Ready to brush up on your Michigan etymology? Here are some of Michigan’s most unusual names, what they mean, and where they came from.
Whether they’re being goofy on the field or inspiring loyalty to our team, college mascots have, er, big shoes to fill. But how are these powerful symbols created?
From movies to video games, here’s a glimpse of our favorite cultural pieces that were set or filmed in Michigan.
Today they’re hip breweries and luxury living spaces, but once upon a time they were candy factories and hospitals. These are the real origin stories of some of Traverse City’s most storied buildings.
In the music world, the unusual name of Kalamazoo has become a versatile tool for a variety of lyrics—and a popular metonym to refer to more exotic places, even if Kalamazoo isn’t so exotic itself. It’s a Michigan city, but it’s also now a big piece of lyrical Americana.
Battle Creek is otherwise known as Cereal City—and it's the birthplace of the corn flakes that Tony the Tiger now calls "Grrreat!"
Blue Moon ice cream may be a Midwest dairy flavor mystery that sort of just tastes like "blue” to some, but Michigan’s Superman ice cream multiplies that mystery by three.
Michigan is big on paczki because we have a thriving population of Polish immigrants who migrated here near the turn of the 20th Century.
Though perhaps not as well known as pasties, smoked fish is a staple of Michigan cuisine in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
Though often called the Detroit-style hot dog, the coney dog didn’t really come from Detroit.
