Michigan Trivia
Mackinac Bridge
Test your trivia skills and see how much you know – or didn’t know – about Michigan! Print this list out and take it with you on your next trip through Michigan!
Q: The Mackinac Bridge is how many miles in length?
A: Five
Q. Quaker settlers named what present-day Detroit suburb for their hometown in New York in 1824?
A. Farmington
Q. When the Territory of Michigan was created on January 11, 1805, what town was selected as its capital?
A. Detroit
Q. Michigan has how many international seaports?
A. Five Port Huron, Bay City-Saginaw, Muskegon, Sault Ste. Marie and Detroit.
Q. What is the highest range of mountains in Michigan?
A. The Porcupine Mountains.
Q. What is Michigan’s northernmost community?
A. Copper Harbor
Q. What is the meaning of the German place named Frankenmuth?
A. “Courage of the Franconians.”
Q. When Battle Creek was incorporated as a city in 1859, what new name was rejected by the electorate?
A. Waupaskisco
Sleeping Bear Dunes Overlook
Q. Whitefish Point is a portion of what county?
A. Chippewa.
Q. North Manitou Island and South Manitou Island share an Indian name having what meaning?
A. “Spirit.”
Q. What is the origin of the place named Detroit?
A. French. D’etroit (city “of the straits”)
Q. What bridge connects Michigan with Canada at Detroit?
A. The Ambassador Bridge.
Q. What is the meaning of the Indian words michi-guma, from which Michigan is derived?
A. “Big water” or “great lake.”
Q. The finding of a broken ax by a survey party led to the naming of what Michigan community?
A. Bad Axe.
Q. Every Simplicity sewing pattern in the world is produced in what Michigan city?
Niles.
Q. Lake Erie is named for an Indian word having what meaning?
A. “Cat.”
Q. Through what narrows does Lake Michigan empty into Lake Huron?
A. The Straits of Mackinac.
Q. Near what present-day city was the last great Indian battle in central Michigan fought in 1830 between the Chippewa and Sauk tribes?
A. Midland.
Q. What Dickinson County community is named for the Roman god of metalworkers?
A. Vulcan.
The Keeweenaw
Q. What is the Michigan state motto?
A. si quaeris peninsulam anoenam, circumspice (If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.)
Q. How does Lake Michigan rank in size among the lakes of the world?
A. Fifth (behind the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, Lake Victoria and Lake Huron).
Q. What is the name of the Henry Ford estate in Dearborn?
A. Fair Lane.
Q. What river connects Lake Erie and Lake Saint Clair?
A. The Detroit River.
Q. What is greatest distance east to west in the Upper Peninsula?
A. 334 miles.
Q. The world’s largest limestone quarry is in what Michigan community?
A. Rogers City.
Q. Lapeer and Lapeer County derive their names from a corruption of what two French words?
A. La Pierre (“the stone”)
Q. What actress, born in Detroit in 1965, appeared in the TV series Twin Peaks?
A. Sherilyn Fenn.
Q. What suspense thriller was the first feature motion picture to be made solely in western Michigan?
A. Blind Faith.
Q. What Michigan-formed band went to number one on the charts with the 1973 hit single “We’re an American Band”?
A. Grand Funk.
Q. What character did Detroit-born actor Harry Morgan play on the long-running television series M*A*S*H?
A. Col. Sherman Potter
Q. Flint-born Bob Eubanks became best known for hosting what successful game show?
A. The Newlywed Game.
Motown – Detroit
Q. An Academy Award nomination went to what Detroit native for Best Supporting Actress in the 1976 suspense film Carrie?
A. Piper Laurie.
Q. What Detroit vocal group had a 1964 hit with their first Motown recording, “Baby I Need You Loving”?
A. The Four Tops.
Q. In what city was supermodel and actress Christie Brinkley born on February 2, 1953?
A. Monroe.
Q. What was the original name of Saginaw native Stevie Wonder?
A. Steveland Morris.
Q. In what Michigan city was actor Lee Majors born?
A. Wyandotte.
Q.What internationally known singer-guitarist, born and raised in Detroit, first played in the band Last Heard?
A. Bob Seger.
Q. What 1959 motion picture, filmed entirely in the Marquette area, was the first to be shot “on location” in Michigan?
A. Anatomy of a Murder.
Q. Michigan native Danny Thomas starred as nightclub entertainer Danny Williams in what television sitcom?
A.Make Room for Daddy (The Danny Thomas Show).
Q. Eddie Murphy portrayed a streetwise Detroit detective in what 1984 movie filmed in Detroit?
A. Beverly Hills Cop.
Q. What Traverse City native played Dr. Amos Wetherly on the television series House Calls?
A. David Wayne.
Tulips in Bloom – Holland
Q. What Detroit-born actor starred in the 1982 movie “Fighting Back”?
A. Tom Skerritt.
Q. Michigan native Ed McMahon first teamed with Johnny Carson on what ABC daytime show?
A. Who Do You Trust? (1958-62)
Q. In what 1984 film co-starring Steve Martin did Detroit native Lily Tomlin play a wealthy spinster?
A. All of Me.
Q. Thirtysomething actor Timothy Busfield was born in what city on June 12, 1957?
A. Lansing.
Q. In what light adventure series did Detroit native Robert Wagner star as the suave crook Alexander Mundy?
A. It Takes A Thief.
Q. What was the birthplace, on January 20, 1929 of Arte Johnson, who appeared in the TV series Laugh-In?
A. Benton Harbor.
Q. Spencer Tracy starred with what Port Huron native in the widely acclaimed 1933 film The Power and the Glory?
A. Colleen Moore.
Q. The weekend after Labor Day, the town of Holly commemorates what 1908 street fracas with a festival?
A. The battle that erupted after Carry Nation lectured on “Demon Rum.”
Q. What political party was formed at a convention held in Jackson in July of 1854?
A. The Republican Party.
Q. What former governor of New York and presidential candidate, defeated by Harry Truman, was born in Owosso?
A. Thomas E. Dewey
Credit for the Michigan Trivia found in this section:
Michigan Trivia: Compiled by Ernie & Jill Couch. Published in Nashville, TN, by Rutledge Hill Press, 211 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37219-1823.
Copyright 1989, 1995 by Ernie Couch
