A Shot of Downtown Port Huron

Just a shot of downtown Port Huron.  This was taken after lunch at one of the coney island restaurants there.

The first European settlement here was a French fort and trading post that was set up in 1686.  In 1814, the United States established Fort Gratiot near where the lighthouse currently is.  In 1857, Port Huron was incorporated and was growing rapidly.  There was a great fire in 1871 on the same day that fires engulfed Holland, Manistee and Chicago.  Port Huron was engulfed by another fire ten years later.

Given it's location, there is quite a bit of history in Port Huron but much of it is tied to the shipping industry of the Great Lakes.  At one side of the town, there is the train tunnel that connects the United States to Canada.  There used to be a ferry that ran from Port Huron to Sarnia.  In 1962, the Students for a Democratic Society created the Port Huron Manifesto.

Like so many Midwestern towns, Port Huron is trying to adjust to post-industrial life.