Marine City, Michigan

I live in a small town, population under 5,000 people. We moved here 13 years ago, to get away from the rat race that is suburban Detroit. When we first laid eyes on our town, I felt like we had just stepped back in time. The homes here are older & the way of life more laid back. It was like walking back into my childhood in many ways.

Marine City, Michigan used to be a ship building town. It is home to two rivers. The Belle, which runs through town & flows out into the St. Clair River. The St. Clair River separates the United States and Canada. There is a ferry in town that will take you & your car to the small village of Sombra, Ontario in just 12 minutes.
Marine City is also known for it’s Antique shops. Many of them are located in quaint buildings dating back to pre 1900. The uptown area is dotted with businesses & parks that allow river views of the St. Clair. People will often come to the river to sit & watch the freighters go by on this busy shipping channel. In summer there are people tubing, riding jet skis, scuba diving & pleasure boating as well. There is a small beach in town that is usually bustling with people on a warm summer day.

Many years ago, Marine City was known as Newport. That was when it was a shipbuilding town. Besides ship building many people in the town were associated with people who sailed the St. Clair River out into the Great Lakes. The original owners of our home (built in 1910) graciously housed their daughter & her children every summer while her husband was sailing the Great Lakes. They would find out when his ship was due & would stand at the bank waiting to wave to him as his ship sailed by. Then at the end of the shipping season they would all return to their home in Ohio, leaving her mom and dad until the next summer.

I remember my parents talking about riding the Interurban railway that came through Marine City on their way to my grandmother’s hometown of Port Huron many years before I was even born. This mode of transportation is long since gone from the scene, and the summer cottages that people came here to visit are now transformed into year round homes. The once long ride to vacation land is now shrinking into a much closer commute, as people drive farther away to find a little piece of Paradise. I love the fact that Marine City is 14 miles off the freeway & not really a fast drive for people wanting a quick commute. Although we are facing development close to home, it will mainly be suburban development, since Marine City does not have any place to go. Our territory is pretty settled & our population has not varied by more than a few hundred people in the last 20 years. So though progress goes on around us, I hope that we can maintain the charm & the echoes of the past that will make Marine City stand out as a throwback to a once glorious past.

Patricia T

Submitted: Friday 26th March 2004, 11:18 PM

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