Today in 1926, Grand River Avenue, or Historic US-16, opened in Michigan, becoming the first paved road to stretch completely across the state. Connecting Detroit to Muskegon, it served as a primary highway for nearly four decades. Today is also National Lighthouse Day. Michigan boasts around 115 lighthouses, the most of any U.S. state. Built between 1818 and 1822, these lighthouses guided ships safely through the Great Lakes.
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On this day in 1926, Grand River Avenue, or Historic US-16, opened in Michigan. It was the first paved road to stretch completely across the state. Grand River Ave was one of six mainline US Highways in the state of Michigan and US-16 served as the primary highway connection between four of the state's largest cities for nearly four decades. It starts in downtown Detroit, heads through Brighton, Howell, East Lansing, Lansing, Portland and Grand Rapids, and arrives in Muskegon where the route continued via railroad car ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee.
August 7th is also National Lighthouse Day. According to Pure Michigan, Michigan has around 115 lighthouses, the most of any U.S. state. The first lighthouses in Michigan were built between 1818 and 1822 and were built to project light at night and to serve as a landmark during the day to safely guide the passenger ships and freighters traveling the Great Lakes.