History

By the 1830s, Michigan fever had become an epidemic. Pioneer families from all over the East Coast headed west via the newly completed Erie Canal, passed through Detroit [1], and continued along the new Detroit-Chicago Road, which cut across the southern half of the state’s Lower Peninsula. Their final destination: Michigan’s rolling prairies, with rich soil and fertile land that the federal government was selling for the bargain-basement price of $1.25 an acre.

Many of the early settlers were Easterners, leaving already-overwhelming cities to seek better opportunities for themselves and their families. The onrush between 1825 and 1855 spurred the settlement of some of Michigan’s largest towns, including Battle Creek [2] and Jackson [3]. That early growth was soon augmented by the railroad; by 1849, Michigan Central began making regular state crossings, disgorging thousands of optimistic settlers along the way.

In the region known as Michigan’s Heartland [4], the most visible evidence of these early settlers can be found in the Greek Revival homes and clean-lined architecture of the cities and villages they built. They also founded a number of Eastern-style private colleges, a concentration unmatched elsewhere in the state.