Traverse City, Michigan: A Historical Narrative, 1850 - 2013 - Paperback

Traverse City, Michigan: A Historical Narrative, 1850-2013

One hundred-sixty-five years ago the Boardman River emptied its waters into the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay amid a vast forest of white pines, red pines, and oak trees. But for occasional villages of Odawa Indians, the area was largely uninhabited, the currents of history taking white settlers to places south and west of this isolated place at the end of a long peninsula. Sixty years later, the forests had disappeared, replaced by factories, vast retail stores made of brick, an Asylum, churches, schools, and residences as a primitive settlement grew into a small town. In time, the community shrank as residents moved away in search of better lives elsewhere in Michigan, many of them moving to the more prosperous southern part of the state. Still, change was not done: people began to return, seeking the grace the land and water offered them as they reinvented the basis upon which their lives were built. This is the story of Traverse City, Michigan and it is the story of this book.

Illustrated Historical Documentation

This comprehensive historical narrative features historic photographs and aerial views of Traverse City, documenting the transformation from wilderness to urban center across more than 160 years. Author Richard Fidler presents the complete story of how this Northern Michigan community evolved from isolated forest land to a thriving town.

What Historians and Critics Say

"...delightful...well written and nicely designed to encourage further reading into the history of this wonderful area in Michigan." -Francis X. Blouin, Professor of History, University of Michigan

"...thoroughly interesting, easy-to-read and thought-provoking, often revealing the local underbelly and social attitudes of our area's past." -Loraine Anderson, Traverse City Record-Eagle writer and columnist

"When you are done [reading]-and the writing is engaging and graceful-you have seen the past and understood the future with new eyes." -Doug Stanton, author of "In Harm's Way" and "Horse Soldiers"