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this is Michigan Moments rediscovering
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the pioneering moments of the Great
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State in the center of Michigan's lower
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peninsula lies a place where rail lines
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once met and ambitions collided clare
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Michigan what started as a lumber town
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on the edge of the frontier grew into a
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pivotal stop along the state's north
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south corridor in the early 1900s this
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small city carried a big reputation one
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built on timber trade and hard one
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reinvention founded in 1870 Clare owed
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its early development to the extension
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of the Pere Marquette Railroad with rich
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pine forests surrounding the region the
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area quickly became a magnet for logging
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operations sawmills ran day and night
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workers filled boarding houses and money
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flowed into the growing downtown
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business district at the heart of it all
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was Mchuan Street in the early 1900s we
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show a busy row of brick storefronts
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furniture dealers meat markets grocerers
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barbers and blacksmiths horsedrawn
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wagons rattled over muddy streets and
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canvas awnings offered shade to passers
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by like many Michigan boom towns Clare
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moved fast in 1904 and again in 1907
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fires swept through the downtown they
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destroyed wooden buildings and forced
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the town to rebuild using brick and
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stone that rebuilding period gave Clare
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the architectural look that defines much
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of its downtown today along the Tobacco
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River stood the town's mill and dam a
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vital piece of Clare's infrastructure
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the mill powered early industry and
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helped shape the flow of goods into the
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region it also drew families to settle
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nearby and small farms that fed the
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town's markets clare's economy wasn't
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just timber it became a hub for
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agriculture commerce and for a time rail
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travel the Union Depot with its turreted
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roof and steady stream of trains brought
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passengers and freight from across the
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state people came through Clare for
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business and for the first tourist
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vacations up north but not all who came
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to Clare were looking for a fresh start
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in 1938 the town was rocked by a murder
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inside the Doherty Hotel isaiah Leeov a
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Detroit attorney with known ties to the
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Purple Gang was gunned down by his
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business partner Carl Jack Livingston in
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the hotel tap room in one night Clare
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went from quiet town to headline news
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despite this notoriety the Doerty Hotel
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endured it became a landmark and remains
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a symbol of the town's layered history
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part progress part scandal part
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perseverance the same can be said of the
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rest of Clare main street was paved new
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businesses moved in cars replaced
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carriages and families kept showing up
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working shopping building lives today
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Clare is known for its strong community
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its historical downtown district and a
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sense of place that runs deeper than its
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population suggests the photos from that
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era parades storefrs flooded streets and
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smiling children tell a story that's
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this has been Michigan Moments offering
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bite-sized morsels of Michigan history
