Port Huron, Michigan - History

History

In 1814, Fort Gratiot was established at the base of Lake Huron and was considered the first Euro-American population in the area. There was a Ojibwa reservation in part of the modern area of Port Huron until 1836.

In 1857, Port Huron became an incorporated city. Port Huron's population grew rapidly after the 1850s due in part to a successful shipbuilding and lumber trade. By 1870, Port Huron's population exceeded that of surrounding villages. In 1871, the Supreme Court designated Port Huron as the county seat.

On Sunday, October 8, 1871, the city, as well as places north in Sanilac, and Huron County, burned in the Port Huron Fire of 1871. The Thumb Fire occurred a decade later, covering almost the same area. A series of other fires leveled Holland and Manistee, Michigan, as well as Peshtigo, Wisconsin and Chicago on the same day.

The following historic sites have been recognized by the State of Michigan through its historic marker program.

• Fort St. Joseph. The fort was built in 1686 by the French explorer Duluth. This fort was the second European settlement in lower Michigan. This post guarded the upper end of the vital waterway joining Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Designed to bar English traders from the upper lakes, the fort in 1687 was the mobilization center for a war party of French and Indians. In 1688 it was abandoned, but the site became part of Fort Gratiot in 1814. A park now rests where the fort once stood.
• Fort Gratiot Light. The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse was built in 1829 to replace a tower destroyed by a storm. In the 1860s workers extended the tower to its present height of 84 feet (26 m). The light, automated in 1933, continues to guide shipping on Lake Huron into the narrow and swift-flowing St. Clair River. It was the first lighthouse established in the State of Michigan.
• Lightship Huron. From 1935 until 1970 the Huron was stationed in southern Lake Huron to mark dangerous shoals. After 1940 the Huron was the only lightship on the Great Lakes. Retired from Coast Guard Service in 1970, she was presented to the City of Port Huron in 1971.
• Grand Trunk Railroad Depot. The depot, which is now part of the Port Huron Museum, is where 12-year-old Thomas Edison departed daily on the Port Huron – Detroit run. In 1859, the railroad's first year of operation, Thomas convinced the company to let him sell newspapers and confections on the daily trips. He became so successful that he soon placed two newsboys on other Grand Trunks running to Detroit. He made enough money to support himself and to buy chemicals and other experimental materials.
• Port Huron Public Library. In 1902 the city of Port Huron secured money from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to erect a municipal library. In 1904, a grand Beaux-Arts-style structure was built at a cost of $45,000. At its dedication, Melvil Dewey, creator of a widely used book classification system, delivered the opening address. The Port Huron Public Library served in its original capacity for over sixty years. In 1967 a larger public library was constructed. The following year the former library opened as the Port Huron Museum of Arts and History. A rear addition was constructed in 1988.
• The Harrington Hotel. The Hotel opened in 1896. It is a blend of Romanesque, Classical and Queen Anne architecture. The hotel closed in 1986, but a group of investors bought the structure that same year to convert it into housing for senior citizens. The Harrington Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Tunnel. The tunnel was opened in 1891 and links Port Huron, Michigan with Canada. This international submarine railway tunnel was the first international tunnel in the world. The tunnel's total length is 6,025 feet (1,836 m), with 2,290 feet (700 m) underwater. The tunnel operations were electrified in 1908 and then converted to diesel fuel in 1958. Tracks were lowered in 1949 to accommodate larger freight cars. During World War I, a plot to blast the tunnel was foiled. A new tunnel has since been opened.

In 1962, a convention of the Students for a Democratic Society was held in Lakeport a community several miles north of the city. While there they developed the Port Huron Statement, the SDS manifesto.