The first 200 young men arrived at the Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Fish Lake near Buckley to start work with “grub hoe, ax and saw,” the Record-Eagle reported June 12, 1933. “By last night they had cut themselves a home out of the woods.”
Over the next nine years, more than 100,000 young men in CCC crews at camps across northern Michigan planted 484 million trees, spent 140,000 days fighting forest fires and constructed 7,000 miles of truck trails, 504 bridges and 222 buildings.
Hundreds of other workers hired locally through federal New Deal programs constructed highways from Five Mile Road to Kalkaska and from Traverse City to Old Mission and Kingsley. They improved stream banks to curtail erosion. They built an airport along Garfield Avenue and several other landing strips in northern Michigan. They also cleaned up and improved Clinch Park, city property on Boardman Lake and elsewhere.
The CCC came to an end in 1942. Its important legacy in northern Michigan is honored at the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum in North Higgins Lake State Park near Roscommon, about 15 miles south of Grayling. The museum is open Memorial Day to Labor Day.
— Loraine Anderson
Record-Eagle 150th Anniversary
More than 100K men join CCC
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After looking back, we look to the future
In this last installment of the Record-Eagle's year-long 150th Anniversary History Project series, native son Bill Milliken ponders the future, including the question: What will the Traverse City area be like in 2159?
Continued ... -
Derek Bailey: Cooperation is key
I am excited and optimistic in thinking about my predictions for the area and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for the next 150 years. Clearly, we live in one of the most beautiful areas of Mother Earth. The GTB Tribal Nation has grown exponentially as an area and tribe over the last 29 years. We must now sustain and channel that growth.
Continued ... -
George McManus: Manage resources
The Grand Traverse Region is blessed with abundant renewable natural resources, which properly managed, will remain for the next 150 years and beyond. The community of the future depends on what direction the citizenry and leadership decide to take and external influences over which they have no control.
Continued ... -
Marsha Smith: Listen to each other
The Grand Vision has shown me that the people of this region love it here and have a commitment to building a better future. We care about what happens here and we care about the future. My main concern is that we sometimes forget about all things we hold in common and focus more on what keeps us apart.
Continued ... -
Joe VanderMeulen: Plan for six generations
We need to look forward across six or more generations of people to see 150 years into the future. What wonderful changes there may be, if we choose wisely, just get lucky, or some of both. Of course, we face many threats to our security and survival. The risks of deadly pandemics, global climate change and unimaginable wars are real.
Continued ... - November 2, 2009
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Women helped build Traverse City
Women helped build Traverse City's library system, schools and hospital. They lobbied for clean water and clean streets. They were concerned about the needy, child labor, reforestation, international peace and the right of women to vote. They did this largely through two local women's clubs -- the Ladies Library Association and the Traverse City Woman's Club.
Continued ... -
TC's early women leaders
Thirteen women who influenced early Traverse City are profiled.
Continued ... - October 31, 2009
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TC history exhibit visits TADL
The Record-Eagle's traveling exhibit of Traverse City and newspaper history will be on display throughout November at the Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere.
Continued ... - October 19, 2009
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Loraine Anderson: TC's 1925 earthquake
Earthquakes are rare in Michigan, but Traverse City residents definitely felt the earth move beneath their feet and watched electric ceiling lights sway overhead on Feb. 28, 1925. "EARTHQUAKE HERE FIRST EVER FELT: Dishes Rattle, Chairs Rock, Smokers 'Swear Off' and People in High Places Come Down," Record-Eagle headlines shouted after tremors rattled the city at 8:27 p.m. that Saturday night.
Continued ... - October 5, 2009
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Water Wars: Advocating for 'public trust'
It was a busy summer on the water front for Great Lakes advocates in what environmentalists and others are calling "The Water Wars."
Continued ... - October 3, 2009
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R-E editorial decries water diversion
Record-Eagle concern about Great Lakes water diversion dates to the early 1900s, including a Jan. 14, 1925, editorial about the U.S. governments challenge of Chicagos right to divert Lake Michigan water without consulting its neighbors.
Continued ... -
Summary of summer Great Lakes water issues
Great Lakes water issues this summer included the following.
Continued ... - September 28, 2009
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150 Years: Bay served as sewer, water supply
The Boardman River in Traverse City wasn't a pretty sight at the turn of the last century. It was a city sewer, and it flowed into West Bay, the source of the city's water supply.
Continued ... - August 10, 2009
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150 Years: Cartographer maps settlements
Helen Hornbeck Tanner, a Beulah summer resident and historian of Great Lakes American Indians and cartography, created a new historical map of the Grand Traverse region that traces early American Indian and white settlement.
Continued ... - July 27, 2009
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Loraine Anderson: Tracking Titus
Harold Titus has been one of my favorite Traverse City historical characters since I read "Timber," his 1922 novel, last year. He intrigues me for many reasons. Part of his mystery is that he is virtually unknown today. He is "new" local history.
Continued ...
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