Appendix H - Historical Archaeological and ... - CBP.gov

made of frame construction, and later from a variety of building materials, such as stone and
brick. In larger urban environments, residences rose to multi-story dimensions in a variety of
styles. Migration from eastern states into the state became a torrent after the War of 1812.
Settlers erected log or frame homes and established a variety of rural industries including
taverns, small hotels, grist and sawmills, blacksmith shops, and distilleries (Howe, 1852).
After the Civil War into the twentieth century, increasing industrial development and
manufacturing attracted hundreds of thousands of new immigrants, both European immigrants
and blacks from the South (Cayton, 2002).
1.2.2.4 State of Michigan (Lower Peninsula)
Contact Period/Exploration/Colonial Period
The first Europeans made their way to what is now Michigan around 1620. Among the earliest
recorded visitors were French priests and their party of fellow explorers. The French
government, claiming the lands for their own, gave large sections to new settlers, who
established trading posts dealing in furs and other commodities. Today, in historically French
areas such as Detroit and Monroe, civil land divisions carry reminders of the earliest land claims,
known as ribbon farms. These narrow and deep lots front on a river or lake and extend into the
interior as much as a mile or more. This arrangement provided each settler direct access to the
waterway, which was at the time the easiest means of transportation.
A number of forts were established during early settlement, including Fort Michilimackinac in
Mackinaw City, Forts Detroit (later Fort Shelby), and Wayne in Detroit, and Fort Gratiot in Port
Huron. Ironically, both Forts Michilimackinac and Gratiot were constructed by the French to
protect the area from the British but were lost to the other side. Michigan’s forts provided both a
sense of security to those living in the region and a center for commerce and trade, thus
encouraging settlement. As a result, the State’s population grew.
Transportation
Overland travel was initially difficult in the state, due largely to the heavy forestation. Early
routes followed long-established animal and Native American pathways. North of Detroit,
explorers met with swampy conditions forcing slow, difficult movement that often resulted in a
general condemnation of the entire state as a wasteland.
Three key events improved the movement of both goods and people into Michigan. The
completion of the Erie Canal provided a water route for immigrants from New York to the shores
of lower Michigan beginning in 1825. The completion of the first locks in Sault Ste. Marie in
1855 opened a path to the west end of Lake Superior from New York and effectively connected
Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Finally, the 1959 completion of the St. Lawrence
Seaway provided a water route from the east coast to Chicago by water (Dunbar and May, 1995).
Forging new roads was challenging, so the existing network of paths provided a logical place to
construct new roadways. Corduroy roads were among the earliest roads constructed. These
were, particularly in urban environments, followed by brick roads. While most of the brick roads
are gone, it is still possible to find remnants in communities such as Detroit, Mount Clemens,
and Bay City. As transportation methods shifted from horseback to horse-drawn carriage and to
Northern Border Activities H-97 July 2012