March, 2008 -- News Release regarding the Sesquicentennial Celebration
March 2009:
Happy 150th Birthday Huron County!
This year, 2009, is the 150th year since Huron County was organized at Sand Beach (now Harbor Beach) in a meeting at the old Dow Hotel on January 25, 1859.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Our County’s 150th Birthday Party will take place on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at the Franklin Inn in Bad Axe. Festivities will begin at 9 am and will continue throughout the day until 9 pm that evening. A cover charge will apply to the evening’s program – 7 pm to 9 pm - but all daytime activities from 9 am to 7 pm are free. The morning and early afternoon hours will be dedicated to educating our school children in grades 4 and 5. Late afternoon and evening will be for the grownups to enjoy!
The Huron County Historical Society is sponsoring this event and all 11 of its chapter member groups will have their history on display. In addition, many other towns, villages, the lighthouses and other attractions will fill the entire Inn and part of its parking lot.
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
The first purpose of the party is to bring local history to life.
To do this, re-enactors will portray pioneer leaders representing various national, state and local historical figures. Many HCHS members and others will appear in period dress.
For instance, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln will be present to talk about that era and; in the evening, President Lincoln will deliver his Gettysburg Address and discuss the circumstances surrounding that famous event. Fred and Bonnie Priebe are well known around the Great Lakes and East Coast as being among the best at portraying the Lincolns.
Carol McBride will portray Mark Twain; another re-enactor will also portray former Michigan Governor and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Frank Murphy, of Harbor Beach.
Indian Dave, a former Huron County and Thumb area resident lived to be 106 years old. When just a boy he and his parents witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Saginaw in 1819 - which opened the Thumb for settlement.
Other historical re-enactors are being planned and may include a survivor of the Great Fire of 1881 and perhaps, Rudolph Papst, the surveyor who gave Bad Axe its name.
The second purpose is to raise funds for our sesquicentennial history book project.
For over a year now, the Huron County Historical Society has promoted the writing of a new history book about Huron County’s first 150 years! The funds raised through the $10 donation for the evening’s activities will go toward the cost of publishing this new 300 plus page history of the county.
This is a county-wide project. Of the 32 authors who have prepared historical accounts for the book only roughly half are HCHS members. History isn’t limited to historical societies and this book will be the better for including others in the community with a strong interest in our history. It is our hope that the new book will be available by mid-summer.
Pre-order Your Copy of the Book…
If you would like to reserve your copy now, here is a pre-order form with which to do so.
If you would like to help by advertising in the book click here
Photos from the 150th Birthday Party on May 6, 2009