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Welcome to the official web site of the Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.!The Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc. (PMHS) was founded in 1995 as a means of collecting and disseminating information regarding the Pere Marquette Railroad. Our membership is made up of historians, former employees, modelers, and railfans. If you are interested in the PM, we encourage you to join. The Pere Marquette Railroad Company was formed in 1900 by the merger of numerous Michigan railroads, the most prominent of them being the Flint and Pere Marquette, the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western, and the Chicago and West Michigan. During its existence, it came under the control of several other railroads at one time or another, including the Baltimore and Ohio and the Erie. In the 1920s, it came under the control of Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen, two financiers from Cleveland who also controlled the Nickel Plate, the Erie, and the Chesapeake and Ohio. Over the years, the C&O gained more and more control over the PM, until on June 6, 1947 the PM was formally merged into the Chesapeake and Ohio. The Pere Marquette operated over trackage stretching from Buffalo, New York to Chicago, and from Bay View (Petoskey) Michigan to Toledo, Ohio, with trackage in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Ontario. In addition to its strictly rail operations, the PM also operated railway car ferries on the Detroit and St. Clair rivers, and a fleet of car ferries from Ludington across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee, Kewaunee and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Nearly all of the trackage CSX operates in Michigan today is former PM trackage. Please Note: The PMHS is unable to provide
information regarding specific PM employees,
as we do not possess any of the PM's employment records. News
August 28 SRI Event Changed to American Hobo Days - Since the July issue of PM Tracks was sent to the printer, the Steam Railroading Institute made the decision to replace the August 28 train show/sale we listed on page 5 with American Hobo Days. On the 28th, the Steam Railroading Institute's Owosso grounds will host a family-friendly event celebrating the hobo in American railroading history. Against a background of country and bluegrass music, the Institute will offer caboose rides, rides on its 7.5" gauge miniature railroad, and hobo stories from their own Hobo King and Hobo Queen. Hobo stew will be available on-site, as will chocolate and nut confectionary from a local producer. And, of course, you will be able to inspect Berkshire #1225 in the SRI's shop building, seeing the progress on her mandatory 15-year rebuild. The event will run from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Admission is $5.00 apiece for ages 4 and up.
PM Berkshire #1223 Open House Scheduled for August 19 - Once a year, during the annual Tri-Cities Historical Society Ice Cream Social, Pere Marquette Berkshire #1223 is open for cab visits. This year's event will be held on Thursday, August 19, from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm. Number 1223 is located in Jackson Park, between the Grand River and North Harbor Drive, at the foot of First Street, in Grand Haven, Michigan.
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Pere
Marquette Historical Society members receive six issues of PM
Tracks, the bimonthly PMHS newsletter, and two issues of Pere
Marquette Rails, the PMHS magazine, each year. Members also receive
notices of special projects, such as our
custom-run PM freight cars.
We hold an annual "get-together" for members and their immediate families each year at a town along the former-PM right-of-way. Plans for the 2010 Get-Together are being developed.
To join the Pere Marquette Historical Society, send a check or money order for $30.00 (Canadian residents $35.00 US) payable to the "Pere Marquette Historical Society" to:
| Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc. Membership Officer P.O. Box 422 Grand Haven, MI 49417-0422 |
A copy of our membership application form is available on this Web site.
The Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization incorporated in the State of Michigan and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service.
This site would not be possible without the gracious assistance of fellow PMHS members and numerous others who have contributed information and photographs for use on this site, most notably:
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And of course, no work on the PM would be complete without acknowledging the fine work of PMHS President Art Million, who is not only the pioneer PM historian, but has written most of the books and articles published about the PM over the past several decades. Art has also provided valuable background information (and error-correction!) for this site.
Use of this Web site and the materials contained within it is subject to
specific
terms and conditions.
| Do you have questions or comments
regarding this Web site? E-mail to  All original contents of this Web site are Copyright © 2010, John F. ("Fritz") Milhaupt, on behalf of the Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc., All Rights Reserved. |
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