Local city information for Port Huron, MI

Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 32,338 at the 2000 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administratively autonomous. It is joined by the Blue Water Bridge over the St. Clair River to Sarnia, Ontario in Canada. The city lies at the southern end of Lake Huron and is the easternmost point on land in Michigan.

The city was a recipient of the All-America City Award in 2005.

In 1814, Fort Gratiot was established at the base of Lake Huron and was considered the first organized population in the area. In 1857, Port Huron became an incorporated city. Port Huron's population grew rapidly after the 1850s due in part to a successful shipbuilding and lumber trade. By 1870, Port Huron's population exceeded that of surrounding villages. In 1871, the Supreme Court designated Port Huron as the County Seat.

On Sunday, October 8 1871, the city, as well as White Rock and surrounding areas, burned in a devastating fire. A series of other fires leveled Holland and Manistee, Michigan, as well as Peshtigo, Wisconsin and Chicago on the same day.

The following historic sites have been recognized by the State of Michigan through its historic marker program.

• Fort St. Joseph. The fort was built in 1686 by the French explorer Duluth. This fort was the second European settlement in lower Michigan. This post guarded the upper end of the vital waterway joining Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Designed to bar English traders from the upper lakes, the fort in 1687 was the mobilization center for a war party of French and Indians. In 1688 it was abandoned, but the site became part of Fort Gratiot in 1814. A park now rests where the fort once stood.

• Fort Gratiot Light. The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse was built in 1829 to replace a tower destroyed by a storm. In the 1860s workers extended the tower to its present height of . The light, automated in 1933, continues to guide shipping on Lake Huron into the narrow and swift-flowing St. Clair River. It was the first lighthouse established in the State of Michigan.

• Grand Trunk Railroad Depot. The depot, which is now part of the Port Huron Museum, is where 12-year-old Tom Edison departed daily on the Port Huron - Detroit run. In 1859, the railroad's first year of operation, Tom persuaded the company to let him sell newspapers and confections on the daily trips. He became so successful the he soon placed two newsboys on other Grand Trunk runs to Detroit. He made enough money to support himself and to buy chemicals and other experimental materials.

• Port Huron Public Library. In 1902 the city of Port Huron secured money from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to erect a municipal library. In 1904, a grand Beaux-Arts-style structure was built at a cost of $45,000. At its dedication, Melvil Dewey, creator of a widely used book classification system, delivered the opening address. The Port Huron Public Library served in its original capacity for over sixty years. In 1967 a larger public library was constructed. The following year the former library opened as the Port Huron Museum of Arts and History. A rear addition was constructed in 1988.

• The Harrington Hotel. The Hotel opened in 1896. It is a blend of Romanesque, Classical and Queen Anne architecture. The hotel closed in 1986, but a group of investors bought the structure that same year to convert it into housing for senior citizens. The Harrington Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Tunnel. The tunnel was opened in 1891 and links Port Huron, Michigan with Canada. This international submarine railway tunnel was the first international tunnel in the world. The tunnel's total length is , with underwater. The tunnel operations were electrified in 1908 and then converted to diesel fuel in 1958. Tracks were lowered in 1949 to accommodate larger freight cars. During World War I, a plot to blast the tunnel was foiled. A new tunnel has since been opened.

• In 1962, a convention of the Students for a Democratic Society was held in the city. While there they developed the Port Huron Statement, the SDS manifesto.

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