December 28, 2012
Meet Christian Clemens, founder of Mt. Clemens
The pioneer settler of Mt. Clemens owned a distillery, was a prisoner of the British during the War of 1812, and founded a city that loved dancing.
December 28, 2012
The pioneer settler of Mt. Clemens owned a distillery, was a prisoner of the British during the War of 1812, and founded a city that loved dancing.
May 7, 2012
Celebrating General Friend Palmer’s birthday with “whiskey in the gentlemen’s dressing room, and champagne in the supper room.”
March 12, 2012
Why are we called “Wolverines”? You’ve heard the stories about the Toledo War and greedy land-grabbing settlers. Here’s one more idea, from an old tavern in Dearborn.
February 7, 2012
The Detroit Boat Club, founded in 1839, is the oldest in the country. Its home on Belle Isle is crumbling, compelling, and calls home centuries of water sport.
January 20, 2012
”Blake … stood in mortal fear of death and from the cholera in particular. He went to Milwaukee to escape the latter, but unfortunately he did not.”
September 16, 2011
The old Log Cabin at Palmer Park. Why a log cabin? What did it look like inside? Did people really live in it?
June 17, 2011
A voice from the past corrects the historical record.
February 2, 2011
Silas Farmer and General Friend Palmer on early French weddings and the shadow of mortality in marriage.
January 12, 2011
From General Friend Palmer’s account of lively French winter-time dance parties. Puts a little kick in your Thursday walkabout, I hope.
December 30, 2010
OR: What I learned about Detroit history in 2010.
December 22, 2010
Festive Christmas traditions from early Detroit, as related by General Friend Palmer. Pony races, mince pies and all-night noise-making.
November 24, 2010
Shoot your own turkey. At the bar.
October 15, 2010
“It was said that Father Richard was so studious and patient in his search after knowledge that he actually counted the eggs in a whitefish. How many millions, history fails to tell.”
October 1, 2010
An elegy about old times from the General.
July 27, 2010
A poem about an early public servant.
July 16, 2010