Time Line - 1913

Last Year | Next Year

• January 31: Governor Ferris of Michigan has been quoted in the newspapers as urging the state to take over ownership of the Pere Marquette. "My legal knowledge on the subject of state ownership of railroads is exceedingly meager," he said, according to reports. "But under certain conditions, it seems to me it would be wise for Michigan to own the Pere Marquette Railroad. This system, so called, forms a network throughout Michigan. If the state can legally take over this road, it would be a godsend to the people.  Further, Michigan could then furnish a practical illustration of public ownership. [RA-1/31/1913]

• March 4: Toledo, Ann Arbor and Jackson Railroad opens electric line from Toledo to Petersburg. [MRRC]

• March 13: J. Pierpont Morgan, a New York banker and member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Central dies in Rome, Italy. He is succeeded on the MC board by his son of the same name. [MCAR-1913]

• March 28: A special committee of the Michigan Legislature is appointed to investigate the financial history of the Pere Marquette. The committee holds sessions.  [RA-3/28/1913]

• April 4: The Pere Marquette announces at public hearings that the receivers plan the following improvements of the road:  Laying 25,000 tons of new rails; installation of automatic block signals; building of a new freight terminal at Grand Rapids; grade reductions west of Plymouth; building of double track Delray to Plymouth; and a new freight terminal at Porter, Indiana. [RA-4/4/1913]

• April 4: The ICC rules that the Ann Arbor Railroad must cease discriminatory rate practices for seasonal passenger fares to Hamburg, Michigan. The AARR has been charging less expensive rates for trips between Toledo and Whitmore Lake and Lakeland, which are summer resorts, while denying the low fare to Hamburg, Michigan, located between Whitmore Lake and Lakeland which also is a summer resort. [RA-4/4/1913]

• May 2: The state committee investigating the Pere Marquette concludes its report, saying that the 2 cent per mile limit set by the ICC on passenger revenue is insufficient for branch line operations. [RA-5/2/1913]

• July 22: Workers in the Copper districts of the Upper Peninsula initiate a strike that lasts until April 14, 1914.  An eight (8) hour workday is established. [DWS/MOD-6/1985]

• September 28: The Detroit and Huron Railway completes their line from Cass City to Bad Axe. [MRRC]

• September 29: Bay City Terminal Railway completes 1.25 mile line from Cincinnati, Saginaw & Mackinaw RR at Ionia and Chippewa Streets, Bay City, to east shore of Saginaw River at 7th Street)  (GTW). [MRRC]

• November: The Copper Range builds an extension of their line south from Painesdale to the main line, just over three miles. This resulted in a new route for through traffic between Mill-Mine Jct. to a point known as Milepost 30. The main line now ran through South Range, Trimountain and Painesdale. (Previous to this, these three towns were on a branch line). [CRH]

• December 5: The ICC rules that car switching charges on the Michigan Central and Pere Marquette are adequate. The Commission rules that the Detroit Terminal Railroad may increase switching rates, not to exceed $4.50 per car for a switching movement between any two points on its line. [RA-12/5/1913]

• December 16: Michigan Central RR depot in Detroit is opened.  It is the tallest railroad terminal in the world at the time. [MDOT]

• December 26. Fire destroys the Michigan Central 3rd Street station, prompting early use of the new Michigan Central depot on Michigan Avenue. MC intended to use the new station on January 4 but while the fire was in progress the new facilities were put into operation without confusion or delay. The Detroit United Ry. promptly put into servicer its new loop which affords street car service to the new station. Damage to the old station was estimated at about $200,000. Many records and documents in the railroad office were destroyed. [Railway and Engineering Review-1914-0103]

• Pere Marquette RR ends rail service between Holland and Ottawa Beach. [PMHS]

• DSS&A removes line between Riddle Jct. and Michigan Mine, near Maas. [SSP]

• Pere Marquette RR completes roundhouse and coal dock in Port Huron. [PMHS]

• Michigan Central's Kinnear track pans are moved from Kinnear (east of Dexter) to Four Mile Lake, near Chelsea. [MHS]

• The Pere Marquette replaces an iron bridge across the Grand River two miles east of Ionia.  The new bridge has sandstone piers and steel girders. [I&L]

• The Grand Trunk  Western Port Gratiot "Block I" Car Shops, in Port Huron  are destroyed by fire in 1913. [CB]

• Michigan Central builds depots in Galien and Three Oaks.  Depots continue to exist as of 1974. [IT-12/1974]

• Grand Trunk builds new depots at Owendale, Washington and Bellevue. Depots continue to exist as of 1974. [IT-12/1974/MRP-I]

• Pere Marquette builds new depot at Port Huron. Depot continues to exist as of 1974. [IT-12/1974]

• A general railroad strike occurs during this year. [COHS-8/1997]

• Pere Marquette RR completes bascule bridge over Black River in Port Huron. [PMHS]

• A new  International Railroad Bridge is completed over the American locks at Sault Ste. Marie. The bridge was built by the Straus Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago. The bridge replaces the original bridge which was opened in 1887. [BOM] 

• The Michigan Central installs four interlockings for the Detroit Terminal Railroad. (Forest Lawn, North Yard, Ford Junction and Michigan Avenue?) [TSE-01/1914]

• The Menominee Range iron mines top the list of iron ore shippers in Michigan in 1913. These were dwarfed by the Mesabi range at 34 million tons. The Vermillion (1.5 million); Cuyuna 733,021 and Wisconsin 145,010 were lesser producers [DD-1914-0321]:

  • Menominee range - 4,965,604 tons
  • Gogebic range - 4,531,588 tons
  • Marquette range - 3,966,680 tons

 Time line Key:

• Railroad event in Michigan
• Event relating to mining
• Event related to car ferries
• Event outside of Michigan
• Improvement in Technology
• Railroad built or extended
• Railroad abandoned and/or removed
• Economic panic or depression