Vintage Views and Early Michigan Journey – Glen Arbor Sun

By Rebecca G Carlson

Sun contributor

The fifth story in our sequence on the historical past of Leelanau County resorts and getaways.

On July 12–17, 1915, the third annual auto Pike Tour commenced. The route adopted the Michigan lakeshore route of what everybody is aware of as U.S. 31, as soon as referred to as the West Michigan Pike within the early days of auto journey. Averaging “14” miles per hour, this auto group of an estimated “100” vehicles would cowl “635 ½” miles in complete starting within the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor space, and ending the five-day tour in Manistee. Each day, relying on highway high quality, climate, and any unexpected tire occasions, the typical pace can be posted for members in planning their journeys. Averaging seven to nearly 9 hours of wind protect time every day, the median miles per hour ranged between 13 to 18 (Byron and Wilson Vintage Views Along the West Michigan Pike).

Remember, this was 1915. Siri was non-existent, and landmarks, not highway indicators, directed vacationers. In these early days, paper maps could exist however weren’t essentially dependable. After interviewing and gleaning as a lot information as I might from Vintage Views e book sequence authors, M. Christine Byron and her husband Thomas R. Wilson, I’ll by no means take journey without any consideration ever once more.

An 1897 Traverse City Record Eagle (TCRE) article famous that, “The trip from Fouch to [Fountain Point Resort] consumes two hours through a stretch of beautiful scenery.” This referenced an overland journey from the practice station at Fouch to Fountain Point, or roughly 13 miles. Let that sink in: two hours to journey 13 miles. I can journey from Traverse City to Grand Rapids (about 130 miles) in about two hours, relying on building, visitors, and, I gained’t lie, driving a ‘tad’ over the pace restrict. Ten instances the gap in the identical period of time. I’ll by no means take journey without any consideration ever once more.

Typical late nineteenth and early twentieth century journey for the holiday traveler to the Leelanau Peninsula concerned a steamship, a practice, adopted by horse and buggy to the ultimate vacation spot. From a 1905 Northern Michigan Transportation brochure (courtesy of Byron and Wilson Vintage Views Along the West Michigan Pike), a round-trip ticket from Chicago to Traverse City price about $13 an individual, which converts to about $475 in 2025. This lined a steamship berth, which included a personal room, mattress, and meals. The round-trip ticket value additionally included journey by rail from Manistee to Traverse City. In 1905, the steamship Illinois left Chicago on Friday at 7 p.m., arriving to Manistee 16 hours later. Travelers would switch to a practice, the Northern Michigan Rail, and end the journey to Traverse City, roughly about two further hours. In complete, 18 hours of steamship and practice journey was concerned, after which the horse and buggy leg would start to the ultimate vacation spot.

The different, extra sedate, choice was to take the steamship all the way in which to Traverse City (TC) from Chicago which concerned ten stops, arriving round 8 a.m. on Sunday. I believe I might simply adapt to the leisurely journey of steamship and rail journey whether it is ever resurrected. Not so positive in regards to the enamel jarring horse and buggy a part of the journey.

As automobile journey expanded and have become extra frequent and accessible to all, the practice and steamship journey took a again seat. In an effort to encourage a return to the leisure journey of practice and steamship, a TCRE  article from 1927 promotes journey choices which are “Not Dependent on the Highway.

This kind of leisurely journey was slowly dying as many individuals couldn’t afford to take an excessive amount of day without work from work. Thus, auto journey blossomed.

Writing a letter to buddies coming to go to from the Chicago space in July 1919, Ernest Hemingway supplied recommendation and encouragement for an upcoming tenting journey to Horton Bay. In preparation, “Hemingway informed his friends [Howell Jenkins and Larry Barnett] that the best way to reach northern Michigan was the West Michigan Pike” (Byron and Wilson). Hemingway additional added that the West Michigan Pike was a “‘pretty good’ road” and “they could make the drive in ‘less than three days.’” In 2025, mileage from Chicago to Horton Bay is about 357 miles, taking about six hours of drive time. Furthermore, Hemingway mentions that, “the route was listed in the Automobile Blue Books” which have been “popular road guides” in early 20^th century journey. Hemingway signed his letter “Hemmy,” additional including “all roads up here are good” (Byron and Wilson).

Providing a information for the early auto traveler, routes between cities, turn-by-turn instructions, storage addresses alongside the assorted routes, and a “What to take on the tour” complete checklist, the Official Automobile Blue Books have been a should for any early twentieth century driver. The invention of businessman and auto fanatic Howard Charles Gillette, these indispensable auto guides have been revealed yearly from 1901 till 1929. I felt lucky to have the ability to deal with a number of of those guidebooks. Christine and Thomas have been beneficiant in sharing these priceless vintage books with me throughout my interview in serving to to elucidate distances and early Michigan driving routes. If anybody needed to grasp the nascent days of early 20^th century driving, the “What to take on the tour” checklist presents a transparent image.

The thorough checklist comprises many commonsense instruments and objects anybody would count on: device kits, tire tools, first help equipment, spark plugs, gasoline tools, jack, tire chains, spot mild, vacationers’ cheques, camp and lunch tools, hand cleaning soap, and a compass. Makes excellent sense.

The objects that I questioned have been: “foot rest for gas throttle,” “headlight dimmer lenses,” “waste and cheese cloth,” “roll of chicken wire, 12 [inches] to pull out of sand,” “hydrometer,” and “motometer” (Bryon and Wilson). My grandfather, who spent his life working as a mechanical engineer for Buick, might be rolling his eyes and shaking his head in no matter a part of heaven he inhabits that his granddaughter has zero clue what any of these things are or how they’re used.

I’m proud that I realized to drive each computerized and guide drive automobiles. But that’s all I’ve. So, the motive force now has the right instruments for the driving tour. What signage does this driver observe?

Signage. Never gave two ideas to how early drivers in Michigan navigated across the state. After my mother, Megan, graduated from faculty, she started working for AAA creating Trip Tiks for patrons. Trip Tiks have been custom-made journey guides for any type of highway journey—wherever within the U.S.

A consumer on Reddit posted, “I’ve been a member [of AAA] for 49 years now. It always amazed me how you could say you needed to drive to a town with a population of 4 people that no one had ever heard of, and they would just turn and go to the wall and start pulling pages. Then they’d stamp construction zones and detours on the map they were looking at upside down. And they were 100% correct with everything.” A glad buyer.

Megan, the grasp map reader, made positive my brother and I knew the right way to learn maps, a talent I’ve used all through my life. In 2025, everybody grabs their telephone and faucets within the handle of the place they need to go—in seconds a route is revealed. Like magic. However, it was 1915, and the driving group in your automobile wanted to make it to South Haven from Chicago. How did one navigate from Illinois to Michigan? There have been no giant inexperienced highway indicators with arrows, no mileage indicators, no exit indicators, nor are there the blue indicators directing folks to the native fuel station or Wendy’s.

Enter native superstar, David Henry Day, D.H. Day for us locals, to encourage trip and highway journey to the Leelanau Peninsula by means of signage.

“David H. Day of Glen Haven, President of the Western Michigan Development Bureau…was an avid good roads booster,” in line with Byron and Wilson’s e book. Furthermore, Day actively promoted and “participated in the West Michigan Pike Tours by hosting luncheons and touring parties at his farm out of Glen Haven” (Byron and Wilson). Day is answerable for marking elements of the route with signage of the West Michigan Pike in Leelanau County. There are fantastic footage of D.H. Day included in Byron and Wilson’s Vintage Views Along the West Michigan Pike e book. It was a superb transfer in that Day was not solely selling using signage for driving alongside the West Michigan Pike, which straight feeds into the Leelanau Peninsula, however encouraging the vacationer to return and see the realm. The Pike Tour opened the Leelanau Peninsula and Traverse City areas to the driving world of 1912 and on.

As troublesome as it’s to finish this text, I dove deep into the early transportation subject of Michigan with the encouragement and help of Christine and Thomas. It is with deep gratitude for his or her dedication to gather classic publish playing cards that element the story of Michigan journey in addition to their intensive analysis on the subject. If anybody has not had the pleasure of studying and seeing, as a result of they’re visually lovely, their sequence of Vintage View books, I like to recommend all of them extremely. I additionally promise not take journey without any consideration ever once more.