Getting away from the city
The purported health benefits of northern Michigan and its waters began to encourage Michiganders living in the city to seek peaceful, healing experiences in the less-densely-populated “up north.” Encouraged by promising stories and gushing advertisements, those living in Michigan’s cities—and beyond—began streaming to the north for respite, often using the railroad lines that ran north and south and promoted the healing nature of northern Michigan.
The Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company touted Mackinac Island as a health resort for “sickly” city dwellers. Pamphlets quoted physicians as praising the excellence of vacationing on the island. One steamship pamphlet quoted “Dr. Hammond, the famous physician”: “‘I have no hesitation in saying it is the best summer resort of which I have any knowledge for persons whose nervous systems are run down, or who desire to be built up and strengthened” (DCNC, Detroit and Cleveland, 1905). Lake Michigan and Lake Huron were described in almost transcendent ways, their natural qualities serving as fortifications from the modern world. The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad claimed that "As a health resort, Mackinac is unsurpassed. Its cool airs and pure water are just what are needed to bring back the glow of health to the faded cheek, and send the warm currents of life dancing through the system." For advertisers and tourists, the symbol of Mackinac Island meant more than a prospective tourist destination. It was a haven—and a retreat—from the anxieties people experienced in their daily lives (Burd, MHR, 41).
In addition to Mackinac Island and the Great Lakes’ healing and relaxing properties, places such as Mt. Clemens took on their own lives. The story goes that in 1868, an old horse was put out to pasture in Mt. Clemens to end its days. The poor nag spent its time stomping in the mud and water near some abandoned, leaky salt tanks. Soon, the horse was no longer limping and became thoroughly rejuvenated. Thus, they say, was the discovery of the curative powers of the waters under Mt. Clemens. News of the miracle spread, and the rush to Mt. Clemens was underway. Proponents of the baths proclaimed the treatment's miraculous power to relieve the discomfort associated with skin problems, tired muscles and joints, and a number of other ailments. Postcards of the times proudly showed the infirm emerging from the baths free of pain. Guest lists from Mt. Clemens’ luxury resort hotels remind us that this resort town was once a mecca for many affluent and famous personalities. Here are just a few who found relief from their aches and pains in the healing waters:
- Henry Ford, autopioneer
- Mae West, actress
- Babe Ruth, home-run king
- Booth Tarkington, author
- William Kellogg, cereal king
- Jerome Kern, songwriter
- Eddit Cantor, singer/songwriter
- William Jennings Bryan, U.S. Congressman
- Jack Dempsey, boxer
- John L. Sullivan, boxer
Visitors travelled north via train, using railroad companies such as the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, which also promoted itself as "The Fishing Line," transporting passengers to towns and lakes in northern Michigan. In an 1882 pamphlet called "A Guide to the Health, Pleasure, Game and Fishing Resorts of Northern Michigan," the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad promoted their routes. They ran lines to towns such as Detroit and Kalamazoo, as well as cities in the southern states, including Birmingham, Alabama; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Louisville, Kentucky. In 1882, one could purchase a round trip ticket from Nashville, Tennessee to Traverse City, Michigan for $30.25. From Grand Rapids, the round trip became $5.80.
People traveled from all over the United States to enjoy the recreation and supposed healing properties of northern Michigan. The railroads celebrated that "it is no longer necessary to travel thousands of miles to the mountains or seashore as the only place at which to recreate, find pleasure and invigorate health, for the simple reason that the great opening up of a new country by our vast railroad system has brought to light and easy access numberless places where health and pleasure can be found." Health and pleasure could be found right here in Michigan.
Rail lines such as the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad offered passengers journeys to Traverse City, Petoskey, Mackinac, and many other northern locations. Of these locations, one tourist wrote to the Lancaster Gazette: "In truth, this country is paradisical to the tourist, invalid and sporsman alike; the tourist, sight-seer, and the hunter and fisherman are always in their element, while the cool, pure, bracing atmosphere, without a taint of impurity in it...is particularly adapted to the necessities of the invalid, and a short sojourn will indubitably bring about the grandest results, if not perfect health."
For the people of cities across Michigan and the whole of the United States, towns within northern Michigan represented a network of health and recreation, one connected by a web of railroad lines. These rail lines helped link together the state and the nation, ushering more and more people to Michigan's great north.
To learn more about northern Michigan and its railroad, visit the Clarke Historical Library website.
