Social Squares · Michigan · The Great Lakes State
Michigan, town by town
One calm page for each Michigan town: what’s on this weekend from the library, the schools, the churches and the city, village or township hall, its history, and every local shop on one hand-drawn map. Free, no ads, kept by neighbors. The cider mill, the county fair and the Friday night game, all in one place, from the Thumb to the U.P.
Tap a pin to step into that town’s Square.
Open now
Every Michigan Square, A to Z
Made in Michigan
Michigan firsts
- 1855The Soo Locks Sault Ste. Marie
The first locks around the rapids of the St. Marys River opened in 1855, so ships could pass between Lake Superior and the lower lakes. They are free to pass through, and you can watch the big freighters go by. Source
- 1894Corn flakes Battle Creek
Flaked cereal was first made in 1894 at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where the Kellogg brothers worked; family members long disagreed over who came up with it. In 1906 Will Kellogg started selling corn flakes, and Battle Creek became the Cereal City. Source
- 1898An island without cars Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island banned cars in 1898, after carriage drivers said they scared the horses. The ban still holds: people get around by horse, by bike and on foot. Source
- 1909The first mile of concrete road Detroit
In 1909 the country’s first mile of concrete road was poured on Woodward Avenue, between Six and Seven Mile roads, for $14,000. Source
- 1913The moving assembly line Highland Park
On October 7, 1913, Ford’s Highland Park plant became the first car factory in the world to build cars on a moving assembly line, and the Model T got cheaper year after year. Source
- 1920The yellow light Detroit
Detroit police officer William Potts made the first four-way, three-color traffic light in 1920, adding a yellow light between red and green. Other cities had simpler electric signals a few years earlier. Source
- 1927Baby food in a jar Fremont
Dorothy Gerber was straining food by hand for her baby daughter, and in 1927 her husband Daniel started making baby food at the family’s cannery in Fremont. Gerber is still based there. Source
- 1945Fluoride in the water Grand Rapids
In 1945 Grand Rapids became the first city in the U.S. to add fluoride to its drinking water, to see whether it would prevent cavities in children’s teeth. It did. Source
- 1957The Mighty Mac St. Ignace
The Mackinac Bridge opened on November 1, 1957, joining the Upper and Lower peninsulas, which until then were linked only by ferries. Five miles long, it is still the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. Source
- 2005The Kalamazoo Promise Kalamazoo
In 2005 anonymous donors promised to pay up to all of the college tuition at many of Michigan’s colleges for graduates of Kalamazoo’s public schools. Detroit, Battle Creek and other towns have started “Promise” programs like it since. Source
Your town next?
Each Square opens with its own history, photos and calendar, and a neighbor to keep it. If your Michigan town isn’t here yet, tell us, or add your church’s, school’s or club’s calendar and help it open.