Michigan |
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| Entered the Union: January 26, 1837 (26) | Capital: Lansing | |
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Origin of Name: Based on Chippewa Indian word "meicigama" meaning "great water"
(the Great Lakes) |
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| State Nicknames: Wolverine State • Great Lakes State | ||
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State Motto: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice
(If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you) |
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| State Tree: Eastern White Pine | State Bird: Robin | |
| State Mammal: White-tailed Deer | State Flower: Apple Blossom | |
| State Song: Michigan, My Michigan | ||
| National Forests: 3 • State Parks: 103 | ||
| Famous For: the Great Lakes, Automobile Plants, Kellog Cereal | ||
| Famous Michiganians: Anita Baker • Ted Nugent • Diana Ross • Bob Seger • Stevie Wonder (singers) William Boeing (airplane manufacturer), Roger Chaffee (astronaut), Francis Ford Coppola (film director), Gerald Ford (President), Henry Ford (pioneer auto manufacturer), Earvin "Magic" Johnson (basketball), Charles Lindbergh (aviator), Chief Pontiac (Ottawa Chief), Iggy Pop (musician), Della Reese (actress, singer), Julie Harris • Steven Seagal • Tom Selleck • Tim Allen (actors), Dick Martin • Lily Tomlin (comedians), Danny Thomas (entertainer), Robin Williams (comedian, actor) | ||
| Native Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make. | ||
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| French explorer Étienne Brulé arrived in Michigan in 1620. In 1634, Jean Nicolet explored parts of the Upper Peninsula for France. Missionaries established a mission at Keweenaw Way in 1660. In 1668, Father Jacques Marquette established the first permanent settlement of Michigan at Sault Sainte Marie. By 1700, missionaries had explored much of the region and built missions and trading posts throughout both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. | |||||||||||||
| At the end of the French and Indian Wars in 1763, England controlled most French claims in North America, including Michigan. | |||||||||||||
| During the Revolutionary War, settlers in Michigan favored British rule and often raided American settlements. At the end of the war in 1783, Michigan came under American control. Detroit and Fort Mackinac however, did not surrender until 1796. | |||||||||||||
| Michigan is divided into Upper and Lower peninsulas by the Straits of Mackinac, which link lakes Michigan and Huron. The two parts of the state are connected by the 5-mile long Mackinac Bridge, the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. | |||||||||||||
| Michigan is the only bi-peninsular state. The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is sometimes called "the mitten," because of its shape. | |||||||||||||
| The Great Lakes account for one-fifth of the world's surface freshwater supply. | |||||||||||||
| The first people in the nation to receive assigned phone numbers lived in Detroit in 1879. | |||||||||||||
| Michigan is a leading state in the ownership of recreational boats and in the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. | |||||||||||||
| Bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair, Michigan has the longest freshwater shoreline in the United States. | |||||||||||||
| A person in Michigan is never more than 85 miles from Great Lakes water and is never more than 6 miles from a natural water source. | |||||||||||||
| Petoskey Stones are the fossilized remains of a coral that grew in Michigan 350 million years ago.
Petoskey means "rays of rising sun" in Indian. This stone is found nowhere else in the world. |
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| In 1939, the Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit manufactured the first air-conditioned car. | |||||||||||||
| The first state police radio system in the world was established in 1929 by the Michigan State Police. | |||||||||||||
| The world’s largest weather vane in located in Montague. It stands 48 feet tall and weighs 3,500 pounds. Its wind arrow is 26 feet long. | |||||||||||||
| Singing sand can be found on the beaches of Grand Haven. The sand particles make a whistling sound as you walk upon them. | |||||||||||||
| Michigan has 116 lighthouses and navigational lights. | |||||||||||||
| The first soda pop made in the U.S., Vernor’s ginger ale, was created by accident in 1866 in Detroit. | |||||||||||||
| Michigan's Ethnic Roots: German 20.4%, African 14.2%, Irish 10.7%, English 9.9%, Polish 8.6%. | |||||||||||||
| Religion in Michigan: 82% Christian (58% Protestant, 23% Catholic, 1% Other) 15% No Religion, 2% Muslim, 1% Jewish | |||||||||||||
| Michigan has approximately 40 ski resorts and more than 4,000 miles of snowmobile trails. | |||||||||||||
| Michigan leads the nation in the production of dry navy beans, black beans and cranberries. | |||||||||||||
| Henry Ford, who produced his first experimental car in 1893, founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. He was the father of modern assembly lines which enabled mass production of large numbers of inexpensive automobiles (a car could be completed in 98 minutes). Ford emassed one of the world's largest fortunes while paying his workers high wages ($5/day in 1914). Henry Ford's philosophy for business: "Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible." | |||||||||||||
At a Glance
Michigan Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | January 26, 1837 (26) |
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| Capital | Lansing |
| Nickname | Wolverine State • Great Lakes State |
| State Bird | Robin |
| State Flower | Apple Blossom |
| State Tree | Eastern White Pine |
New for 2026
More Michigan Facts & Photos
Pictured Rocks became America's first national lakeshore when Congress protected it in 1966. Its mineral-streaked sandstone cliffs rise 50 to 200 feet straight out of Lake Superior on the Upper Peninsula.
Scientists have watched the wolves and moose of Isle Royale National Park continuously since 1958, the longest-running study of any predator and its prey in the world.
Michigan named the American mastodon its official state fossil in 2002, after a campaign led by teachers and schoolchildren in Wayne and Washtenaw counties. One of the most complete mastodon skeletons ever found was unearthed near Owosso.
The Kirtland's warbler nests almost nowhere but the young jack pine forests of northern Michigan. Down to just 167 breeding pairs in 1987, the songbird rebounded to more than 2,300 pairs and came off the federal endangered species list in 2019.
Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records in Detroit in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family. The house on West Grand Boulevard where its hits were recorded, nicknamed Hitsville U.S.A., is now the Motown Museum.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
Gerald R. Ford
"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
"I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, so I ask you to confirm me with your prayers."
President
George Washington
"It's the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and to humbly implore his protection and favor."
President
Benjamin Franklin
"Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants."
Founding Father
Henry Ford
"Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty."
"Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving."
"There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something."
Automobile Manufacturer
Last updated: July 2026