Great Lakes History Log
Journalist, writer, photographer, historian Rob Alway tells the stories of the history of the Great Lakes region, from water and land. Great Lakes History Log is presented by Sable Points Media, a 501(c)(3) non-profit news and information organization, in partnership with Media Group 31, publisher of Mason County Press, Oceana County Press, and Great Lakes Boat Blog.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 18 minutes
- Episodes
- 10
- Years Active
- 2025
The Sinking of the Pere Marquette 18, Sept. 9, 1910
On Sept. 9, 1910, the worst disaster to strike the Pere Marquette Railway's carferry fleet occurred. The Pere Marquette 18, the company's flagship while under way between Ludington, Mic…
The Communists of Mason County, Michigan and the 1934 Custer Farmers' Riot
The Great Depression was especially harsh on the farming community. In Mason County, Michigan, George Casper latched on the communist cause by first running for state representative and…
The Rescue of the Rutter After It Lost Its Rudder
In 1879, Capt. Frederick Kendrick was awarded the United States Gold Lifesaving Medal for his heroic act of saving 44 men from the schooner J.H. Rutter off the shore of Ludington, Michi…
The 1993 Unsolved Murder of Melissa Simmons
In 1993, 15-year-old Melissa Simmons was found, murdered, in the Pere Marquette River in Mason County, Michigan. Since that time, the unsolved murder has haunted the small town of Scott…
Audrey Robertson Boals - First Daughter of the S.S. Badger
Audrey Robertson Boals comes from Great Lakes shipping royalty. Her father, Bernard "Bunny" Robertson was the first captain of the carferry S.S. Badger, commanding the ship from 1953 un…
Did Ernest Hemingway Spend the Night in Scottville?
In 1917, the Hemingway took the family Ford Model T north from their home in Oak Park, Illinois to their family cottage on Walloon Lake near Petoskey, Michigan. The road trip took four …
The Killing of Ludington Lumber Baron Luther Foster
The 1876 killing of Luther Foster is Mason County, Michigan's oldest unsolved murder.
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The 1898 Free Soil, Michigan Triple Murder/Suicide
In 1898, the most vicious crime in the history of Mason County, Michigan took place in Free Soil Township. A man killed his his sister, brother-in-law, and a teenaged boy, then killed h…
The Pere Marquette 16, the PM Railway's Only Wooden Car Ferry
The service of the SS Pere Marquette 16, the only wooden car ferry to operate in the Pere Marquette Railway's fleet, based in Ludington, Michigan, was a mixture of historical significan…
Goodrich Transportation Company's SS City of Ludington
In 1874, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway reached Ludington on the shores of Lake Michigan. In anticipation of a lucrative contract the railroad, which had plans to transport freight …