USA > Michigan > Michigan as a province, territory and state, the twenty-sixth member of the federal Union > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
304 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE
total production of the state in 1868 is given at thirty- four thousand tons. This had steadily increased until in 1900 it had reached nearly two hundred thousand tons of a value of upwards of four hundred thousand dollars.
In every section of the state there is an abundance of excellent clay which is utilized for the making of brick, tile, sewer pipe, chimney tops, etc. This business has developed as the state grew in population and as the demand increased. In 1890 there were two hundred and fifty brick kilns in the state. In many localities there is a superior quality of fire clay, but it has not yet been much used for manufacturing purposes.
Extensive beds of Potsdam sandstone occur in the northern part of the upper peninsula and furnish the best quality of building material. The stone is of med- ium fineness of texture and of a light brownish red color, often curiously spotted or mottled with gray. Nine quarries in 1900 produced nearly three hundred thou- sand dollars worth of stone. Sandstone quarries are also worked at Ionia and Flushing but in a limited way, although the stone is of fine quality.
In Baraga county in the upper peninsula is a slate for- mation which extends in a wide belt from the Huron mountains west for many miles. At Huron bay and in the vicinity of L'Anse an excellent quality of merchant- able slate is found in abundance. As early as 1872 roof- ing slate was produced here in considerable quantities. It is jet black in color, or a very dark blue black, though there are also some lighter shades. It is fine grained, with smooth surface, free from pyrites or other deleteri- ous minerals and has perfect cleavage. The quarries are situated so near Lake Superior as to give cheap transpor- tation.
The largest grindstone quarries in the state were opened in 1838 at Grindstone City in Huron county.
1
--
305
MICHIGAN AS A STATE
The Huron grindstone is a very fine grit, soft and wet when fresh and growing hard and dry upon exposure. In the production of grindstones Michigan is second among the states, Ohio standing first.
There are graphite mines in Baraga county which have been worked to a limited extent and which turn out a commercial product of good quality. This material is yet to make its way, but apparently has favorable possi- bilities.
CHAPTER XIX TRANSPORTATION
-
T HE matter of transportation is of prime importance to any community. Inter- course with the outside world is essential to prosperity and even to comfort, and the more ample and unrestricted this may be the better it serves the ends in view. We have seen something of the first efforts to navigate the great lakes which wash the shores of Michi- gan for upwards of two thousand miles. From the day of LaSalle and his "Griffon" to the latter half of the nineteenth century is a far cry. The little craft of the pioneer explorer which was wrecked in a summer storm was the veriest pigmy beside the leviathans of many thousand tons burden which in these latter days plow the waters and their connecting straits in never ending pro- cession. The primitive means of communication was wholly by water, except for the long and tedious journey on foot or on horseback through forests and jungles, with the accompanying dangers from attack by blood- thirsty savages. As the little settlements grew the methods of water communication improved. Larger vessels were built and their numbers increased, as the necessity demanded, until there came to be considerable traffic of merchandise, as well as of passengers, between the east and the Michigan metropolis. This, however, was the case only during the season of navigation, which was wholly interrupted with the approach of winter. For four or five months the harbors were locked with ice and the frontier village was shut in. The inhabitants were left to their own devices for making life endurable.
The tide of immigration set in shortly before 1830 and for the next ten years people flocked hither in great numbers. A large proportion of them came from cen- tral and western New York. They were mainly of New England stock who had already made one remove and
309
310 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE
were still looking for the land flowing with milk and honey which had been painted in glowing colors by their imaginations or by those who had preceded them. They brought with them the spirit of energy characteristic of their nativity, and the maxims of thrift and enterprise which they had learned in the home of their childhood and youth. The practical application of these maxims began to take shape even before Michigan had passed the stage of its territorial infancy. The projects included a series of canals and railroads crossing the peninsula from east to west. This was the era of internal improve- ment to be carried on by the state itself. It was a time of wild speculation, with a fictitious prosperity, money turned out by the printing presses in great profusion, the courage of youth and energy on the part of the pioneers and the highest hopes of the future. Canals were started, but the digging had not progressed far when they were abandoned. The railroads projected met with a better fate, but not until after their original promoters had learned a bitter lesson in the hard school of experience.
Three lines were projected to cross the state. The first of these was the Detroit and St. Joseph, and a com- pany was chartered in 1832 to build it. This was a purely local enterprise and the subscriptions to the stock were taken almost wholly in Detroit. Major John Bid- dle was president of the company and Colonel John M. Berrien, then an officer of the regular army, was engi- neer in charge. Within two years of the date of incor- poration the road had been opened to Ypsilanti, a dis- tance of thirty miles. As an indication of the boldness of the men who put their money into this enterprise it may be stated that the only railroads then in the country were a short stretch of the Pennsylvania and the Albany and Schenectady, the latter comprising but seventeen miles. No work was done by the company beyond
3II
MICHIGAN AS A STATE
Ypsilanti, but considerable right of way had been secured. In March, 1837, soon after Michigan had been formally organized as a state, an act was passed to provide for the construction of certain works of public improvement. This act provided for the purchase of the Detroit and St. Joseph railroad, and the road passed into the possession of the state under the name of the Michigan Central. At the same time, provision was made for a loan by the state of five million dollars for the completion of the road to St. Joseph and for building two other parallel lines running westward from Monroe and Port Huron respectively. The state extended the Michigan Central as far west as Kalamazoo. The road projected from Monroe westward and which was known as the Erie and Kalamazoo, was opened to Hillsdale, a distance of about sixty-five miles. The road projected from Port Huron westward was graded for some dis- tance, but no rails had been laid, when in 1846 the state found itself in desperate straits, on account of these rail- road building operations. The five million dollars of bonds had been sold at a sacrifice and the money was all spent. The state had these unfinished roads on its hands and no money to complete them, to keep them in repair, or to operate them. The treasury was empty, interest on the bonds was piling up-in short, the state was bank- rupt.
In this condition of affairs the legislature of 1846 passed an act authorizing the sale of the Michigan Cen- tral for two million dollars to J. W. Brooks and other Boston capitalists. At the same time the Erie and Kala- mazoo was sold for five hundred thousand dollars to Charles Noble and other citizens of Monroe who were able to interest some outside capital in the project. The Port Huron line was abandoned and the work which had been done upon it was wholly lost. Thus the state was
312 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE
able to realize very little upon its expenditures in the line of internal improvements. It was crippled to an extent which required many years to recover from, but it had learned a wholesome, though a bitter lesson. In making the constitution of 1850 a clause was inserted forbidding the state to engage directly in, or to loan its credit to, any scheme of internal improvement. Special charters were also prohibited. These provisions were timely and have, first and last, saved the people a world of trouble and worry.
The roads had been built with what was known as strap rail but the purchasers were required to lay the extensions with girder rail and also to replace the old rail with the new form. As may be supposed, the railroad construction and equipment of that day were of a very primitive order. The purchasers of the Michigan Cen- tral were authorized to change the western terminus to any point on Lake Michigan, and were subsequently allowed to continue it to Chicago. The Michigan South- ern had already acquired a perpetual lease of the road from Toledo to Adrian, thirty-three miles, which had been opened in 1837. The building of this line west- ward to Chicago, its objective point, was pushed with great energy and the line was opened for traffic to Chicago in June, 1852, slightly in advance of the Michi- gan Central, which did not reach the Illinois metropolis until a month or two later. A line from Detroit to Toledo was organized in 1856, almost wholly by local capital, and it was completed and opened the following year. It was at once taken over and operated by the Michigan Southern. At about the same time the Great Western railway of Canada was completed from Niag- ara Falls, where it connected with the New York Cen- tral, to Windsor opposite Detroit whence it made close connection by ferry across Detroit river, with the Michi-
--
1
313
MICHIGAN AS A STATE
gan Central. Thus was opened not only a direct outlet to the east for Detroit, but a thoroughfare between the east and the west which was the most direct of any and which has always been popular with travelers.
Though the state itself could not engage in railroad building, it encouraged such works at one period by very liberal grants of public lands, made by the general gov- ernment on behalf of the state. One of the first of them was the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw, extending from Jackson via Lansing and Saginaw to the Straits of Mackinaw, a distance of two hundred and ninety-five miles. The building of this road was promoted by the Michigan Central which subsequently controlled and operated it as a division of its line. The Central also acquired the charter of the Michigan Air Line and built that portion lying between Jackson and Niles, which it operates as a cut-off and practical double track for its main line. The same road secured possession of a line opened in 1870 between Jackson and Grand Rapids which it operates as a division of its main line. In 1878 a road was built between Detroit and Bay City. Three years later the Michigan Central secured possession of this road by a long lease and operates it in connection with its Mackinaw division. About 1878 a road known as the Canada Southern was built from Buffalo to Detroit river near Amherstburg, where it crossed the river by ferry and bridge, and thence to Detroit and Toledo. The Michigan Central secured this road, changed its terminal from Amherstburg to Windsor, and operates it as a division of its main through line. The section between Detroit and Toledo is operated as the Toledo division. From this it appears that the Michigan Central, though a great trunk line and part of the system operated by powerful moneyed interests,
314 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE
has ramifications to all parts of the state and numerous feeders which bring it business from every direction.
Railroad methods have changed within recent years. There is a tendency to combination and consolidation. Roads, even of considerable mileage, built as indepen- dent lines and so operated for a time, have one after another been absorbed by, or combined with, other sys- tems, and so lose their identity. There are fewer roads in Michigan to-day than there were ten years ago, if one counts them by name, but at the same time the mileage has greatly increased.
In fashion similar to the Michigan Central, though not so extensively so far as Michigan is concerned, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern has acquired tribu- tary lines. A road partially opened as early as 1838 extends from Adrian to Jackson. Another extends from Jonesville to Lansing, a distance of sixty miles. Another opened in 1870, and about one hundred miles in length is known as Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw. The Hillsdale branch, about sixty-five miles in length, extends from Hillsdale to Ypsilanti. The Kalamazoo division extends from Three Rivers by way of Kala- mazoo to Grand Rapids. In this way it is seen that the main line traversing the southern tier of counties of Michigan and the northern tier of Indiana has numerous branches, or feeders, which touch all the important points in the lower portion of the state.
In the boom days of Detroit longing eyes were cast upon the rich agricultural region of Oakland county. As early as 1834 the territorial legislature granted a char- ter for a railroad between Detroit and Pontiac. The road was begun and in 1839 was completed to Birming- ham; in 1843 it was opened to Pontiac. In 1848 the Oakland and Ottawa Railroad Company was organized to extend the road to Lake Michigan, and in 1855 the
-
-
-
315
MICHIGAN AS A STATE
two companies were consolidated under the name of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway, a steamship line being operated across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee. The bonds for the construction of the road were sold largely in England. The road did not prove profitable and in course of time came into the hands of the bondholders. These were largely foreign capitalists whose interests were closely identified with the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, a line of more than a thousand miles extent, from Portland, Maine, to Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, and thence to Sarnia, opposite Port Huron. The last mentioned line was extended from Port Huron to Detroit in 1859. A westward extension was begun in 1871 under the name of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway and the entire line was opened in 1880. It is a curious fact that a portion of this line from Port Huron westward toward Grand Rapids was graded more than forty years before by the state as one of the triple pro- ject of trans-peninsula railroads. It is another curious circumstance that a part of the excavation made by the state near Utica as a portion of a canal to cross the state was afterward found very handy for right of way and grading when building the Detroit and Bay City road.
In 1862 a road was commenced at Saginaw and built to Flint, and four years later a westward extension was opened to Midland. This was carried still further west- ward to the mouth of Pere Marquette river, now known as Ludington, under the name of the Flint and Pere Marquette. The road was also extended from Flint to Monroe, and in 1874 was opened from Monroe to Ludington, a distance of two hundred and fifty-three miles. In connection with this road a line of steamships was operated upon Lake Michigan between Ludington and Milwaukee. In 1871 a road was completed and IV-21
316
MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE
operated from Detroit through Lansing to Howard City under the name of the Detroit, Lansing and Northern. Afterward it was opened to Grand Rapids where it con- solidated with the Chicago and West Michigan, then operating from New Buffalo to Muskegon and Pent- water, and thence eastward through White Cloud to Big Rapids. The road after consolidation was extended northward from Grand Rapids through Newaygo, Tra- verse City to Petoskey on Little Traverse bay. There was also consolidation with the Saginaw Valley and St. Louis, opening a direct line between Grand Rapids and Saginaw. All of these lines with their ramifications in various directions in the lower peninsula were in 1899 brought under one head with the title of the Pere Marquette, operating upwards of seven- teen hundred miles of railroad within the state.
In 1852 the Fort Wayne and Southern Railroad Com- pany made such advances toward the construction of a railroad from Louisville to Fort Wayne as to insure its completion. In 1856 a land grant in Michigan was obtained and the northward extension from Fort Wayne began. The road was completed to Grand Rapids within a few years and then pushed on towards the Straits of Mackinaw, to which it was opened in 1882. The distance from Fort Wayne to Mackinaw is three hundred and thirty miles. The construction bonds hav- ing been guaranteed by the Pennsylvania road the line has been to all intents and purposes a part of that great system. This road is known as the Grand Rapids and Indiana.
The Toledo and Ann Arbor road was originally a Toledo enterprise and was opened to Ann Arbor in 1880. Later it was extended through Howell, Owosso and on northward to Frankfort on Lake Michigan whence a line of steamships operated across the lake to
-
-
-
- .
317
MICHIGAN AS A STATE
Manitowoc and Menominee where connections were made with Wisconsin roads.
In 1881 a line was completed from Logansport to Detroit and operated as part of the main line of the Wabash Railway, which is one of the great trunk lines of the country, controlling upwards of twenty-five hun- dred miles of road, of which eighty are in Michigan.
The Pontiac, Oxford and Northern was begun in 1883 and rapidly constructed northward one hundred miles to Port Austin on Lake Huron. The Saginaw, Tuscola and Huron extends to the same point from Saginaw, a distance of sixty-seven miles.
The Detroit and Mackinaw was begun in 1882 and built in that year from Bay City to Tawas. Thence it was extended to Au Sable, Alpena and Cheboygan, a total length of three hundred and twenty miles.
The Manistee and Northeastern was chartered in 1878. Its line extends from Manistee to Traverse City and to Provemont in the Leelanaw peninsula. The total length of the line is one hundred and seven miles.
The Mason and Oceana extends from Ludington southeastward to Hesperia, a distance of thirty-seven miles.
The Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw extends northward from Kalamazoo to Woodberry, a distance of forty-four miles.
The Au Sable and Northwestern extends from Au Sable northwestward to Comins and Hardy, a distance of sixty-four miles. It is three feet gauge.
The Detroit Southern has a total mileage of one hundred and seventy miles, of which fifty-seven, be- tween Detroit and Toledo are in Michigan.
The first railroad opened in the Northern Peninsula was then known as the Peninsular. It extended from Es- canaba to a point near Marquette where it connected
318
MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE
with the Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon, which road was opened from Marquette to Ishpeming in 1857. The first mentioned line afterward became a part of the Chicago and Northwestern. This gave the upper penin- sula direct connection with Chicago, which was a matter of great commercial importance to that region. By this line the distance between Marquette and Chicago is four hundred miles. The road has a number of branches leading to the iron mines. It operates alto- gether upwards of five thousand miles of track, of which five hundred and twenty-one are in Michigan.
The Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon had the advantage of a land grant. It was opened to L'Anse in 1872. This line was afterward acquired by the Du- luth, South Shore and Atlantic, as was also the line built in 1880 from St. Ignace to Marquette with the aid of a land grant, and which was known as the Detroit, Mack- inac and Marquette. This line was afterward extended eastward to Sault Ste. Marie. The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic operates from Duluth to Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace, a distance of five hundred and eighty-three miles, of which four hundred and sixty- eight are in Michigan.
The latest line to be built through the upper penin- sula is the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste Marie. This road traverses the lower margin of the peninsula to Sault Ste Marie, a distance in the state of two hun- dred and thirty-five miles. It is understood to be oper- ated in the interests of the Canadian Pacific and has upwards of thirteen hundred miles of trackage to Al- berta in Northwestern Canada. It forms part of a great trunk line to the Pacific.
A summary of the foregoing shows that in 1900 there were eight thousand miles of railroad in Michi- gan and that the companies operating them operate an
1 1
319
MICHIGAN AS A STATE
aggregate of twenty-six thousand, three hundred and twenty-nine miles of road. This marvelous develop- ment has not been surpassed by any state within the same period of time.
The building of cars has always been an important industry in Michigan since the early days of railroad development. About 1860 Edward C. Dean and George Eaton began in Detroit the building of freight cars. Two or three years later John S. Newberry, a local capitalist, associated himself with them and under the name of Newberry, Dean & Eaton the business took a very rapid forward advance. In 1864 the concern was incorporated with a capital of twenty thousand dol- lars as the Michigan car company. James McMillan became interested in the company and after the death of Mr. Newberry was made its president. The capital stock was increased to a half million, a new and ample site was secured at West Detroit, where one of the most extensive car manufacturing plants in the country was carried on for many years. The company engaged ex- clusively in the making of freight cars and refrigerator cars of various forms and patents, employing as many as two thousand men. The Detroit car wheel company was organized by the same parties controlling the car company for the production of car wheels. The cars were sold in all parts of the country and were built upon orders from railroad companies. Shortly before the close of the century the American Car and Foundry Company acquired the Michigan Car Company's stock and good will. This is a national concern and controls the freight car building business of the country. A new and larger site was secured and shops were built upon an immense scale. The works give employment to sev- eral thousand men.
About 1860 George M. Pullman established in De-
320 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE
troit a factory for the building of what has since be- come the well known Pullman palace and sleeping car. This was started in a small way and gradually grew un- til the factory covered a whole city square. Many hun- dred Pullman cars, the most luxurious of their day were turned out here. Mr. Pullman afterward established his headquarters at Chicago and his car building enter- prises were ultimately concentrated there. After nearly forty years of operation the Detroit factory was aband- oned and finally sold to the Detroit United Railway which makes use of the shops and machinery for the building of electric passenger cars.
In the early seventies Dr. George B. Russel estab- lished in Detroit car building works which grew in the course of years to be quite extensive. Only freight cars were built. Dr. Russel's chief interest was as an iron master and he gradually concentrated his atten- tion upon the casting of wheels and trucks for cars. The Russel Wheel and Foundry Company was organized in 1883 with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars and has since carried on a large and successful business.
The Griffin Car Wheel Company of Detroit was originally organized in 1877. Its capital was only thirty thousand dollars at the start, but this was ulti- mately increased to one hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars. The Messrs. Griffin were interested in the same line of business in several other cities. They had a large trade in supplying wheels to railroads throughout the country.
The Michigan Central has built its own passenger coaches and many of its freight cars at its own shops located near the city of Jackson. The Pere Marquette also has extensive shops at Saginaw where it turns out its own coaches.
In touching upon transportation allusion must be
- ----
-
------
1
321
MICHIGAN AS A STATE
made to the recent wonderful development of the trol- ley system, not only in cities and the larger towns, but through the country connecting cities and towns. The first interurban line was opened about 1890 between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. This was operated by a steam motor at the start. It developed the fact that a short line of that character making frequent regular trips at a low rate of fare could command a paying bus- iness. After a few years an electric motor was substi- tuted and the road is now operated as a part of the through line from Detroit to Jackson. The next elec- tric suburban line put into operation was between De- troit and Wyandotte, afterward extended to Trenton. Then a line was opened to Mt. Clemens and later a shore line to the same point. These were continued to Port Huron via Algonac, Marine City, St. Clair. Oth- er lines built out of Detroit were to Pontiac, Orchard Lake, Farmington, Northville, Rochester, Romeo, Orion and so on to Flint; to Wayne and Plymouth, and later still to Monroe and Toledo. Other cities have numerous suburban lines extending to near or more remote resorts and connecting nearby towns. The cars upon these lines moving every thirty minutes or every hour are almost invariably well loaded with passengers. The low rate of fare, the convenience of frequent move- ment of cars, and the stop at every street corner prove to be popular attractions. Generally these lines are equipped with modern cars, strongly built, handsomely finished and furnished, handled by experienced and courteous employes in uniform, quite free from acci- dents of any description: The roads have been found to be very profitable to their owners, and at the present time new lines and extensions of old ones are planning at a rapid rate. This mode of transportation by elec-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.