John Carlos Baez on Nostr: Michigan became a state in 1837 and immediately borrowed $5 million for internal ...

Michigan became a state in 1837 and immediately borrowed $5 million for internal improvements. The Clinton–Kalamazoo Canal was supposed to cross the Lower Peninsula — 216 miles from Lake St. Clair to Lake Michigan — saving ships from the long sail around the mitt. Construction started in 1838 with great fanfare.

They finished only about 16 miles (Mt. Clemens to Rochester) before money ran out. "Bank payments were not being paid, and workers weren’t getting their wages, which led to boozing it up, numerous fights, and stealing supplies. Disgruntled, many of the workers began destroying and ripping up parts of the canal they had constructed."

Work on the canal came to a halt in 1843 at what is now Bloomer State Park. The legislature formally abandoned it in 1895. Reconstructed fragments can be seen today in Clinton Township and Bloomer State Park.

[image by John Meszaros at Atlas Obscura; for more see https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/clinto-kalamazoo-canal]

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