Fun Facts About Michigan
Michigan is the only place in the world with a floating post office. The J.W. Westcott II is the only boat in the world that delivers mail to ships while they are still underway. They have been operating for 125 years.
More tonnage passes though the historic Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie than the Suez and Panama Canals combined.
The ninteen chandeliers in the Capitol in Lansing are one of a kind and designed especially for the building by Tiffany’s of New York. Weighing between eight and nine hundred pounds apiece they are composed of copper, iron, and pewter.
The nation’s first regularly scheduled air passage service began operation between Grand Rapids and Detroit in 1926.
The world’s largest weathervane is located in Montague. It stands forty-eight-feet tall and weighs thirty-five hundred pounds. Its wind arrow is twenty-six-feet long.
Singing sand can be found on the beaches of Grand Haven. The sand particles make a whistling sound as you walk upon them.
Indian River is the home of the largest crucifix in the world. It is called the Cross in the Woods.
The Lake Superior shoreline, if straightened out, could connect Duluth and the Bahama Islands.
The ferry in the resort town of Saugatuck is the only remaining chain-driven ferry in the country and it’s hand propelled.
On January 26, 1837, President Andrew Jackson signed the bill that made Michigan the twenty-sixth state. In 1847, the legislature passed a law to locate the state capital in Lansing. Ford began manufacturing the Model T in 1908. The United Automobile Workers of America was organized in Detroit in 1935. In 1959, Detroit gained even more acclaim when Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records and started a legacy that would last forever. In 1974, the state celebrated Gerald R. Ford, the first Michigander to become president. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum was established in Grand Rapids in 1981. 2002 was the year that Jennifer Granholm was elected Michigan’s first female governor.
In this lovely state, there are over three thousand miles of shoreline, 11,000 inland lakes, and millions of acres of forest cover. There are nearly 10 million residents in the Mitten State, spread out over eighty-three diverse counties. But what Michigan has the most of is…reasons to visit. Our delightful peninsulas are more than just a sum of their lovely parts. Of course, we have access to four of the five Great Lakes and slopes for skiing. But the heart of Michigan is more than its topography—it’s an attitude, a history, and a lifestyle that make Michigan a special place to visit.
