This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Chicago Road opens vast Michigan travel era
The Chicago Road completion marks a new era in Michigan as Detroit to Chicago freight and settlers push westward. The piece recounts early surveys, Indian trails, and figures like Governor Cass and Father Gabriel Richard shaping the road amid Black Hawk and cholera scares, with rapid post road settlement and stage lines expanding into 1880s Michigan towns.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chicago
Detroit
Michigan
James Monroe
Northwest
Lakes
Erie
Congress
Edward Tiffin
United States
Madison
Morse
Dividing Ridge
Cass
Michigan Territory
Gabriel Richard
Richard
House of Representatives
Elle Canal
New York
Black Swamp
Ohio
Green Bay
Wis
Prairie du Chien
Andrew Jackson
Lake Michigan
Illinois
Mississippi
Niles
St. Joseph River
Indiana
la Salle
Ypsilanti
Ann Arbor
Wisconsin
Sale
Clinton
River
Fort Dearbon
Black Hawk
Fort Malden
Amherstburg
Bois Blanc Island
Detroit River
Bois Blanc
Canada
Mississippi River
Malden
John R. Williams
Jackson
Interior
General Scott
Chicago Road
Bay
Stevens
T. Mason
Kentucky
Tennessee
South Atlantic
Virginia
North Carolina
Harriet Martineau
Carolna
New England
John T. Blois
White Pigeon
Tecumseh
Wamplers
Walker
Jonesville
Sturgis
Edwardsburgh
John D. Pierce