Michigan Trivia & Tidbits - Page 17

Looking for Michigan trivia? Try our list Michigan little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Michigan grows about 225 million pounds of tart red cherries annually—75 percent of the nation’s crop.

first appeared: 1/21/2001

In June 2000, readers of the Lansing State Journal voted Williamston (pop. 2,960) as the best small town in the middle of Michigan’s lower peninsula.

first appeared: 1/14/2001

During the War of 1812, the British captured Fort Mackinac, atop a 150-foot bluff on Mackinac Island, after they quietly put cannons on higher ground behind the fort.

first appeared: 1/7/2001

L'Anse Indian Reservation near Baraga (pop. 1,222) is home to the largest federally recognized Indian tribe in Michigan. The L'Anse, Lac Vieux Desert, and Ontonagon bands of the Ojibwa tribe live on the reservation.

first appeared: 12/31/2000

The Great Lakes State has more freshwater shoreline (3,288 miles) than any other state. Alaska has the most salt water shoreline.

first appeared: 12/24/2000

Bad Axe (pop. 3,314) was named for an old, rusted ax found embedded in a tree by a road surveying crew in 1861 at the intersection of two major trails.

first appeared: 12/17/2000

The term “real McCoy” originally referred to an invention by Elijah McCoy, who—while working for the Michigan Central Railroad—created a device that oiled moving machines. Similar devices made by other companies never worked as well, so people began asking for “the real McCoy.”

first appeared: 12/10/2000

The largest energy-producing wind turbine in Michigan is in Traverse City (pop. 15,082). The $650,000 turbine generates enough power for about 200 homes.

first appeared: 12/3/2000

With more than 20 championship golf courses, Gaylord (pop. 3,837) has earned the reputation as the “Golf Mecca of the Midwest.”

first appeared: 11/26/2000

Stevens T. Mason, dubbed "the boy governor" by newspapers, led Michigan's struggle for statehood. He was appointed acting territorial secretary at 19 and became acting territorial governor at 22. He went on to become Michigan's first governor, serving until 1840.

first appeared: 11/19/2000

The Wolverine State has 96 state parks and recreation areas comprising 265,000 acres.

first appeared: 11/12/2000

Factories in Michigan make about 25 percent of all the cars and trucks produced in the United States.

first appeared: 11/5/2000

The name Michigan is derived from the Chippewa words—Michi gamma—meaning great, or large, lake.

first appeared: 10/22/2000

The Great Lake State is the only one comprised of two peninsulas. (A peninsula is a portion of land nearly surrounded by water; in this case, lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior.)

first appeared: 10/8/2000

Michigan’s state stone—the Petoskey stone—can be found on beaches, road cuts, ditches, gravel pits, and in other places. The stones are fossilized colony corals dating back 350 million years to when seas covered the state’s Lower Peninsula. Michigan selected the fossil as its state stone in 1965.

first appeared: 9/24/2000

The town of Elsie in central Michigan was named after Elsie Amelia Tillotson, the first white child born in that community. Elsie Amelia Tillotson was born July 10, 1853, the third child of Franklin James Tillotson and Jane Ann Sexton, who moved to Michigan from Ohio a year earlier.

first appeared: 9/10/2000

At 1,979 feet, Mount Arvon in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is the highest point in the state.

first appeared: 8/27/2000

Large-scale copper mining ended in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula decades ago, but large copper nuggets are still being discovered. In June 1999, Mark Mattfolk unearthed an 8,640-pound copper mass with a bulldozer while logging on his property near Dollar Bay (pop. 950). The giant nugget is on display at the Keweenaw Gem and Gift shop in Houghton.

first appeared: 8/13/2000

Michigan is home to a floating post office, the boat J.W. Westcott II, which delivers mail to ships on the Great Lakes. Capt. J.W. Westcott formed a company in 1874 to inform passing vessels of changes in orders. Today, its duties include mail and freight delivery, forwarding and taking messages, passenger service to and from vessels, pilot boat services for the Port of Detroit, the sale of nautical charts, postcards, books, candy and cigarettes, and even an occasional pizza delivery.

first appeared: 7/30/2000

Actor Charlton Heston was born in St. Helen (pop. 2,390) on Oct. 4, 1925, and grew up in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Ill., (pop. 26,036). As a child he learned to amuse himself by acting out stories read to him by his parents. He pursued his ambition throughout high school and then college, via an acting scholarship at Northwestern University.

first appeared: 7/16/2000

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