Michigan Living History Encounters

04/30/2025

Please be aware that MLHE will be on hiatus for the foreseeable future; we wish all of you an historically informed 2025!

09/28/2021

MLHE will be returning to the new pandemic-era Grand Ledge fall festival on Saturday, October 9th this year! We will have an informational tent set up in the official festival areas, but our main encampment will be in Joyce Park off of Lincoln Street (see map below). Please come on by for a taste of Michigan History!

For more information about the GL Fall Festival, visit: https://www.grandledgechamber.com/grand_ledge_fall_festival.php

03/22/2018

For those looking to expand their historical resources, whether related to reenacting, teaching, or just personal interest, MLHE now has a resources page full of interesting links for your edification and enjoyment!

New Estimate Raises Civil War death Toll www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/civil-war -toll-up-by-20-percent-in-new-estimate.html

10/15/2016

MLHE has a new presenter! Rev. Tom Jones is representing Fr. Jacques Marquette this weekend at the Grand Ledge Color Cruise & Island Festival. The festival is open 10 am to 5 pm today and tomorrow. Come on down and say hello!

08/18/2016

More fascinating history from the depths of our Great Lakes!

Second-oldest shipwreck found in Great Lakes

07/14/2016

Headed to Bay City to experience some living history when the tall ships come in? Here are some suggestions for the best viewing spots.

Here are some of the best vantage points to watch a dozen tall ships sail up the Saginaw River to Bay City in time for the 2016 Tall Ship Celebration Thursday, July 14.

06/15/2016

Another opportunity to bring Michigan history back to life, this time literally. The DNR is investigating the possibility of returning the grayling to Michigan waters!

Could arctic grayling thrive once again?

04/30/2016

Over here at MLHE, we love just about anything that floats, but we especially love tall ships. So, just in case you hadn't seen this yet, here is an opportunity to see them on the Great Lakes, come summer. Maybe we will see you in Bay City!

Spanish Galleon, Viking longship making Great Lakes debut.

01/26/2016

Happy Birthday to our great state of Michigan! How did that happen? Well, it all started almost 180 years ago...

This video is a light-hearted chronicle of how Michigan became a state. From an errant survey, to a "war" with Toledo, to Michigan's eventual admission…

01/21/2016

To see these representatives of history, you'll need to take a trip to the lakeshore this summer!

At least 20 of the high-masted vessels are expected to visit each of the Great Lakes

12/07/2015

A little Michigan history inspires a little Michigan literature... and more history is made. Happy holidays!

HOW PERE MARQUETTE 1225 INSPIRED THE POLAR EXPRESS

The Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso is home station for the Pere Marquette 1225 locomotive aka the Polar Express:

Retired from service in 1951, 1225 was sent to scrap, in New Buffalo, Michigan. In 1955, Michigan State University Trustee, Forest Akers was asked by C&O Chairman Cyrus Eaton if the University would be interested in having a steam locomotive (Eaton did not want to scrap the engines but was having a hard time finding places that would accept them) so that engineering students would have a piece of real equipment to study. Forest Akers thought it a good idea and proposed the idea to University President John Hannah. John Hannah accepted the gift of the locomotive. When he told the Dean of the College of Engineering about the gift, the Dean said that Engineering was not interested in an obsolete locomotive. John Hannah then called up Dr. Rollin Baker, director of the MSU Museum and told him that he was getting a locomotive. The C&O then instructed the yardmaster at New Buffalo to send an engine to the Wyoming Shops for a cosmetic restoration and repainting with the name Chesapeake and Ohio on the side. The 1225 was the last engine in the line, i.e. easiest to get out. It had nothing to do with the number representing Christmas Day.

Baker received the gift of the locomotive in 1957 when it was brought to campus. The locomotive remained on static display near Spartan Stadium on the Michigan State campus in East Lansing, Michigan for a decade. While on display, a child by the name of Chris Van Allsburg used to stop by the locomotive on football weekends, on his way to the game with his father. He later stated that the engine was the inspiration for the story, The Polar Express.

Information about riding the train and the rest of their collection at the Steam Railroading Institute: http://www.michigansteamtrain.com/npe

photo: Pere Marquette 1225 by Bob Gudas

More in Bob's slideshow: https://www.flickr.com/photos/springlake/show/with/23197790489/

More trains on Michigan in Pictures: https://michpics.wordpress.com/category/train/

11/11/2015

A day to consider our shared history, not just in Michigan but across the world. Thank you to all who have served.

Today, on "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" in 1918: World War I ends. This is an enlisted soldier's uniform.

The brown, doughy color of the uniform led to these soldiers being referred to as "doughboys," though the exact derivation of the nickname has been debated.

Did you know that many different types of animals (even slugs) served in World War I? http://s.si.edu/ww1animals