Here are a bunch of fun facts about the Wolverine State.
Geographically speaking…
- About 15,000 years ago, the last of the major glaciers of the Wisconsin Glaciation began to pull back to the north. The scraping of the ice dug out, and the melting ice filled the five Great Lakes.
- Ninth in population, Michigan is 11th in land area and is the largest state by total area (including water) east of the Mississippi River. In 1837, it became the 13th of the 2nd 13 states.
- The combined shoreline of Michigan is larger than any other state excepting Alaska.
- The border crossing from Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, Canada is the only border crossing where one goes south to get to Canada from the U.S.
Naturally…
- While the onion is the state’s largest crop, more cherries are grown here than in any other state.
- At Isle Royal Park, one of the most populous moose herds can be found.
Recreationally…
- There are more public golf courses in Michigan than any other state.
- Our three-quarters of a million licensed hunters is the third most in any state.
- We are number one in both registered boats, at over a million, and in registered snowmobiles among all the United States. We have 4,000+ miles of trails for all those snowmobiles. In addition, more dog sleds are built each year in Michigan than anywhere else, nationally.
Nautically…
- Second to Superior in size, Lake Huron is the 5th most massive fresh-water lake on earth. Its deepest point is 750 feet down, and averages a depth of 195 feet.
- On the lake floor of Huron, man-made enclosures used to hold animals have been found that date back 9000 years. They were used by stone-age denizens of the area at a time when the water levels were much lower than today.
- Of all the Great Lakes, Huron has the longest shoreline, attributable to its size and the more than 30,000 islands included in the length.
