MICHIGAN 



3786 



MICHIGAN 



world. Iron ores were first discovered at Ish- 

 peming in 1844 ; the Marquette district, on the 

 shores of Lake Superior, was opened in 1877; 

 in 1882 mining began further south, in the 

 Menominee district, and in 1884 in Gogebic 

 County. Until the beginning of the twentieth 

 century Michigan was the leading state in the 

 Union in the production of iron ores, but since 

 then it has been surpassed by Minnesota. The 

 state produces about thirteen million tons of 

 iron ore a year, which constitutes nearly one- 

 third of the total output of the United States. 



In the production of salt, Michigan ranks 

 second, running New York very close for first 

 place; it produces one-third of the total salt 

 output of the United States. Large deposits 

 of gypsum are found near Grand Rapids. The 

 state ranks third in the production of alabaster, 

 large deposits of this mineral being found near 

 Tawas City. Numerous deposits of rock and 

 marl beds, from which Portland cement is 

 manufactured, are found throughout the state. 

 Excellent clay for the manufacture of brick 

 and tile and also suitable for pottery is found 

 in many localities. During recent years coal 

 has been mined, mostly around Saginaw and 

 Bay City; the yearly output averages about 

 1,300,000 tons. 



Mineral springs of generally accepted medici- 

 nal value are found in several parts of the state. 

 The most famous are those at Mount Clemens ; 

 those at Benton Harbor and Alma are increas- 

 ing in importance. 



Manufactures. Michigan comes immediately 

 after the six great manufacturing states in the 

 Union, namely, New York, Pennsylvania, 

 Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio and New Jersey. 

 It owes its manufacturing position to its situa- 

 tion on four of the Great Lakes and to its 

 great agricultural, timber and mineral resources. 

 The value of its manufactured products had 

 risen to nearly $700,000,000 in 1915. One of the 

 chief characteristics of industry in Michigan is 

 that it is very much diversified, that is, it in- 

 cludes the manufacture of a great number of 

 articles. No state manufactures a greater va- 

 riety of objects or commodities more essential 

 to modern civilization or comfort. 



The most important single industry, as meas- 

 ured by the value of its products, is the auto- 

 mobile industry. The manufacture of automo- 

 biles in this state has shown a wonderful growth. 

 Woodward Avenue in Detroit is fast becoming 

 the greatest street in the world for the show 

 and display of automobiles. Michigan manu- 

 factures more automobiles than any other state ; 



its output in 1916 amounted to over half of 

 the total value of the automobile industry in 

 the United States. In the same year Michigan 

 produced fifty-five per cent of the automobiles 

 made in the United States, and a very large 

 proportion of these were made in Detroit. 

 Lansing and Flint are important centers of the 

 industry, also. The next most important branch 

 of industry is represented by lumber and tim- 

 ber products. These include the manufacture 

 of furniture, in which Michigan ranks second, 

 being slightly below New York. Grand Rapids 

 is noted as one of the most important furni- 

 ture centers of the world. 



The state occupies a leading position in the 

 manufacture of cereal and breakfast food prepa- 

 rations, which are produced chiefly at Battle 

 Creek, and in the value of its output of stoves 

 and furnaces, refrigerators, adding machines 

 and druggists' preparations. Other important 

 branches of industry are founding and the mak- 

 ing of agricultural implements, flour and grist 

 mill products, chemicals, cement, vehicles other 

 than automobiles, such as carriages, wagons, 

 railway and street cars; the manufacture of 

 cigars and tobacco, slaughtering and meat 

 packing, and tanning and the manufacture of 

 leather. This last industry is favored by the 

 great quantities of tanning bark found in the 

 state. 



Michigan ranks third in the production of 

 beet sugar, coming after California and Colo- 

 rado; its production averages nearly 115,000 

 tons of sugar a year. Shipbuilding is attaining 

 large proportions, and is carried on mostly at 

 Detroit, Port Huron and Wyandotte. Large 

 quantities of paper- and wood-pulp products 

 are manufactured here, the chief center of the 

 industry being Kalamazoo. It is worth men- 

 tioning that nearly all the air guns with which 

 the boys throughout the United States play 

 are manufactured in Michigan. 



Transportation. Situated between four of 

 the Great Lakes, the state has excellent water 

 transportation facilities, and many good har- 

 bors are found on its extensive coast line.. The 

 state is also well provided with railroads, for it 

 is crossed by several trunk lines that connect 

 the Eastern states with the Middle West, and 

 which join with Canadian lines at Detroit and 

 Port Huron. There were 8,933 miles of railroad 

 in 1914. The chief lines are the Michigan Cen- 

 tral; the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern; 

 the Wabash; the Grand Trunk System of 

 Canada; the Pere Marquette; the Chicago & 

 North Western; the Chicago, Milwaukee & 



