The History Press

Yuletide in the Motor City

No city seems to love Christmas as much as Detroit. Whether at Hudson's, or sitting at the Fox Theatre, or seeing the hundreds of dolls and live reindeer at the famous Rotunda, the city can't get enough of the holiday season. Detroiters have been celebrating Christmas for over 300 years, when the city was French and children waited for Pere Noel. As holiday traditions evolve, some endure, like Christmas trees and children writing letters to Santa. Some, such as meat pie and saying 1,000 Hail Marys for good luck, fade, and new ones--Santa at the Thanksgiving Day Parade--take their place.

Local history writer Bill Loomis leads a very merry jaunt through the happiest days of Christmas in Detroit.

Among more than two hundred auto companies that tried their luck in the Motor City, just three remain: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But many of those lost to history have colorful stories worth telling.

J.J. Cole forgot to put brakes in his new auto, so he had to drive it in circles until it ran out of gas. Brothers John and Horace Dodge often trashed saloons during wild evenings but used their wealth to pay for the damage the next day. David D. Buick went from being the founder of his own leading auto company to working the information desk at the Detroit Board of Trade. Author Alan Naldrett explores these and more tales of automakers who ultimately failed but shaped the industry and designs today.

Centuries ago, Europeans desperate for gold and a route to the East found a lush, green paradise populated by native tribes in the New World.

Subsequent violence and disease all but wiped out the native population. The land nurtured Charlton Heston and Ernest Hemingway in their youths and spawned the assassin of President William McKinley. Northern Michigan also bore witness to the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, one of the worst shipwrecks in Great Lakes history, and to the bizarre kidnapping of Gayle Cook, an ill-fated attempt to save the Perry Hotel in Petoskey from bankruptcy. Author and storyteller Dave Rogers recounts these and other historical tales from Up North.

Author Karen Dybis follows the twists and turns of a shocking story, revealing the truth of Detroit's own Hex Woman.

Detroit was full of stark contrasts in 1931. Political scandals, rumrunners and mobs lurked in the shadows of the city's soaring architecture and industrious population. As the Great Depression began to take hold, tensions grew, spilling over into the investigation of a mysterious murder at the boardinghouse of Hungarian immigrant Rose Veres. Amid accusations of witchcraft, Rose and her son Bill were convicted of the brutal killing and suspected in a dozen more. Their cries of innocence went unheeded - until one lawyer, determined to seek justice, took on the case.

Detroit's auto heritage is known worldwide, but this fascinating city's history runs much deeper.

Step inside the tiny recording studio where Berry Gordy, a young entrepreneur who faced tremendous prejudice, created a music empire that broke down racial barriers. Tour Art Deco masterpieces so spectacular they're called "cathedrals" to commerce and finance. Walk in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Cobo Hall, where he first delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. Join Karin Risko for an intimate tour of the city that put the world on wheels and discover an amazing history of innovation, philanthropy, social justice and culture.

Passion, Greed, Murder, Corn Flakes

At the convergence of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo rivers lays Cereal City, USA. Named after a bloody battle between natives and land surveyors, Battle Creek is most famously the home to the Kelloggs, a family of eccentric inventors and entrepreneurs who would go on to rule the world of breakfast foods. But before their worldwide fame came the sanitarium. And the questionable deaths. And the fires. And after their downfall came the complicated legacy that would result in tragedy for decades to come.

Author and podcaster Jenn Carpenter reveals how cereal, Battle Creek's lifeblood, also served as the root cause of bloodshed in the city many times over.

Building the Tradition

Most University of Michigan basketball fans know about the school's success during the Cazzie Russell era, and how the Wolverines built on that foundation, rising ever higher until they reached the pinnacle with their 1989 NCAA championship. But few know the stories behind the headlines. For example, how did Michigan coach Dave Strack, who admitted that U-M basketball was 'bad' when he became the coach, land a player of Russell's caliber? And how did Michigan find Russell's perfect complement, a future All-American who was virtually unknown ?

Using fresh interviews with dozens of coaches and players – including Russell, Rudy Tomjanovich, Johnny Orr, Bill Frieder, Glen Rice and many others – author Mike Rosenbaum digs behind the scenes to reveal the fascinating stories behind Michigan’s basketball successes from 1960 to 1989.

Across the state of Michigan, uneasy spirits stir in what should be their final resting places.

At Reynolds Cemetery in Jackson, the ghost of Eunice White, traveling from nearby Woodlawn Cemetery, can be seen visiting her father's grave. A mysterious lady in white roams the center of Lovejoy Cemetery in Durand. An apparition of the pacing man appears at Mount Joy in St. Johns. And only the bravest dare visit the Upper Peninsula's Mission Hill Cemetery, where a Native American spirit might appear to point them in the right direction.

Author and paranormal investigator Bradley P. Mikulka leads a tour of some of the Wolverine State's many haunted cemeteries.

Enigmatic mediums, murders, monsters, and more are all part of Michigan's mysterious and sometimes supernatural history.

The will of Detroit's first millionaire, Eber B. Ward, was hotly contested because he took the financial advice of spirits. Marian Spore Bush, Bay City's first female dentist, moved to New York City, where she became a psychic wonder--and a secret philanthropist. Old witchcraft superstitions drove a Mount Morris family insane and caused another man to murder his godmother in Trenton.

Researcher Amberrose Hammond brings to light strange and unusual tales from Michigan's colorful and exciting past.

A collection of chilling tales from the most haunted places in Western Michigan.

Western Michigan is home to some of the state's most picturesque places - and also some of its most chilling tales. Ghost story researcher and enthusiast Amberrose Hammond exposes the mysterious and spirit-ridden world of many beloved Michigan destinations as she skillfully weaves narratives of a world unseen by most. From the lingering spirit forever working in the Grand Theatre and the band of melon-headed children prowling the Saugatuck State Park to the lights of the Lake Forest Cemetery staircase waiting to reveal one's place in the afterlife, these tales are sure to give pause to anyone daring enough to experience these hauntingly beautiful spots...after dark.

Detroit Free Press journalist Robert Allen sifts through these advertising fossils, exposing the gripping stories connected to the Motor City's historic rises, falls and eccentricities.

Across Detroit, fleeting symbols of the past hide in plain sight, behind weeds and under veneers of paint. Demolishing a vacant building among empty storefronts on the west side uncovered the telltale gold and green of a Vernors Ginger Ale sign, preserved almost as vibrantly as the artist intended. In faded red, white and blue, Mac-O-Lac Paint makes an expired pitch to passersby on Gratiot near Eastern Market. On the east side, Mohawk Rock and Rye still declares itself the ""World's Finest!"" Carhartt, Stroh's and Faygo appear in odd, deserted places.

Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state, with more than 120 dotting its expansive Great Lakes shoreline. Many of these lighthouses lay claim to haunted happenings.

Former keepers like Captain Townshend at Seul Choix Point and prankster John Herman at Waugoshance Shoal maintain their watch long after death. At White River Light Station in Whitehall, Sarah Robinson still keeps a clean and tidy house, and a mysterious young girl at the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse seeks out other companions. Countless spirits remain between Whitefish Point and Point Iroquois in an area well known for its many tragic shipwrecks. Join author and Promote Michigan founder Dianna Stampfler as she recounts the tales from Michigan's ghostly beacons.

A haunted history of one of Western Michigan's oldest cities

Once a booming lumber town, Muskegon today harbors not just ghosts of long-gone industry but maybe actual ghosts, too. An apparition in Victorian clothing walks past Hackley Library patrons and disappears into a wall. Some believe him to be none other than philanthropist and lumber baron Charles Hackley. In the Hume House, the ghost of a young woman gloomily peers down at visitors from an upstairs window. Visitors to the museum on LST 393 often see a shadowy figure or hear someone walking behind them as they walk through the hallways, but when they turned around to look, no one's there.

Join author Marie Helena Cisneros delves into thirteen spine-tingling supernatural tales from Muskegon's past.

Murder and mystery haunt the shadowy corners of the Victorian Era in Southwest Michigan.

Decades after his supposed death in 1846, a litigious bachelor was discovered to have been buried alive. In 1865, a Battle Creek woman, yearning for her lover, used Spiritualism to conceal poisoning her three children. An 1883 unsolved quadruple homicide near Jackson caused two suicides, one attempted suicide and two assassination attempts. In 1891, a ten-year-old girl adopted from the State School in Coldwater one morning was found dead in an icy river two counties away that same afternoon.

Researcher and author Michael Delaware unfurls these and other stories that shocked Michigan and the nation over a century ago.

This chronicle of ghastly frights from the Motor City is not for the faint of heart.

Founded on the legend of the Nain Rouge, Detroit has haunted hotspots aplenty, each with its own blood-curdling tale. Music from pianos that play by themselves and crying apparitions echo throughout The Whitney mansion. Beginning at the time of its construction, the Leland Hotel has been the site of an unusually high number of murders, suicides, and freak accidents. It has even been described as Detroit's portal to Hell. Various shadowy figures have been spotted darting throughout the former Detroit Police 6th Precinct building, including a mysterious boy.

Join Michigan-based author and paranormal investigator Nicole Beauchamp as she leads you down some of Detroit's darkest corridors and into its tragic past.

A Vehicle City Success Story

The history of Flint's food culture has always been largely overshadowed by the stories of its industries. But the origins and rapid expansion of the number of Macedonian Coney shops in Flint paralleled the explosive growth of the city's automotive industry throughout the twentieth century. Born of an immigrant escaping the war-torn Balkans in the early 1900s who combined his idea for one dish with the skills of butchering and meatpacking experts from Wisconsin and Germany, the simple Flint Coney became an institution among the city's autoworkers, tradespeople, and families. Mainstays such as Flint Original Coney Island, Angelo's, and Atlas were frequented by regular patrons for decades, with others such as Capitol and Starlite carrying on those traditions today.

Genesee County native Dave Liske explores these global origins and the cultural history of the Flint Coney.

The author of Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses shares tales of disaster and misfortune on the Great Lakes.

Losing one's life while tending to a Great Lakes lighthouse sadly wasn't such an unusual occurrence. Death by murder, suicide or other tragic causes--while rare--were not unheard of. Two keepers on Lake Superior's Grand Island disappeared one early summer day in 1908, their decomposed remains found weeks later. A newly hired and some say depressed keeper on Pilot Island in Wisconsin's Door County slit his own throat after a consultation with a local butcher about the location of the jugular vein. A smallpox outbreak in the late 1890s led to the tragic death of a lighthouse hired hand on South Bass Island in Lake Erie.

Join author Dianna Stampfler as she uncovers the facts (and debunks some fiction) behind some of the Great Lakes' darkest lighthouse tales.