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The Thumb

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Map of Lower Peninsula; "The Thumb" is within the region labeled "Flint / Tri Cities".

The Thumb is a region of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten; thus The Thumb is the area that looks like the thumb of the mitten. The thumb is a subregion of the Flint/Tri-Cities region, and the Blue Water Area, is a subregion of the thumb.

The counties which constitute The Thumb are those forming the extended peninsula that stretches northward into Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay. There is no formal declaration for which of these counties are part of The Thumb. However, virtually all common definitions include Huron, Tuscola, and Sanilac counties. This definition is sometimes extended to include Lapeer and St. Clair counties as well. The fact that Lapeer and St. Clair counties are included in the Detroit Metropolitan Area also brings many people to exclude them from The Thumb region.

Economy

The Thumb region is very flat with fertile soil, the reason for its historical role as a largely agricultural area. Major agricultural products are sugar beets, navy beans, corn, fruits, and fish from the Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. Manufacturing is dominant in St. Clair County and Lapeer County. Many of the residents commute to Metropolitan Detroit or Flint. Large cities in The Thumb area are Port Huron, Lapeer, Marysville, St. Clair,Sandusky, Bad Axe, and Caro. The majority of these cities are in the southern portion of the thumb.

Business

See also: List of companies based in Michigan

The thumb has many notable businesses, many linked to agriculture.

Tourism

File:Pab free.JPG
The Pointe aux Barques Light, near the tip of the Thumb.

Some towns, such as Bay Port, Caseville, Harbor Beach, Lexington, Port Austin, Port Hope, Port Huron, Port Sanilac, and Sebewaing, and St. Clair enjoy seasonal tourism, due to their locations on Lake Huron, Saginaw Bay, or St. Clair River.

The Tip of The Thumb Heritage Water Trail is a nonprofit citizens organization working with the Huron County Parks to establish and maintain a Water Trail along Michigan’s Lake Huron’s shoreline. [6]

Unique to the Thumb

Unique features in the area include:

Travelling around the Thumb

A favorite of tourists that visit this area is travelling the Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay shoreline, by driving M-25 sometimes still called US-25. M-25 starts at the end of I-69/I-94 in Port Huron at the foot of the Blue Water Bridge and ends in Bay City. The whole route is about 160 miles, and passes through quaint cities and villages. Along M-25 you can see five lighthouses: Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, Port Sanilac lighthouse, Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse, Harbor Beach Light, and the Port Austin Lighthouse. The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated, scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. Port Huron in eastern Michigan is a good starting point for the circle tour of Lake Huron. M-25 winds around the Thumb and along the Saginaw Bay to Saginaw and Bay City. Don't forget to go to the beach and walk the boardwalks in Lexington and Port Austin.

Lighthouse Tour

Area festivals & events

Thumb Counties

Huron

The location of Huron County

Huron County is located at the tip of the thumb. The county is surrounded on three sides by water – Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron, and has over 90 miles of shoreline, from White Rock on Lake Huron to Sebewaing on Saginaw Bay, and more shoreline parks than any other county in the state.
The county's economy relies on agriculture and ranks as one of the top agricultural counties in Michigan. Rich farmland inland produces beans, sugar beets and grain, including most of the world's supply of navy beans. Tourism is also important to Huron County with bay front and lakefront towns such as Sebewaing, Caseville, Port Austin, Port Hope, and Harbor Beach, attracting tourists from all over. Huron County borders the Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. There are two state parks – Sleeper State Park and Port Crescent State Park. Two roadside parks – Jenks Park, Brown Park, and White Rock Park. Also, Huron County maintains nine county parks along the shoreline, which are Caseville Park, Lighthouse Park, Stafford Park, McGraw Park, Philp Park, Port Austin Bird Creek Park, Wagener Park, Oak Beach Park, and Sebewaing Park.
The county seat is Bad Axe, located in the center of the county.

Tuscola

Like Huron County, Tuscola is mostly dependent on agriculture. Industries such as sugar refining and ethanol processing, as well as growing various grains and beans, make up most of the economy. Caro, one of the largest cities in the Thumb, is named after Cairo, Egypt and is the county seat. Tuscola County only has 18 miles of shoreline along Saginaw Bay, so it is not as dependent on tourism as the other counties in the area.

Lapeer

Lapeer County is economically attached to Flint, actually Lapeer derives from the French word for Flint, la pierre. Lapeer's economy depends on Manufacturing more than agriculture. Although it is landlocked, Lapeer County has many inland bodies of water such as Lake Pleasant, Lake Metamora, Nepessing Lake, Bronson Lake and Bames Lake. These lakes bring in many campers and tourists. Lapeer County's geography is very different than any other county in the thumb.

Sanilac

The County of Sanilac has the largest area of land in the thumb. Like other counties, Sanilac has fertile and flat land, great for growing crops. Towns like Forestville, Port Sanilac and Lexington bring in many tourists from the Detroit Area. Southern Sanilac is very economically attached to St. Clair County. Sandusky is the county seat and largest city.

St. Clair

St. Clair County has the largest population in the thumb. St. Clair County is considered to be a part of Southeast Michigan. Many residents farther north in the thumb travel to Port Huron for shopping and work. It is the farthest east county in Michigan, and most of the eastern border is the St. Clair River, which separates Michigan from Ontario. For the most part, St. Clair County is flat and agricultural, with a landscape similar to that of other thumb counties, but manufacturing has taken over many of the jobs in the county, especially in and around Port Huron.

The Blue Water Area

The Blue Water Area is a subregion of the thumb, describing St. Clair County, Michigan, parts of Sanilac County, Northern Macomb County, and Eastern Lapeer. It is named so due to the Blue Water Bridge, and the many bodies of water in the area. Sometimes the definition is extended to include all of the Thumb and even Eastern Michigan. A simple definition of the Blue Water Area is the area surrounding Port Huron where residents regulary travel to Port Huron for shopping and work.

History and Local Culture

See also: Timeline of Michigan history and history of Michigan

  • Persons of European ancestry form the overwhelming majority of the population. The land was settled mostly by Irish and English immigrants that arrived mainly from Canada, as well as Polish and German immigrants, that migrated from Europe, through the Detroit area. Many of the customs, and much of the regional lifestyle, strongly reflect this. Examples of such are the polka show on WMIC and Polish gatherings at small town halls throughout the thumb.
  • Bad Axe was named so because of an old axe found by Captain Rudolph Papst, in 1861, when he was clearing the present day Huron County seat.

Notable People

More comprehensive lists are available at individual cities, villages, etc. See Local towns of interest at the bottom of the page for links.

Cass City

Harbor Beach

Lapeer

Port Huron

Museums

See also: List of museums in Michigan

Harbor Beach

Marysville

Port Huron

Elsewhere in the Thumb

Colleges and universities

St. Clair County Community College, with main campus in Port Huron, and learning centers in Huron, Sanilac, and Lapeer Counties.

University of Michigan Flint and Saginaw Valley State University, while not in the Thumb, are close enough to be local colleges from Thumb residents.

Disputed Regions

The Thumb region in this map is not widely adopted by the public.

Some areas of the thumb are debated sometimes, but most all definitions will include Huron, Sanilac, and Tuscola Counties, known as the tri-county region. Disputed areas include:

Geographic Features

See also List of Michigan state parks and geography of Michigan.

  • All counties except for Lapeer border the Saginaw Bay or Lake Huron.
  • The areas with the highest elevation are near Lapeer and Mayville, reaching up to 1050 feet above sea level.
  • The lowest area in the Thumb region is in the Saginaw Valley, the far western portion of the thumb, at a low 585 feet above sea level.
  • Huron County is very flat and is home to wind generators and large fields.
  • The "tip of the Thumb" is Pointe Aux Barques, between Port Austin and Grindstone City.
  • Marlette is also called the "heart of the Thumb" because of its central position on the peninsula.

Major Rivers

The Thumb has many waterways.

Media

The thumb is divided in half in terms of the media. The northern portion is more attached to the Flint/Tri-Cities and the southern portion is more attached to Southeast Michigan. Major centers for the media are Port Huron, Sandusky, and Bad Axe.

Radio

The Thumb Area Radio Market lies between the Detroit Radio Market, the Tri-Cities Radio Market and the Flint Market. Radio Stations heard thought a large majority of the thumb are WTGV-FM, WMIC-AM, and WPHM-AM.

Newspaper

Template:Multicol Huron County Newspapers

  • Harbor Beach Times
  • Huron County Press
  • Huron Daily Tribune [1]
  • News Weekly, The
  • The Lakeshore Guardian
  • Thumb Blanket

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  • Buyer's Guide
  • County Press, The [2]
  • LA View
  • Webco Press

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  • Brown City Banner
  • Buyers Guide
  • Camden Publications
  • Deckerville Recorder
  • Marlette Leader
  • Sandusky Tribune
  • Sanilac County News [3]

Template:Multicol-break St. Clair County Newspapers

  • Blue Water Shopper
  • Port Huron Times Herald-USA Today [4]
  • Voice, The
  • Yale Expositor, The

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  • Advertiser Tuscola County [5]
  • Cass City Chronicle
  • Cass River Trader
  • Vassar Pioneer Times

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Broadcast Television

Television in the Thumb is also divided in half. The Lapeer County, St. Clair County and Sanilac County area lies in the Detorit Television Market. The far northern and western areas lie inside the Flint/Tri-Cities Television Market. TV stations watched through all of the Thumb are bold faced. The only broadcast TV station licensed to the Thumb region is WDCQ, the PBS station serving the Tri-Cities and Thumb area which is licensed to Bad Axe.

Template:Multicol Flint/Tri-Cities

Template:Multicol-break Detroit Area

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Transportation

Port Huron's two Blue Water Bridges

Borders

The border between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario is the busiest connection between the USA and Canada. The border includes the two Blue Water Bridges and the two St. Clair River Railway Tunnels. There are also ferry crossings at Marine City, Michigan and Algonac, Michigan. Shown is a view of the two bridges during the Port Huron to Mackinac Yacht Race.

Major Highways

(organized by numbers)

Interstates

Michigan Highways

  • M-15
  • M-19
  • old M-21
  • M-24
  • M-25 is a highway of an arc-like shape closely following the outline of the Thumb along the Lake Huron/Saginaw Bay shoreline between Port Huron, Michigan (junction I-94, US I-69, and I-94 Business Loop and Bay City, Michigan (junction US I-75, US-23, and US-10.[18] It is generally a scenic drive.
  • M-29
  • M-46 is a cross peninsular road, running across the mitten and the thumb -- from Port Sanilac on the Lake Huron shore; through Saginaw near Saginaw Bay; and then on to Muskegon on the Lake Michigan shore.[19] This east-west surface route nearly bisects the Lower Peninsula of Michigan latitudinally.
  • M-53 (Van Dyke Road) is a gateway route to The Thumb of Michigan, carrying vacationers to the resorts and cottages on Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron in the vicinity of Caseville and Port Austin. It goes up the middle of the Thumb, and directly connects in Macomb County, Michigan to the M-53 expressway. It is an important route for agricultural and manufactured goods.
  • M-81
  • M-90
  • M-136
  • M-138
  • M-142

Rail

Area Amtrak stations are in Lapeer, Port Huron, and Flint. Local railroads are the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, CSX Transport, Canadian National Rail , Pere Marquette Railway, and the Huron & Eastern Saginaw Valley Railroad. Major railroad centers are Vassar, Bad Axe and Port Huron

Airports

The only international airport in the Thumb is St. Clair County International Airport about 6 miles outside Port Huron. City airports include: Caro Municipal, Dupont-Lapeer Airport, Huron County Memorial Airport, Marine City Airport, Marlette Municipal, Sandusky City, and Yale Airport. Scheduled airline service is available from MBS International Airport[20] near Midland, Michigan and Flint Bishop International Airport.[21] Both of those airports are not in the Thumb, but are relatively close by.

Area Codes

Area code 989 covers about half of the Thumb, including Huron, Tuscola, and far northern Sanilac County (and the Marlette, Michigan area). The other half is covered by area code 810, which covers most of Sanilac, Lapeer, and Saint Clair Counties. Macomb County is served compleatly by area code 586, as well as parts of south-western Saint Clair County.

See also

State

Regional

Local Towns of Interest

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Subjects

Notes

Bibliography and further reading

  • Ackerman, Emma J. Thumb Fires of 1871 and 1881. CMU Term Paper, 1968.
  • DuMond, Neva. Thumb diggings; adventures into Michigan's Thumb area. Lexington, Mich, 1962.
  • The Great Fire of 1881: A Collection of Stories. Caro, MI: Tuscola County Advertiser, 1981.
  • Hatt, R. T. --The petroglyphs, by D. J. Richards.--An archeological survey of the petroglyph site, by M. Papworth (republished from the Michigan archeologist, Dec. 1957) The Sanilac petroglyphs. [Bloomfield Hills, Mich.] : Cranbrook Institute of Science, [1958]
  • House Party: Reminiscences by Traditional Musicians and Square Dance Callers in Michigan's Thumb Area. Port Huron, MI: Museum of Arts and History, 1982.
  • Schultz, Gerard. A History of Michigan's Thumb.
  • Smith, Dee. Treks into the Past: Historical Sketches of Michigan's Thumb. Decatur, MI: Heritage Valley Publishing, 1989.
  • Southgate, Jerry D. Thumb's Forest Fire of 1881. CMU Term Paper, 1967.