This map shows an ambitious electric railway plan for southern Michigan, with lines marked as in operation, under construction and proposed.
It is often labeled as an 1891 map, but the strongest online matches place this version closer to the turn of the 20th century. Kalamazoo Public Library identifies a similar image as “Southern Michigan electric railway map, c.1900,” from Street Railway Review. Another online source describes the system as it stood by 1902.
The map captures a moment when Michigan cities hoped electric interurban railways could link Detroit, Lansing, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Bay City, Saginaw, South Haven and many smaller towns.
Some of these lines were built. Others stayed on paper.
What old interurban routes, depots or rail traces do you remember seeing in Michigan?
#MichiganHistory #RailroadHistory #InterurbanRailway #OldMaps #LocalHistory
