Michigan's Lumbertowns: Lumbermen and Laborers in Saginaw, Bay City, and Muskegon, 1870-1905

by Jeremy W. Kilar

Michigan's foremost lumbertowns, flourishing urban industrial centers in the late 19th century, faced economic calamity with the depletion of timber supplies by the end of the century. Turning to their own resources and reflecting individual cultural identities, Saginaw, Bay City, and Muskegon developed dissimilar strategies to sustain their urban industrial status. This study is a comprehensive history of these lumbertowns from their inception as frontier settlements to their emergence as reshaped industrial centers. Primarily an examination of the role of the entrepreneur in urban economic development, Michigan Lumbertowns considers the extent to which the entrepreneurial approach was influenced by each city's cultural-ethnic construct and its social history. More than a narrative history, it is a study of violence, business, and social change.

368 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1990

Reviews

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly a book you can't put down, but a good coverage of the subject. I would have liked more details about life in those towns. Some of the most interesting material was in the endnotes.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting but didn't really read well.