Headlines of the Past

One of the things I have in my Historical Photos collection is press wire photos of northern Michigan. These are pictures that are issued by the news wire services to accompany newspaper articles. They come with a headline and a caption explaining the picture’s news worth. I thought it might be fun posting these creating tiny snapshots or moments in time for everyone to enjoy.

This page is continuously updated, keep checking back for more as I get them posted.
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Disaster Strikes on Lake Superior – May 12, 1953

Lake Superior: A lifeboat carrying two crewmen of the freighter Henry Steinbrenner which sank in Lake Superior, May 11, is reached by the rescue ship William Sykes. Man at bottom of lifeboat, identified as Frank Tomszak, was dead when reached by rescuers. Other crewman rescued here was identified as Bernard Oberski

Survive Sea Tragedy – May 12, 1953

Superior, Wis.: Captain George Fisher of the freighter Alfred Sykes, stands with two survivors of the cargo vessel Henry Steinbrenner, which foundered off the Rock of Ages in Lake Superior, May 11. Of the ill fated ship’s crew of 31, there were 15 persons rescued and 10 known dead. Kenneth Kumm (center), 19, of North Tonawanda, N.Y., and Bernard Oberski (right), 24 of Plymouth, PA., were rescued from a lifeboat adrift and nearly filled with water in a raging sea. The Sykes was one of four shipa able to reach the scene of the disaster, and the first to return to port. Along with the two survivors, she brought back the body of one victim.

 

Fort Michilimackinac Reconstructed – June 24, 1933


Model of the fort at Mackinaw City in the Straits of Mackinac, between Lakes Michigan and Huron, scene of the massacre on July 1, 1763, when the entire British garrison  was butchered by Ojibway Indians during a camoflaged LaCrosse game, which is being reconstructed in detail on the foundation of the original structure and will be opened July 1.

Railroad Bridge Collapses Two Men Dead! – October 9, 1941

Remove Locomotive From Soo Canal – October, 10 1941


Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan – Large derrick lifting engine from canal, clearing canal so that delayed ore freighters could pass from Lake Superior through the nearby locks into the lower Great Lakes. The engine and tender had caused collapse of a railroad bridge across the canal, and two trainmen were killed when the locomotive went into the canal.

Supplies To Isle Royale CCC Camp Pulled Across The Ice – March 11, 1937

More equipment and supplies for the special National Park CCC camp on Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, are hauled from the United States Coast Guard Cutter Crawford, by enrollees. The ship, which nosed its way iinto the ice locking th island, is morred a short distance away.

Ice Still a Problem In Straits of Mackinac – April 21, 1962


The Coast Guard cutter Arundel, which has its home port in Chicago, is engaged in ice breaking in the Straits of Mackinac. The icebound area is still slowing the travel of many boats. Here the Arundel (right) leads the tanker L10 and steamer Conneaut through an ice field. St Lawerence Seaway ships are expected in Chicago this week.

Michigan Resort Where FDR Will Make September Visit – July 14, 1938 

Mackinac Island, Mich – A view of Mackinac Island, a popular resort during the summer months but completely isolated from the world during the long winter period. The little island will be visited by President Roosevelt when he is a guest at the Grand Hotel on September 8th, and is the location from which he will give his first fireside chat.

Tug Dashed Against Dam Gate – One Lost – November 7, 1941

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Raising the Alfred E. Noble, a tug-boat, which sank after being torn from its moorings and dashed against a dam gate by strong currents in the Sault Rapids, hurling one crew member into the water.

Carpenters In Colonial Costume Rebuild Fort – June 23, 196

Mackinaw City, Mich – Ships longer than two football fields glide under the mighty Mackinac Bridge that joins Michigan’s two peninsulas but in its shadow, where birch bark canoes once landed, archaeologists literally are turning back the sands of time. They’re uncovering two centuries of drifting sand to reconstruct a time of adventure, of treachery, of intrigue – a time when the Straits of Mackinac was inhabited by voyageurs, French and British soldiers, fur trappers, and traders, the Chippewa and Ottawa Indians. The site is Fort Michilimackinac here at the top of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Under the direction of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, archaeologists from Michigan State University are rebuilding the fort as it was 200 years ago when it was a key western outpost for the lucrative fur trade.

Closing Soo Bridge Steel – March 9, 1962

“Steel superstructure on the new St. Mary’s River International Bridge at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is moving toward a meeting at the International Boundary in the Soo Rapids. The bridge is being built from both sides toward the center. The meeting place at the boundary is at Pier 29, the first uncapped pier to the right in this view. The U.S. girders are scheduled to reach Pier 29 about March 20 to be met by the Canadian steel about April 20. The bridge project is more than two miles long and will cost $20,000,000.”

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