Michigan Celebrates 175 Years of Statehood Today

Happy 175th birthday Michigan! It was on this day in 1837 that Michigan was admitted to the Union as the 26th state. Michigan is known for the Great Lakes that surround it; also for the auto industry and for being the state shaped like a mitten (sorry Wisconsin, I don't know what you look like, but it isn't a mitten).
Michigan comes from the Native American "Michi-Gamma" which translates to "large lake." Michigan is known as the "Great Lakes State", but it also is home to more than 11,000 inland lakes and 36,000 miles of rivers and streams. No matter where you are in the state of Michigan, you are never more than six miles from a lake or stream, and never more than 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes.

Michigan also boasts 19 million acres of forest and is a recreation destination for people from all over the world. To most of the nation, we are "Up North." The Michigan state motto is "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you." Happy birthday, Michigan.