Why a U.P. Pasty Is Not a Cornish Pasty
Britain protected the name Cornish pasty in 2011, and the specification rules out every pasty made in the Upper Peninsula. Here is how the...
How the U.P. became the U.P.
History & Culture
People, places, traditions, industries, and turning points that shaped Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
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Pequaming: The U.P. Town Henry Ford Bought
In 1923 Henry Ford bought Pequaming and 40,000 acres from the Hebard family. He ran the mill for car parts, raised wages, built schools...
The 1896 Ontonagon Fire, 130 Years On
On August 25, 1896, a swamp fire driven by a gale reached the Diamond Match Company's lumber yards and burned 344 buildings in Ontonagon,...
Granite Island Lighthouse: Sold for $86,003
Granite Island Light, ten miles off Marquette, was built of stone quarried on the Huron Islands in 1868, cost three keepers their lives, and...
Lake Linden's 1887 Fire and the Brick Downtown It Built
On May 20, 1887 a fire that started on one roof burned most of Lake Linden because the village owned no fire equipment. The...
The Longyear Mansion: Marquette's House That Left Town
John and Mary Longyear's 64-room sandstone mansion stood on the Marquette bluff from 1892 until 1903, when they dismantled it and rebuilt it in...
Robert Stuart House: Astor's Fur Post on Mackinac Island
Robert Stuart led the first recorded crossing of South Pass in 1812. From 1820 he ran John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company on Mackinac...
Fort Brady: The Sault Army Post That Became a College
Fort Brady guarded the Soo from 1822 to 1944. Within a year of the Army leaving, Michigan Tech had classes running in its barracks....
The Governor's Summer Residence on Mackinac Island
The state bought a 1901 Chicago lawyer's cottage on Mackinac Island's West Bluff for $15,000 in 1944, fixed it up with prison labor, and...
Keweenaw County Courthouse: Eagle River's 1866 Seat
Keweenaw County has about 2,000 residents and its seat is Eagle River, population 65. The courthouse there was built in 1866 for $6,578, dressed...
Huron Island Lighthouse: The Wreck That Built It
The Huron Islands sit three miles off the Marquette County shore. After the steamer Arctic ran onto them in 1860, Congress paid $17,000 for...
Ironwood Theatre: One of Six Playable Barton Organs Left
The Ironwood Theatre opened in June 1928 with a Barton pipe organ to accompany silent films. Of roughly 250 Bartons built, it is one...
Nahma: The U.P. Town That Was Sold Whole in 1951
When the Bay de Noquet Lumber Company cut its last log in July 1951, it advertised the whole town of Nahma for sale. Life...
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