Time Line - 1880's - Decade Overview

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• 1880's: GR&I extends a branch line from Missaukee Jct. (north of Cadillac) to a new lumber town called Mitchell (on Crooked Lake, named after the Mitchell brothers who owned the mill). - [MRC-09/88]

• Early DSS&A builds depot in St. Ignace. It was moved to the waterfront in 1946 as a part of a consoldation of rail yards.. - [MRDC-8/89]

• Detroit & Bay City abandons branch from Lapeer to northeast of Lapeer (near North Branch). [MRRC]

• Railroads in the United States generally achieve a standard gauge of 4' 8 1/2".  [STOV]

• About 25% of all track rail is made of steel.  [STOV]

• The Calumet and Hecla Mining Co. had sunk 17 mine shafts and was smelting its own copper. [MOD-6/1985]

• Between 1880 and the turn of the century, Detroit became a major center for shipbuilding, cigar manufacturing, and the production of pharmaceuticals.  Other major manufactured products included railroad cars, paints and varnishes, foundry and machine shop products, as well as beer.  [BOM]

• The Milwaukee Junction industrial area begins to grow. [CRP1]

• Petoskey becomes the center of a large commuter /tourist train network.  By 1898, the GR&I runs 15 round trips to Harbor Springs, 7 to Oden, 5 south to Walloon Lake and 4 to Mackinaw City, in addition to "dummy" trains every 20 minutes to a Methodist camp in Bay View.  By 1905, the line to Harbor Springs is double-tracked.  Even the Pere Marquette ran 10 trips daily between Charlevoix and Petosky.  The last trains ran to Harbor Springs in the summer of 1941.  [NK]

Time line Key:

• Railroad event in Michigan
• Event relating to mining
• Event related to car ferries
• Event outside of Michigan
• Improvement in Technology
• Railroad built or extended
• Railroad abandoned and/or removed
• Economic panic or depression