West Michigan interns take strides to designate old US-31 historic

Giving history buffs an intriguing reason to travel the former West Michigan Pike from the Indiana border to Mackinac would spur the economy along the route, and a historic designation would give businesses and municipalities access to state funding for road improvements and revitalization. One group of West Michigan interns is spearheading the research.

According to excerpts from the story:

For 14 weeks, Cheryl Chidester was a road warrior, looking to unearth points of interest along an 86-year-old West Michigan route from South Haven to Muskegon and Pentwater.

She stayed for a week or two at bed-and-breakfasts, visiting art galleries and museums and checking out locales and history.

Her guide was the West Michigan Pike, a meandering 400-mile route hugging Lake Michigan's shoreline from the Indiana border near New Buffalo to Mackinaw City. The hope is to have the route redesignated a historic highway.

Read the complete story here.

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