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$24.99
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Albion was settled in the 1830s at The Forks of the Kalamazoo River in Calhoun County. It is home to Albion College, founded in 1835, and Starr Commonwealth Schools, founded in 1913 by Floyd Starr. Two famous songs were written in Albion: The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, in 1911, and The Old Rugged Cross, in 1912. As Albion prospered in the 20th century, postcard photographers captured a variety of images highlighting landmarks and streetscapes throughout the city.
Saginaw
9780738540436
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$24.99
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Saginaw boasts a rich and colorful history. After the early explorers and small Native American villages came the lumbermen, shanty boys, and a bustling commercial center. Later the coal, salt, and sugar beet industries replaced lumbering in the economy. Many of Saginaw's businesses were known worldwide and are still important after more than 100 years. Saginaw was home to a bevy of famous and infamous characters. Among the early ruffians were Fabian Fournier (Saginaw's Paul Bunyan), Silver Jack Driscoll, and the Opera House Rogue, Warren Bordwell. Saginaw's more illustrious residents include King Clothier, Little Jake Seligman, educator Alice Freeman Palmer, boxer George Kid Lavigne, and many others. Many of the postcards in this book represent the businesses and personalities that made Saginaw's distinctive character what it is today.
Battle Creek
9781467111577
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$24.99
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In the 1960s, Battle Creek was a successful industrial town known around the world as the Cereal City due to the area's largest employers, the ready-to-eat breakfast food companies of Ralston Foods, the Kellogg Company, and the Post division of General Foods. As these long-established businesses began to downsize, automate, and relocate, the community met the new economic and social challenges by developing a downtown pedestrian mall, converting a former military base into a vibrant industrial park, and merging two municipalities into the third-largest city (by area) in Michigan. These changes, along with many others, have continued to guide this Midwestern community into the 21st century.
Spring Arbor University
9781467109314
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$23.99
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In 1873, Spring Arbor Seminary, founded by early pioneers of the Free Methodist Church, opened to meet a distinct need for a school that would teach sound Christian doctrine. Students that attended this school were enriched by the values of the Free Methodist Church. Originally, Spring Arbor Seminary was a private school for elementary and secondary students. In the 1920s, Spring Arbor Seminary added a junior college. In 1963, Spring Arbor High School and Junior College became Spring Arbor College, which attained university status in 2001. One hundred fifty years after the school’s original conception, Spring Arbor University maintains its original dedication to impart the sound Christian doctrine of the Free Methodist Church to its students. This dedication is embodied by the university’s mission statement, which is better known as “the Concept.”
20th-Century Retailing in Downtown Grand Rapids
9781467112567
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$24.99
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Grand Rapids, Michigan was the center for shopping in western Michigan with department stores, five-and-dimes and more, until the advent of the shopping mall.
For decades, downtown Grand Rapids enjoyed a long run in the limelight as the epicenter of shopping in western Michigan. The vibrant Monroe Avenue corridor included three homegrown department stores, several chain department stores, five-and-dime stores, and scores of clothing and specialty retailers. It weathered mother nature, wars, the Great Depression, the advent of neighborhood shopping centers, and civil disturbances—but the one change it could not overcome was the regional shopping mall.
Sterling Heights
9781467127776
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$24.99
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In 1968, farm-centered Sterling Township was busy turning into the bustling suburban city of Sterling Heights, Michigan. The city charter had just been forged, and new residents were flooding into this Macomb County area just north of Detroit to work in the Ford, Chrysler, defense, and auto supplier plants. The city grew at an astounding rate, quadrupling in population between 1960 and 1970. More services were offered, and more homes were built. Commerce and industry continued to grow, resulting in a population of 130,000 by 2010 in what is now the fourth-largest city in Michigan. Time for play brings to mind the jewels of the city: its many lush parks, some located along the beautiful Clinton River, and Sterlingfest, the annual summer city event focusing on art, music, food, and fun. The city's ethnic makeup continues to be fluid, as it has all through its history. The celebration of Sterling Heights' 50th anniversary in 2018 will see a city continuing to grow and evolve.
Maritime South Haven
9780738533148
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$24.99
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Explore the period between 1900 and 1950 when South Haven, Michigan transformed from a rough commercial port into a beautiful tourist attraction.
Although South Haven is now entirely a recreational harbor, this compilation of archival photographs provides a glimpse of an earlier time when shipments of coal, stone, pig iron, paper pulp, and clay came to port instead of pleasure boaters.
Showcasing the remarkable photography of Roy S. McCrimmon, Maritime South Haven: 1900–1950documents South Haven's nautical heritage with images of large foreign freighters, hardy fish tugs, bustling passenger steamers, carefree pleasure cruisers, and sprightly sailboats.
Camp Maqua
9781467114912
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$24.99
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The Bay City, Michigan, YWCA camp began as a small gathering of 65 women during the summer of 1916 at a rental cottage in Killarney. The second site, selected two years later, was on Aplin Beach near Saginaw Bay. In 1924, the YWCA purchased the Camp Maqua property in Hale, on the shores of Loon Lake, with a solitary farmhouse, and numerous cabins were then completed. After the YWCA sold the property to a private owner in 1979, it was subdivided into 10 parcels. In 1987, the Baker/Starks families purchased the lodge and 14 acres. Ten families continue to keep the spirit of Maqua alive through an association dedicated to retaining the historical integrity of the land and remaining buildings.
Pontiac, Michigan
9780738507149
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$24.99
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I am sending you this so you won't forget Pontiac. This is the sentiment inscribed on one of the postcards included in this collection. Pontiac, Michigan: A Postcard Album brings to life the history of this uniquely American city. The postcard has always been a very popular means of communication, and now as a historical document, it offers us a fascinating insight into the times and places of the past. Like many cities, Pontiac has passed through many phases, from agricultural center to auto manufacturer—through good times and bad. These postcards capture the people and places of Pontiac, and remind us of the courageous people who built this country.
Kentwood
9780738540184
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$24.99
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In 1836, pioneers settled in a fertile, gently rolling land south of Grand Rapids. Although surveyors said the area was not destined to amount to much, the hard-working farmers who settled Kentwood, then known as Paris Township, created a quiet, affable community where life focused on farming, family, and friends. By the 20th century, the strength of the township had attracted thousands. Whether they were fleeing city life in Grand Rapids or emigrating from other countries, everyone longed to share in the prosperity the area offered. Kentwood captures the evolution of this community as it blossomed from a rural farming area into a flourishing city. Images of farms, homes, businesses, and people document the history of a remarkable, ever-changing community.
Oakland University
9781467126342
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$24.99
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Oakland University was founded in 1957 when Alfred Wilson and Matilda Dodge Wilson donated $2 million and their 1,400-acre estate to Michigan State University to begin a new college in Oakland County. In 1959, the first students enrolled at Michigan State University–Oakland, and the university officially changed its name to Oakland University in 1963. From these beginnings, Oakland University has emphasized academic quality, concentrating on providing a dynamic, student-focused learning environment with integration of liberal and professional studies by a faculty of dedicated scholar-teachers. The natural beauty of the campus is enhanced by comprehensive recreational facilities and modern buildings that house the university's many academic and student service programs as well as a growing population of residential students. From spirited Division I athletic events to visually engaging artistic performances and everything in between, OU allows students to engage with and discover a wide range of organizations and activities on campus.
Gladwin County
9780738552477
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$24.99
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Gladwin County, named after a British commander of Fort Detroit, is situated in upper mid-Michigan. Settled at the beginnings of the Civil War, this area has been blessed with the ability to survive and thrive from its natural resources and the hardy pioneer and entrepreneurial spirit of its people. The white pine forests provided much of the wood for homes downstate, and the railroads brought in the people to fill lumber camps and towns with names like Cedar (now the city of Gladwin) or Grand Forks (now known as Beaverton) and long-lost crossroads such as Lyle, Hard Luck, and Podunk. As the lumbering era came to a close, the rails brought in farmers to replace the woodsmen. The horses came out of the woods to plow the fields. When the tractor replaced the horse, oil was discovered and a new boom began. But that soon went bust, and Gladwin once again reinvented itself by becoming the thermoforming capital of the world. The area is ripe with waterways, rivers, and lakes, both natural and man-made. Once clogged with logs and now bulging with watercraft, many of the lumber camps from a century ago today have become new recreational settlements.
Grosse Pointe War Memorial
9780738577463
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$24.99
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In many ways, the story of the 1910 mansion The Moorings tells the story of one segment of life in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. For more than two decades, the home represented life on the lake for a typical wealthy family. It was built by Russell A. Alger Jr., the lumber baron and industrialist who cofounded the Packard Motor Car Company and helped the Wright brothers finance their first company. What makes the story of the home complete is what happened when the family no longer lived there. After 12 years as a branch of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the home fulfilled its destiny as a memorial to veterans and a center for arts and education: the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. Today it is truly a hub of activity for Grosse Pointe and the surrounding communities. Guests can still enjoy the beautiful design of the home while attending a memorial service, lecture, stage production, luncheon, or summer concert outside on the lawn. The Grosse Pointe War Memorial today is a testament to the generosity of its original owners and their desire to share the beauty of their home with generations to come.
Michigan Memorial Park
9780738551593
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$24.99
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In 1926, a former two-time University of Michigan All-American football hero decided that a pastoral area of Huron Township could be transformed into a cemetery. Two years later, Michigan Memorial Park opened its gates to begin serving the needs of this growing community tucked away in a corner of the township located southwest of Detroit. Bordering on the peaceful Huron River, this former home to the Wyandott tribe and later French settlers has become a sprawling 300-acre parcel of land still surrounded by woods and farmland. It is Michigan's largest nondenominational cemetery whose ownership has remained in the same family for four generations. Thousands of trees, a plethora of sculptures and fountains, and swan-filled ponds adorn the gardenlike grounds adding to the tranquility experienced by all those who visit. Michigan Memorial Park has remained one of the pillars of the community, not only providing a resting place for many thousands who have passed away but also giving back to the community through its involvement in civic activities.
Grand Rapids in Stereographs
9780738551227
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$24.99
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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.
Presque Isle County
9780738599779
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$24.99
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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.
