as the fledgling art and science of photography began to appear in cities and towns across the United States, a small group of photographers, using new methods and equipment developed a few years before in Europe, began producing and offering for sale stereographic views of the people, places, and events that made up daily life in the then nearly 40-year-old city of Grand Rapids. These photographic views were unlike others
that had preceded them and when viewed using a special device, they presented a detailed, three-dimensional portrait of the young city. Once introduced, stereographic views of the city, alongside those of more distant lands, became wildly popular and soon graced the homes of many in this city and elsewhere. The stereographic cards themselves today offer a rare and detailed glimpse of
the city, its residents, and some of the special and unusual events that occurred nearly 150 years ago.
Grand Rapids in Stereographs

Detroit's New Center

9780738532714

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The northern anchor of Detroit's greater downtown, New Center is a diverse and vibrant neighborhood that offers shopping, entertainment, and dining among landmark architecture, historic districts, and contemporary homes and businesses.

Shortly after General Motors built their headquarters three miles north of downtown, the Fisher Brothers conceived the idea of a ""new center"" and proceeded to construct the landmark Fisher and New Center Buildings. From this initial activity in the 1920s sprung a new commercial district, a new neighborhood, and a New Center for the City of Detroit. Detroit's New Center takes readers on a journey from New Center's origins as a planned business district to its current life as a thriving area where Detroiters live, work, and play.

Detroit's New Center

The Works Progress Administration in Detroit

9780738551814

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In the midst of the Depression, a government agency was created that changed the lives of thousands of Americans. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was more than a program that put the unemployed to work, it was a revolutionary concept that sought to improve the lives of Americans through the physical improvement of their surroundings and the physical and intellectual improvement of themselves. For the people of Detroit, the WPA built schools and libraries, provided clothing and shelter, and enriched their lives through literacy, health, and educational programs. It brought art, theater, and music to the masses through groundbreaking cultural programs and created the infrastructure necessary to allow Detroit to blossom into the "Arsenal of Democracy" and one of America's greatest cities.
The Works Progress Administration in Detroit

Presque Isle County

9780738599779

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Norman Rockwell would have found no shortage of subjects for his paintings in any of the small communities in Presque Isle County. It is an idyllic region in Michigan's northeastern Lower Peninsula with more than 50 miles of Lake Huron shoreline, dozens of inland lakes and streams, and sprawling forests of pines and hardwoods. It was probably those attributes that attracted Native Americans to the region about 8,000 years ago. Shortly after the Civil War, the Indians were joined by throngs of European immigrants who found jobs in lumber camps and sawmills or homesteaded farms. The region's lumber boom was followed by a limestone boom in the early 20th century, and it created hundreds of jobs in the quarries and on ships that carried the stone to markets around the Great Lakes. The boom years are just a memory now, but the natural attributes of the county attract tourists and modern settlers seeking a more serene experience than can be found in the tourist meccas on Michigan's west coast.
Presque Isle County

Detroit's Holy Family Church

9780738552170

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The traditions of the Sicilians and Italians have been present in Detroit and Holy Family Church since the early 1900s. The church being the very root of their soul, they have maintained their ancestors' culture and the rituals they brought with them over 100 years ago. Some of these customs date back hundreds of years in their homelands of Cinisi, Terrasini, Trapani, and many other cities. Bonnie Leone was born, raised, and still resides in Detroit. Originally appointed by Gov. John Engler to the position of Wayne County jury commissioner, Leone is a member of several genealogical societies, tracing some of her ancestors as far back as the 1500s. Her strong sense of history, art, and tradition brought her to this church, so that she may help to preserve and protect the traditions of the last 100 years of the Sicilians in Detroit.
Detroit's Holy Family Church

Detroit's Holy Cross Cemetery

9780738577036

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In the early hours before dawn on October 6, 1907, a raging fire illuminated the sky as the historic chapel that stood on the cemetery grounds for over half a century reduced to a pile of cinders and ash. Lit by sparks from a nearby barn ablaze from an act of arson, the fire destroyed priceless paintings, relics, statues, and artifacts that held sacrament to the area's earliest settlers. So ended the era of the cemetery's obscure past and launched a new era for the little mission?turned?graveyard nestled southwest of Detroit. Detroit's Holy Cross Cemetery is a collage of persons whose immigrant dreams landed them in an area budding with industry. The cemetery's evolution reflects the waves of immigration, from the early French to the Irish, Germans, Hungarians, Poles, and Hispanics. From its 1838 2-acre roots to its current 65-acre span, Holy Cross Cemetery filled the need for a Catholic cemetery on Detroit's west side.
Detroit's Holy Cross Cemetery

Dowagiac

9780738534220

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The story of Dowagiac's first 100 years may ring familiar to other small cities across the United States. After Dowagiac was established on a railroad line in 1848, new settlers arrived and had the opportunity to establish large-scale factories in the young village. This growth would last for a
full century, fueled by the Round Oak Stove Company and other manufacturers in the city. Because of its manufacturing base, immigrants moved to Dowagiac, and the small city enjoyed strong business and manufacturing districts, solid educational institutions, and a vibrant social life. Surrounding lakes provided one venue for entertainment, while downtown Dowagiac offered theaters and fairs. This book documents and celebrates the history of Dowagiac with over 200 photographs from the collection of the Museum at Southwestern Michigan College.
Dowagiac