Start of a New Blog

I've always been a bit interested in historical markers - in Michigan (and most states I imagine) there are official state markers for historical events and places. In addition, of course every local historical committee has their own plan for remembering events, people and places that perhaps do not reach to the level of state recognition.

When I retired in 2023, while primarily trying to think of an excuse to ride motorcycles more, I decided that attempting to visit as many state historical markers as I could would be interesting.

And indeed it has been. I've spent many hours walking around towns that I had either never visited or only passed through quickly in the past.

For the first 2 years I simply collected photos of the markers, and checked them off on Gaia maps. But I've felt all along that I really wanted to do something more. This blog is a move in that direction.

The first year and a bit I was only going after Michigan state markers. I found that the database and map online was only mostly accurate, and spent some time sending corrections back to the person in charge at the state. It turns out that some local historical committees forgot to inform the state when moving them, and sometimes a building had been destroyed in a fire, or an area had been completely renovated, and the marker was no longer present.

In 2024, I revisited HMDB.org - the historical markers database. I knew of it from previous wanderings online, but I decided to start persuing those as well, so that I would have these small goals when visiting other states or countries. I'm happy to report that I have been able to add some markers to the database, locally, in other states and even one in another country.

I will work on recapping previous area visits with photos, but they will necessarily be short on detail since they happened a while ago. Moving forward I hope to have more complete stories. 

I also have another idea which I've been thinking about for years - I read several years ago that there are more museums in the US than there are McDonalds restaurants. I hope to visit a bunch of them and talk about them here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2023 Katy Trail bicycle trip

Image
The obligatory start of ride photo In April of 2023, I went on a trip with some friends to spend 5 days bicycling the Katy Trail in Missouri. The Katy Trail is a rail-to-trail project and is a Missouri State Park (linear park). The trail is about 95% through rural area with no buildings, just farmland and fields, with a cliff along part of it and the Missouri river along a big part of it as well. Each town along the trail has a stopping point with historical markers. I did not photograph all of them (and we didn't do all of the trail) but I did photograph quite a few. I'm not even including all of them in this account, though I did check them all off on HMDB.org. In addition there are some MDNR signs along the way. Monday April 24, 2023 The first day was driving to Missouri and being tourists in St. Louis, with a stay in a hotel.   Tuesday, April 25, 2025 The second day was taking a shuttle to Sedalia which would be our starting point. Unloading our stuff from the ...
Read more

Michigan - Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

Image
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point is definitely a bit out of the way, but it is every bit worth the side trip. If you're going to Tahquamenon Falls, this museum is not too far away. An outstandingly curated small museum dedicated to the ships and people taken by one of the most treacherous pieces of fresh water on the planet. Whitefish Point Lighthouse Graveyard of the Great Lakes The museum is on the coast, a short boardwalk away and you can walk on the beach.   One of the buildings is a lifesaving station with boats and equipment on display A bit down the coast on state route 123 are some lonely markers: Post Office Whitefish Township Emerson  
Read more

Michigan - Kalamazoo County - Air Zoo

Image
The Air Zoo south of Kalamazoo is an absolutely wonderful museum. Aircraft from many eras, including an SR-71 Blackbird and a LOT of military aircraft, as well as early experimental and civilian aircraft, are on display. There is a whole wing dedicated to spacecraft and the space race, with crewed capsules and missiles. Don't forget to go across the street - there's another building there where they do all the restorations. There are many pieces of equipment there either waiting for their turn or in the process of restoration. But above all, talk to the staff. They are very knowledgeable and there to answer questions or just talk about the displays and the history. I have visited a couple of times, at the end of December when I'm there for a new-years get together. But the staff tells me that a few times a year they have an open cockpit weekend where visitors are allowed INSIDE the aircraft. I heard a story about a woman who was there during an open cockpit day - she said s...
Read more