Museum line, photo by Hilarywho.
This picture shows people waiting in line to sign the President Ford condolence book at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids (Dec 28, 2006). Below are some more photos that you can click to view. Also see President Gerald R. Ford – 1913 – 2006 on Absolute Michigan and the Gerald R. Ford photo pool.
The above photo is one of many great shots in the Rose Bowl Game timeline on the official Rose Bowl site. It’s from the first ever Rose Bowl Game in 1902. As the account makes clear, it was a very good day for the gang from Michigan:
1902 – Michigan 49 Stanford 0
Michigan (10-0) defeats Stanford (3-1-2) at wooden Tournament Park, 49-0. Fielding (Hurry Up) Yost’s point-a-minute Wolverines outscore 11 foes 550-0 for the season. Michigan fullback Neil Snow scores five touchdowns in this first Tournament of Roses Game and halfback Willie Heston carries 18 times for 170 yards. Guard W.K. Roosevelt, second cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, plays for Stanford despite a bone fracture in his leg.
You can get a lot more Rose Bowl / Wolverines history from Absolute Michigan and learn more about Fielding Yost in Wikipedia and at the UM Bentley Historical Library.
There’s not much snow to be found in Michigan today, but there’s plenty in this photo from the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress (LC-B2- 33-4). While many of the items in our national library are identified and dated, all we know about this one is that it’s from Michigan.
In the course of an ultimately fruitless search for information about the steam plow in the above photo, I found a neat page from the Wayne County Road Commission. The history page identifies Wayne County as “the Birthplace of Modern Road Building” and has a picture of what is purported to be the first snowplow.
I think that the plow in the picture may be like the one in this story about northern Michigan plow truck driver Harry Anderson.
23 minutes, 39 seconds, photo by aragirn
Kyle writes that this photo was taken on the stamp sand beach right outside of Gay, MI in the Keweenaw Peninsula. He has tagged it on a map of the Keweenaw as well and also sent a link to the history of Gay, Michigan (including the smoke stack in the picture). I’m not sure if it makes me happy or sad to learn that this photo was a result of his first experiment with long-exposure night photography.
Note that although I have tagged this photo with the “wallpaper” tag, you have to be one of Kyle’s contacts on Flickr to view the computer background-sized image – make friends!
This photo is one of a nice set of Holland, Michigan photos by Norm Hoekstra (makes a nice desktop background too!)
Wikipedia’s entry for Windmill Island says that the the 245-year-old windmill De Zwaan, Dutch for “the swan” or “graceful bird”, is the only authentic, working Dutch windmill in the United States:
In 1964, the City of Holland purchased the windmill De Zwaan from a retired miller in the town of Vinkel in the province of Noord Brabant, the Netherlands. The windmill was shipped from the Netherlands to the port of Muskegon, Michigan on the ship Prins Willem van Oranje. It was brought by truck from Muskegon to its present location on Windmill Island. Reconstruction of the mill began in 1964 and the park opened in April of 1965. The island, formerly farmed by Henry F. Koop, was chosen because of the favorable wind conditions there. Although originally a peninsula, a manmade canal turned the land into an assisted island. Before the arrival of De Zwaan, it was known as Hyma Island.
The Windmill has an article that goes more in-depth on this structure’s history. Flickr offers some pictures of windmills in Zandaam (where this one hails from). More info can be found in the City of Holland’s Windmill Island pages.
Dancing water, photo by curlyson.
The Grand Haven Lighthouse is one of a shrinking number of still active Michigan lights. I think I read somewhere that due to its easy accessibility and the beauty of the area, it is the most photographed lighthouse in the world.
Dave Wobser wrote a nice little article at Boatnerd (with more pics) and Terry Pepper has detailed information on the light’s construction and history. The lighthouse is located in the Grand Haven State Park and there’s also a webcam to view the beach, pier & lighthouse. If you want to visit, try the Grand Haven Chamber of Commerce.
Last Look at Promenade by BuildingsOfDetroit.com – SNWEB.ORG
SNWEB says that the Guardian Building is Detroit’s best kept secret. It is considered one of the most significant Art Deco skyscrapers in the world and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Billed as “The Cathedral of Finance”, the building was designed for the Union Trust Company in the Roaring 20s by noted architect Wirt C. Rowland. A defining characteristic is the use of color. Rowland explained “We no longer live in a leisurely age … the impression must be immediate, strong and complete. Color has this vital power.”
The Guardian Building web site says:
Designed by Michigan architects; erected by Michigan contractors; built by Michigan artisans–the Guardian Building is virtually a temple of Michigan commerce and ingenuity. The Griswold Street entrance is crowned with a semi-dome lined with symbolic custom tiles by Mary Chase Stratton’s Pewabic Pottery of Detroit. The lobby features a large glass mosaic and the banking hall’s spectacular mural are both by Michigan artist Ezra Winter. Flanking the sides of the main entrance are reliefs designed by Detroit’s own architectural sculptor Corrado Parducci. In all, forty artisans worked on the structure’s painted murals and ceilings, intricate tile work, mosaic and stained glass, marble fixtures and vaulted lobby.
Check out a slideshow of Guardian Building photos from Flickr. Also see the excellent article Guardian Building has long been the crown jewel in Detroit skyline in the Detroit News’ Rearview Mirror and Guardian Building in Wikipedia.
Quiet Night on the Detroit River, photo by theempirebuilder.
The latest entry into the Small World Files is today’s photo of the 100 year old Southdown Challenger upbound on the Detroit River just above the Ambassador Bridge. Mac of Detroit Bike Blog wondered if I’d seen these photos. I hadn’t and spent a good long while poring through this amazing set of Southdown/St. Mary’s Challenger photos that takes you all across the Great Lakes, under the Mackinac Bridge and even belowdecks.
A few recent ones were taken on Leelanau County’s Suttons Bay. I mentioned that the hill in one of them looked like the hill on a site we had designed for a housing development. Wade, the photographer, said “I’m sure you are right. In fact, in the link you sent, the Challenger is in the 5th row from the top on the far left side.”
Anyway, check out this amazing gallery of photos and also head over to Boatnerd.com to read the equally amazing history of the St. Mary’s Challenger, which was built in 1906 in Detroit and has gone through a dizzying array of names and circumstances in the century that followed. Seriously, there should be a movie or something about this ship.
As far as the eye can see…, photo by Trapac.
There will be a ton of stuff all over the place about UM coach Bo Schembechler. I don’t really have anything to add except that he was an illustration of what a person can accomplish if they keep working hard for what they believe in every day, for all their life.
Michigan Stadium Official Opening
Today’s photo is courtesy the Library of Congress. It’s from the formal opening of the new Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on October 22, 1927 for the Ohio State University vs. University of Michigan football game. The game’s final score: Michigan 21 Ohio State 0.
You can see a TON more photos of Michigan Stadium on Michigan Stadium Story and also see a team photo & info about Michigan’s 1927 football team from the UM Bentley Library including the news account and photos from “Dedication Day”.
Check out ‘Michigan Stadium Official Opening’ On Black courtesy Big Huge Labs!
Get a whole bunch more on Absolute Michigan’s University of Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Football Rivalry page!
LOC: LC-USZ62-127311
Michigan in Pictures 