Just in case you didn’t know, 906 is the only area code for the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In addition, 906 is the largest area code in Michigan.
On March 19th, 1961, area code 906 was created as a split from what was then area code 616. Currently, according to Wikipedia, the area code is not expected to be exhausted until 2042.
Since 2012, September 6 has been designated as 906 Day for its resemblance to the date 9/6. On 906 Day, Yoopers and Upper Peninsula fans alike, are encouraged to take a sauna, buy a pasty for a friend, play a game of cribbage, go for swim in Lake Superior or Lake Michigan, or pay for the person behind you at the Mackinac Bridge.
The Upper Peninsula is full of unique roadways offering scenic views. Some sections are straight as an arrow (lookin’ at you Seney Stretch), one is the longest state highway in Michigan, another is the only state highway in the United States not to allow cars (I’m sure you can guess which). It’s also said that Copper Harbor is the furthest place you can live from an Interstate in the continental United States, a distance of 251 miles from I-39 in Wisconsin. If you’re new to the Upper Peninsula, don’t be fooled, these are not multi-lane divided highways, most are entirely small, two-lane highways.
Do you ever wonder where all these awesome satellite images of the frozen Great Lakes come from and where to access them?
With Lake Superior and the Great Lakes set to reach record levels of ice cover this winter, there has been an abundance of satellite images passed around on news and social media sites. However, there hasn’t been much information on where these impressive images came from. Our curiosity piqued and we set out to do a little research.
Without doubt, across the Upper Peninsula today there are people talking about the legend of the St. Patrick’s Day snowstorm. Though sometimes a couple weeks early or late, many Yoopers insist that the St. Patrick’s Day snowstorm is an annual occurrence.
We looked to local weather expert, the Upper Peninsula’s favorite meteorologist, the one, the only, Karl Bohnak.
According to Karl Bohnak’s book, So Cold a Sky, the myth of a March 17th storm goes back to at least 1870. Unfortunately, National Weather Service records only go back to 1949. From So Cold a Sky …
Two wrongs may make a right, but two meteor_wrongs_ certainly don’t make a meteo_rite_.
And here’s why.
Well, first — let’s rewind.
To one day in 1889 when a six-year old boy named Peter Peterson (yes, this was actually his name) was helping his father clear rocks from a field near Iron River.
Things were proceeding as usual (I’m assuming) when little Peter noticed that one rock was much heavier than others of the same size. He showed the 3.13-pound whopper to his father who told him to toss it like the others.
Each day we check the web stats of U.P. Supply Co and what people have been Googling to bring traffic to the site. We thought we could make good use of this information by answering all of the “how” questions that have landed people on U.P. Supply Co. All of the questions below are verbatim searches people used on Google to land on U.P. Supply Co.
A month ago we posted a blog entry about Why Lake Superior Kicks Your Lake’s Butt, a look at several fun facts about the world’s greatest lake that the Upper Peninsula is so fortunate to share.
After posting the entry Dan left a comment asking about the difference in length between Michigan’s and Minnesota’s shoreline on Lake Superior. Thanks for asking, Dan!
The Mackinac Bridge has become a sort of personal symbol for me in recent years, representing how my heart is divided between my homeland of the U.P. and my current home in Grand Rapids. It seems I still have the same excitement crossing the bridge today as I did when I was a child. I grew up crossing the Mackinac Bridge for the occasional trip to lower Michigan or Indiana, but I also grew up watching Full House, a now guilty-pleasure TV show set in San Francisco, with an opening sequence that often made me wonder how great the Golden Gate really was when compared with the Mighty Mac.
The Upper Peninsula is so frequently left off maps that when our demonym, Yooper, shows up on Jeopardy, it’s a pretty big deal.
dem·o·nym : the name used for the people who live in a particular country, state, or other locality
Coincidentally, the definition example on dictionary.com mentions Michigander and Michiganian, but they don’t mention Yooper. Most demonyms are reserved for states and countries as a whole. Few demonyms exist for smaller defined regions like the Upper Peninsula. Outside of those states and countries it’s hard to find borders as defined as the Upper Peninsula. It’s one reason we’ve always celebrated Upper Peninsula’s silhouette. It’s unique, recognizable, and well, just straight UP awesome.
That’s what I was asked once while on my 50-state Hometown Invasion Tour. I don’t want to drop any names of who it was, but clearly someone a long ways away from the Great Lakes Region. This adult was someone who I saw as well educated, and I believe any U.S. citizen should be able to answer this question with ease. However, that’s easy to say for those who live only a few hundred yards off the shore of Lake Superior. Throughout my trip I was frequently educated people on the Great Lakes and wanted to share…
With over 8,100 episodes of Jeopardy aired to date we are happy to say that the term “Yooper” was used at least once in the 40 year plus history of the show.
The term “Yoopers” gained a little more recognition on November 26th, 2003.
It was the second round, Double Jeopardy, of the hit game show under the category of “Odd Words” when the answer appeared for $1,600.
Recently, while pondering possible material for the Yooper Steez blog, I found myself wondering what the oldest building in Michigan might be. I was pleased to discover through Google search that I had already stood inside the building holding this title during my latest trip to Mackinac Island. Built in 1780, the Officers’ Stone Quarters in Fort Mackinac is the oldest surviving building in Michigan.
For years people have debated what northern Michigan actually means. Simple asked, what point does Michigan become Northern Michgian? Entire clothing lines of t-shirts and hoodies have made thousands of dollars off the “Up North”. This language is more common Traverse City area, rather than the Upper Peninsula.
But we ask, where is Northern Michigan University? In Marquette, on the shores of Lake Superior, far north of Makinac Bridge. Despite this, you have to go 136 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge to find the southern most claim of where Michigan’s “North” begins.
Officials at Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary have spoken, the word Yooper will now appear in the dictionary. The news was announced on Monday, March 24, 2014. We owe a big thanks and about 67 pasties (call us Steve!) to Steve Parks of Gladstone. For ten years he has been campaigning to have Yooper added to the dictionary after a discussion that ensued while playing Yooper during a friendly game of Scrabble. Success! Steve will join a cast of people who have contributed to the history of the word Yooper.
The State of Michigan has seen 47 governors since 1837 when Michigan was admitted as the 26th state of the union. Of those 47 governors only one has been a Yooper.
Chase Osborn became the 27th Governor of Michigan in 1911 and to this day remains the only Michigan Governor from the Upper Peninsula.
Governor Osborn was born January 22, 1860 in Huntington County, Indiana. While in his 20s Osborn moved to Sault Ste Marie where he operated The Sault News and in 1889 became the postmaster of Sault Ste Marie.
Today, Google is featuring a Google Doodle paying tribute to the legendary graphic designer and filmmaker Saul Bass. What does Saul Bass have to do with the Upper Peninsula? One of his most famous title sequences (above) was for the film Anatomy of a Murder.
In addition to Anatomy of a Murder director Otto Preminger, Saul Bass also worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin Scorsese, just to name a few. In addition to his famous title sequences he created several iconic logos for Continental Airlines, United Way, Quaker Oats and AT&T.
Over two years ago I posted a blog about the origin and first use of the word Yooper. My source for the blog was Professor Richard W. Bailey from the University of Michigan who did a more extensive write-up on the history of Yooper. It cites a contest that was held August 5, 1979 by the Escanaba Daily Press. Brett Crawford of Bark River was credited with submitting Yooper.
This week across the Upper Peninsula it was rare to see a temperature below freezing. A lot of snow and ice melted this week and once again the ice fishing season will be coming to a close soon.
There aren’t many places in the United States where you’re driving along and see a frozen lake that’s full of ice shanties. It’s a rare thing that Yoopers take for granted a few months out of the year. It seems to be a favorite site among tourists and locals alike, to see the small villages of ice shanties.
The Upper Peninsula is no epicenter to skyscrapers and highrise buildings. When driving through Marquette or Houghton you’ll count just a few buildings that scratch the sky around 10-stories. But if you want to see the real deal, the omega of Upper Peninsula skyscrapers, make your way to Escananba to see the tallest building in the Upper Peninsula.
As you can see it’s perhaps not the prettiest building in the Upper Peninsula. It probably won’t be gracing the cover of architecture magazines anytime soon. But none of that matters. We’re here to celebrate the tallest building in the Upper Peninsula. And in the left corner, measuring in at 18 stories…. Hhhaaaaarrrbor Toowwwweerrrr.
Twenty-nine years ago today on August 5th, 1979 the Upper Peninsula’s identity changed forever. That date marks the earliest known publication of the word “Yooper”.
Contrary to popular belief, the term Yooper isn’t very old. Many people who recall going to college in the Upper Peninsula during the ’70s do not recall use of the word. However, there are others that argue the word was still in use earlier than 1979, but there is a lack of evidence to support this. By all means, if you know of additional evidence to support the first uses of the term Yooper, we would like to know.
A few weeks ago we posted a blog entry about Jeff Finger, and our knowledge of him being the only Yooper to play in the NHL. We stand corrected! Since the NHL season is coming to a close soon we wanted to give you another Upper Peninsula hockey update. Here are six more Yooper NHL players, old-timers from the 1920-60s. And please if you know of more, let us know. Thanks Paul, for the tip on these NHL Yooper alums.
Louis “Big Louie” Moilanen is a legend in the Upper Peninsula, a legend that transcends much more than just the Upper Peninsula.
Louis Moilanen was born at the turn of the century in 1900 and grew up in the ghost town of Boston, which is about five miles north of Hancock.
Though he was born to a 4-foot tall mother and a 5′ 9″ father, Louis Moilanen would grow to be 8′ 4″ and approximately 450 pounds. During his lifetime it was said that he was the tallest man in the world and become known as “Big Louie”.
Our friend Kevin, having spent time in Marquette years ago and being a generation older than me, has done a great job of informing us of what Marquette used to be. He’s mentioned a few things that have gone missing over the years and what he educated me about this afternoon was Bunny Bread.
Kevin told me about a sign that was once famous in Marquette… a sign for Bunny Bread. And apparently the sign was taken down several years ago (it outdates my young memory, I’m only 25). Kevin inspired me to do a little research and find out where the sign went to.
According to our poll result 62% of people prefer eating their pasty with ketchup. Personally I think this has been one of my favorite poll questions on Yooper Steez. If you’re new to our poll questions you can check out the poll archive.
As for myself, I prefer naked pasties, no condiments for me. I have nothing against ketchup or gravy, but my usual take is that condiments are one more step between deliciousness and my mouth. However, one person suggested sour cream, and I thought that does actually sound pretty good.
During her weekly radio address Governor Jennifer Granholm made this statement. I was planning to write up a small piece myself, but Governor Granholm already did a much better job than I could have. It’s incredible how many unique products come out of the Upper Peninsula.
This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
This weekend, basketball fans around Michigan and across the country will watch some of the nation’s best college players – including the Michigan State University men and women – continue their march to the NCAA Final Four championships. I think you’ll agree that at a time when the news of the nation’s credit crisis and rising unemployment rates is so painful, the fun and the frenzy of March Madness is a welcome diversion.
Rabe started one of the greatest public relations campaigns in history. And it is right here in the Upper Peninsula, at Lake Superior State University.**
During 1971 many people still believed that Lake Superior State University (LSSU) was a branch of Michigan Tech University (and is was, just a year earlier). In the world of advertising and public relations this is a major identity crisis.
One of Rabe’s first answers to this problem was the Unicorn Hunters. Along with a small group of other LSSU faculty they set out to achieve various things to garner up some publicity for the university such as, yes, snowman burning. And of course, to this day you can still buy a Unicorn Hunter’s License, and it’s available online.
Marquette continues to be published as one of the top cities to live in among different categories. Earlier this year we reported that Outdoor Life ranked Marquette the 7th best town in the U.S. for hunters and fishers. Not bad.
This time around it’s CNN Money, and they have ranked Marquette the #1 town in the country to save money with a short commute to work, school, or elsewhere in town.
After asking “What is your favorite month in the Upper Peninsula?” it turns out that two months are tied for the least favorite months in the Upper Peninsula: April and December.
We launched this poll several weeks ago (check out our latest poll) and it took a long time before anyone listed April as their favorite month.
It’s no surprise after the first half of April in 2008. We still have two weeks of April to go, and some U.P. towns have seen the biggest snowstorm of the year this month and several inches of snow since. Yoopers are teased with spring in April and the snow still looms around the corner. Everyone is anxious for spring, as we are right now.
Stephen King released his latest book, Duma Key, this past January. In addition to publishing another best-seller that topped the New York Times Bestseller List, there is another important note that every Yooper should be aware of.
On page 456 of the total 606 pages, Stephen King uses the word “Yooper”.
“Wireman was making crazy what’s-going-on gestures in front of my face. I turned away from him.
St. Patrick’s Day was only a couple days ago, so if easter seems a little early this year, you’re right. March 23rd, 2008 is the earliest Easter on the Gregorian calendar since 1913, and there won’t be another Easter this early in our entire lives. The next time Easter will be this early isn’t until the year 2160.
The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22nd, and if 2008 wasn’t a leap year it would have been one of those incredibly rare years. The last two Easters on March 22nd were the during the years 1761 and 1818 and won’t happen again until the year 2285.
