Historic Thumb Town: Huron City, Michigan

WOW...this area is just soaked in history. Huron City was a lumber town, settled as early as the 1830's in Huron County, at the tip of Michigan's thumb.

A sawmill built along Willow Creek got things moving and by 1852, a water-powered sawmill was in operation.

Brothers Langdon and Watson Hubbard and their cousin Rollin developed Huron City into a booming lumber town and by 1871, the sawmill was crankin' out 40,000 feet of lumber daily and residences sprang up all around. But then, the whole town was burned to the ground, thanks to the Great Michigan Fire of 1871.

Langdon Hubbard rebuilt Huron City, which came back to life with a new sawmill, general store, homes, hotel, and a schoolhouse.

In 1881 the Thumb Fire AGAIN destroyed Huron City. The town was rebuilt by Langdon for a second time, this time - along with new versions of the above-mentioned businesses - with a boarding house, and grist mill.

With timber being depleted, Langdon sold former timberland as farmland to new settlers and the town chugged on. After Langdon died in 1892, the sawmill was taken over by Bill Bennett, whose business sense wasn't as keen as Langdon's. Huron City suffered for it and businesses began closing down, including the hotel in 1901 and the mill in 1903. Just one business remained by 1907.

This is an extremely historic area to visit, complete with Civil War re-enactments, tours, museums and plenty of original buildings, including the famous Seven Gables House.

According to huroncitymuseums.org, "The house of Seven Gables, a beautifully preserved Victorian home, sits on a bluff overlooking Lake Huron. It was named by William Lyon Phelps, for the house of the same name in the Hawthorne novel.....the house has large double parlors, a graceful stairway, an elegant Victorian dining room, and is home to a portion of William Lyon Phelps' personal library.....the furniture you see is original to the house and major portions of the house still have the original 1886 decorations."

Huron City is on the National Register of Historic Places. Take a look at a few photos below then add this great stop to your next Michigan roadtrip! Terrific stop!