Ludington, Michigan

Ludington, Michigan
—  City  —
Location of Ludington, Michigan
Coordinates: 43°57′25″N 86°26′40″W
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Mason
Area
• Total	3.7 sq mi (9.6 km2)
• Land	3.4 sq mi (8.7 km2)
• Water	0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2)
Elevation	591 ft (180 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	8,357
• Density	2,482.2/sq mi (958.4/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	49431
Area code(s)	231
FIPS code	26-49640
GNIS feature ID	0631201

"The Clock Tower" Park.

Ludington is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,357. It is the county seat of Mason County.

Ludington is a harbor town located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River. Many people come to Ludington year round for recreation, including boating and swimming on Lake Michigan, Hamlin Lake, and other smaller inland lakes, as well as hunting, fishing, and camping. Nearby are Ludington State Park (which includes the Big Sable Point Light), Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness, and Manistee National Forest. Ludington is also the home port of the SS Badger, with daily service in the summer across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Watching the Badger come into port in the evening from the end of the north breakwall by the Ludington lighthouse is a favorite local pastime. In summer, the city hosts quite a few large events. Examples are one of the largest Gus Macker basketball tournaments (with 35,500 spectators), the Ludington Area Jaycees Freedom Festival (July 4), the Lakestride Half Marathon in June, and the West Shore Art League's Art Fair. As a result of its many attractions (based on AAA's 2005 TripTik requests), Ludington is the fifth-most-popular tourist city in Michigan, behind Mackinaw City, Traverse City, Muskegon, and Sault Ste. Marie.

History

Ludington Light

In 1675, Jacques Marquette, French missionary and explorer, died and was laid to rest here. A memorial and large iron cross mark the location.

In 1845, Burr Caswell moved to the area near the mouth of the Pere Marquette River as a location for trapping and fishing. In July 1847 when he brought his family to live there he became the first permanent resident of European ancestry. Two years later they built a two-story wood-framed house on their farm. After the organization of Mason County in 1855, the first floor of this building was converted into the county's first courthouse. Restored in 1976 by the Mason County Historical Society, the structure stands today as a part of White Pine Village, a museum consisting of several restored and replica Mason County buildings (see external links).

The town was originally named Pere Marquette, then later named after the industrialist James Ludington, whose logging operations the village built up around. Ludington was incorporated as a City in 1873, the same year that the County seat was moved from the Village of Lincoln to the City of Ludington. The area boom in the late 19th century was due to these sawmills and also the discovery of salt deposits.

By 1892, 162 million board feet (382,000 m³) of lumber and 52 million wood shingles had been produced by the Ludington sawmills. With all of this commerce occurring, Ludington became a major Great Lakes shipping port.

In 1875, the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad began cross lake shipping operations with the sidewheel steamer John Sherman. It became apparent quite early that the John Sherman was not large enough to handle the volume of freight and the F&PM Railroad contracted with the Goodrich Line of Steamers to handle the break bulk freight out of the Port of Ludington.

In 1897 the F&PM railroad constructed the first steel car ferry, the Pere Marquette. This was the beginning of the creation of a fleet of ferries to continue the rail cargo across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The fleet was also expanded to carry cars and passengers across the lake. By the mid-1950s, Ludington had become the largest car ferry port in the world. Unfortunately, due to disuse and declining industry, this fleet eventually dwindled. Currently only one carferry, the SS Badger, makes regular trips across the lake from Ludington, one of only two lake-crossing car ferries on Lake Michigan.

During the late 1910s and early 1920s, Ludington was the home of the Ludington Mariners minor league baseball team. A team of the same name currently plays "old time base ball" in historical reenactments of the original version of the game.

Geography

• According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.7 square miles (9.6 km²). Of that, 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) is land; 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²) of it (8.94%) is water.
• The Ludington North Breakwall Light is at the end of the north pierhead on Lake Michigan.
• Ludington is part of Northern Michigan.

Transportation

Two major routes serve the area along with a state trunkline highway and a minor business route.

	US-10 enters the city from the east, connecting with Clare, Midland and Bay City. It continues across Lake Michigan into Wisconsin via the SS Badger, providing carferry service to Manitowoc.
	US-31 is a freeway to the south of a junction with US-10 east of Ludington. US-31 and US-10 run concurrently for about 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Ludington before US-31 turns northerly again at Scottville.
	BUS US-31 is a section of the former US-31 along Pere Marquette Highway east of the city.
	M-116 is a spur route providing access to Ludington State Park, to the north of the city, from US-10 downtown.

In addition, U.S. Bicycle Route 20 is planned to run through Ludington.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,357 people, 3,690 households, and 2,166 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,482.2 per square mile (957.5/km²). There were 4,227 housing units at an average density of 1,255.5 per square mile (484.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.02% White, 0.97% African American, 0.92% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 1.06% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.15% of the population.

There were 3,690 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.2% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 84.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,089, and the median income for a family was $36,333. Males had a median income of $31,970 versus $22,809 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,215. About 12.9% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.7% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Industry

Just south of Ludington is the Ludington Pumped Storage Power Plant, which generates pumped storage hydroelectricity. In town, there are Whitehall Industries, A Division of SRS Industries LLC (aluminum extrusion and aluminum fabrication), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (manufacturer of calcium chloride products), Great Lakes Castings Corporation, Amptech, Inc., and Carrom Company. Ludington has had a construction boom in luxury condominiums since about 2000, especially around the marina, although few condo units have actually been sold and the condo projects overall have been viewed as a bust.

The Four Drive Tractor Company was founded in Ludington.

Media

Ludington is home to four radio stations and one newspaper. The original radio station was WKLA, which continues today with a talk radio format at 1450 AM. In the 1970s, WKLA-FM (Adult Contemporary) and WKZC-FM (Country, licensed to nearby Scottville) were added. In 1999, WMOM-FM (Top 40, licensed to Pentwater) signed on the air. The Ludington Daily News has been serving the Ludington area from its location on N. Rath Avenue since the 1880s. The Daily News website records over 4,000 visitors each day.

Retail

Ludington's downtown retail is focused on the city's tourism and includes clothing stores, art galleries, and jewelry stores.

Education

Elementary

• Franklin Elementary (Grades K-2)
• Pere Marquette Elementary (Preschool)
• Foster Elementary (Grades 3-5)
• Lakeview Elementary (Grades K-2)
• Ludington Area Catholic-LAC (Private, Grades K-8)

Junior/Senior high

• OJ DeJonge Middle School (Grades 6-8)
• Ludington High School (Grades 9-12, The Orioles)

Notable residents

• Burr Caswell - early settler and developer of Ludington area and Mason County
• Justus Smith Stearns - an American baron of industry, politician, and businessman.
• Antoine Ephrem Cartier - early settler and developer of Ludington
• Warren Antoine Cartier - early settler and developer of Ludington
• Jacques Marquette - 17th century French missionary who, on his way to St. Ignace, he was brought ashore near the present site of Ludington. A shrine in Ludington in the form of a cross marks that very spot where Father Marquette died.

Gallery

• 

  The Red Door Art Gallery

• 

  Maude's Garage Visitor Information Station

• 

  Old Hamlin Restaurant downtown

• 

  Harbor View Marina

• 

  Ludington Muncipal Marina

• 

  Bronze Statue at Harbor View Marina

• 

  Playground at Harbor View Marina

• 

  The Small Pavillion at Harbor View Marina

• 

  U.S. Coast Guard building

• 

  Lighthouse by Stearns Park in Ludington

See also

• Epworth Heights
• Justus Smith Stearns
• Ludington Public Library
• Ludington State Park
• Mason County Courthouse
• Mason County District Library
• Star Watch Case Company

External links

• City of Ludington
• Ludington Daily News
• Ludington Mural Society
• Ludington Area School District
• SS Badger site - The ferry to Wisconsin
• Slide show pictures of Ludington, Michigan
• Ludington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Mason County and Ludington Michigan Area History and Genealogy
• The Official Ludington and Scottville Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau