Kalkaska, Michigan
Encyclopedia
Kalkaska is a village in the U.S. state
of Michigan
. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 2,226. It is the county seat
of Kalkaska County
.
, the village has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), of which, 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (0.79%) is water.
The village is situated on an expansive plauteau along with much of Northern Michigan. The Boardman River
runs through the village. The primary geography of the north and east of the village proper is flat with gentle hills, with a large amount of farmland. To the south and east, it is noticeably more steep in elevation, along with a larger amount of water present in the form of streams and lakes.
The primary constructors of Kalkaska's geographical make-up are ancient glaciers, along with the majority of the entire state of Michigan
. Glaciers scoured the surface of Michigan
back during the Ice Age
, creating small hills called doldrums
, along with valleys and basins and the water that currently occupies them. This process is called glaciation.
Kalkaska experiences a notable amount of snowfall as it is located in a snowbelt
that receives heavy amounts of lake effect snow
from Lake Michigan
.
Kalkaska is considered to be part of Northern Michigan
.
of 2000, there were 2,226 people, 881 households, and 540 families residing in the village. The population density
was 890.7 per square mile (343.8/km²). There were 969 housing units at an average density of 387.7 per square mile (149.7/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.32% White, 0.67% African American, 1.03% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.04% from other races
, and 1.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.94% of the population.
There were 881 households out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were married couples
living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the village the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $27,891, and the median income for a family was $33,651. Males had a median income of $26,901 versus $19,333 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $13,028. About 15.3% of families and 16.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.7% of those under age 18 and 19.4% of those age 65 or over.
ted in 1873 by A. A. Abbott and R. L. Thompson, who owned a sawmill, and who correctly anticipated the arrival of the railroad.
On July 5, 1908, a fire began in the middle of the business block and burned most of the stores. Local photographer E. L. Beebe made a number of photographs of the fire, and the resulting postcards were widely sold, and can still be found today. Two years later, in 1910 another fire started in downtown Kalkaska. Again, in 1925 downtown Kalkaska was devastated by the largest fire since the Fire of 1908.
In 1916, the noted author Ernest Hemingway
visited and fished in Kalkaska, and later immortalized the town in his story "The Battler". A historical marker has been placed at the Rugg Pond Dam, on the Rapid River
, where Hemingway reportedly fished one night from the power house.
On July 10, 1951, the Kalkaska State Bank was robbed by an armed man, who fled and later attempted to escape on foot through a nearby swampy area. After three days of what was termed the largest manhunt in Northern Michigan
history, involving the FBI and local and state authorities, the gunman was captured south of the town. Named Raymond J. Turcotte, he had a long string of prior convictions, including manslaughter. Turcotte confessed to the bank robbery and served 18 years in the Michigan State Prison at Jackson
, Michigan
including a term for escape in 1961.
Discovery of natural gas and oil in the area during the 1970s lead to significant growth for the village; however, the growth has since subsided.
In 1993, the Kalkaska schools made national headlines when a financial crisis resulted in a two month-long closure. Subsequent funding reform improved the outlook for Kalkaska and similar small rural districts in Michigan.
at the end of April, and the WinterFest which is held in January.
The first weekend of November brings with it the Iceman Cometh biking challenge. Kalkaska hosts the starting line for a 27.2 mile off-road biking race that runs from the heart of the village to Traverse City along the VASA Trail. The turnout for the race very easily doubles the population within the village, numbering in the several of thousands. For mountain biking enthusiasts, this is a famous race, and completing the race is an achievement in itself.
In addition the village has several parks, including the newly expanded KART trail which is planned to be connected with the TART Trail
.
, an American Tier III Junior B ice hockey league/
Fisherman are attracted to Kalkaska by the many lakes and the Boardman
, Rapid
, and Manistee
Rivers. Kalkaska has held the National Trout Festival in the last week of April each year since 1933. There is a giant statue of a brook trout in the town square. New York Times featured author Jim Harrison wrote about the Trout Festival in his book Just Before Dark: Collected Non-fiction, Clark City Press, 1991, ISBN 0-944439-33-0.
, the Seventh Edition (Pearson International Edition). ISBN 9780321549402, ISBN 0-321-54940-6.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 2,226. It is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Kalkaska County
Kalkaska County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 16,571 people, 6,428 households, and 4,634 families residing in the county. The population density was 30 people per square mile . There were 10,822 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile...
.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), of which, 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (0.79%) is water.
The village is situated on an expansive plauteau along with much of Northern Michigan. The Boardman River
Boardman River
The Boardman River flows into the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City, Michigan. The Boardman's upper tributaries rise near Kalkaska, Michigan, and its watershed drains an area of through of river and tributaries. The Boardman River is considered one of the top ten trout streams in...
runs through the village. The primary geography of the north and east of the village proper is flat with gentle hills, with a large amount of farmland. To the south and east, it is noticeably more steep in elevation, along with a larger amount of water present in the form of streams and lakes.
The primary constructors of Kalkaska's geographical make-up are ancient glaciers, along with the majority of the entire state of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Glaciers scoured the surface of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
back during the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, creating small hills called doldrums
Doldrums
The doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage for those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm...
, along with valleys and basins and the water that currently occupies them. This process is called glaciation.
Kalkaska experiences a notable amount of snowfall as it is located in a snowbelt
Snowbelt
Snowbelt is a term describing of a number of regions near the Great Lakes in North America where heavy snowfall in the form of lake-effect snow is particularly common. Snowbelts are typically found downwind of the lakes, principally off the eastern and southern shores...
that receives heavy amounts of lake effect snow
Lake effect snow
Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when cold winds move across long expanses of warmer lake water, providing energy and picking up water vapor which freezes and is deposited on the leeward shores...
from Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
.
Kalkaska is considered to be part of Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan , is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan...
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 2,226 people, 881 households, and 540 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 890.7 per square mile (343.8/km²). There were 969 housing units at an average density of 387.7 per square mile (149.7/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.32% White, 0.67% African American, 1.03% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.04% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.94% of the population.
There were 881 households out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the village the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $27,891, and the median income for a family was $33,651. Males had a median income of $26,901 versus $19,333 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $13,028. About 15.3% of families and 16.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.7% of those under age 18 and 19.4% of those age 65 or over.
Major highways
US-131U.S. Route 131US Highway 131 is a north–south United States Highway, of which all but 0.67 miles of its 266.82 miles are within the state of Michigan. The highway starts in rural Indiana south of the state line as a state road connection to the Indiana Toll Road...
M-66M-66 (Michigan highway)M-66 is a north–south state trunkline highway on the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It runs from the Indiana state line in the south to Charlevoix in the north. M-66 is the only state highway to traverse almost the entire north–south distance of the LP. It starts as a...
M-72M-72 (Michigan highway)M-72 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan, running from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan across the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. The highway connects M-22 in Empire with US Highway 23 in Harrisville. It is one of only three Michigan state trunklines that cross the Lower...
History
The town was platPlat
A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....
ted in 1873 by A. A. Abbott and R. L. Thompson, who owned a sawmill, and who correctly anticipated the arrival of the railroad.
On July 5, 1908, a fire began in the middle of the business block and burned most of the stores. Local photographer E. L. Beebe made a number of photographs of the fire, and the resulting postcards were widely sold, and can still be found today. Two years later, in 1910 another fire started in downtown Kalkaska. Again, in 1925 downtown Kalkaska was devastated by the largest fire since the Fire of 1908.
In 1916, the noted author Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
visited and fished in Kalkaska, and later immortalized the town in his story "The Battler". A historical marker has been placed at the Rugg Pond Dam, on the Rapid River
Rapid River (Kalkaska County, Michigan)
Rapid River is a river in Kalkaska County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river empties into Torch River at the community of Torch River just south of Torch Lake....
, where Hemingway reportedly fished one night from the power house.
On July 10, 1951, the Kalkaska State Bank was robbed by an armed man, who fled and later attempted to escape on foot through a nearby swampy area. After three days of what was termed the largest manhunt in Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan , is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan...
history, involving the FBI and local and state authorities, the gunman was captured south of the town. Named Raymond J. Turcotte, he had a long string of prior convictions, including manslaughter. Turcotte confessed to the bank robbery and served 18 years in the Michigan State Prison at Jackson
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
including a term for escape in 1961.
Discovery of natural gas and oil in the area during the 1970s lead to significant growth for the village; however, the growth has since subsided.
In 1993, the Kalkaska schools made national headlines when a financial crisis resulted in a two month-long closure. Subsequent funding reform improved the outlook for Kalkaska and similar small rural districts in Michigan.
Travel and Recreation
The many surrounding Lakes and streams lure travelers into the village. Kalkaska offers two major festivals, the National Trout FestivalNational Trout Festival
The National Trout Festival is an annual festival held in Kalkaska, Michigan to celebrate the opening of trout season. The 75th National Trout Festival will occur from April 27 to May 1, 2011.-External links:*...
at the end of April, and the WinterFest which is held in January.
The first weekend of November brings with it the Iceman Cometh biking challenge. Kalkaska hosts the starting line for a 27.2 mile off-road biking race that runs from the heart of the village to Traverse City along the VASA Trail. The turnout for the race very easily doubles the population within the village, numbering in the several of thousands. For mountain biking enthusiasts, this is a famous race, and completing the race is an achievement in itself.
In addition the village has several parks, including the newly expanded KART trail which is planned to be connected with the TART Trail
TART Trail
The Traverse Area Recreational Trail is a rail trail in Michigan.It is a paved, non-motorized recreational trail of in length that extends from the west side of Traverse City, Michigan to Acme, Michigan...
.
Sports
Kalkaska is home to the Junior Hockey Team, Kalkaska Roughnecks. They currently compete in the Great Lakes Junior Hockey LeagueGreat Lakes Junior Hockey League
The Great Lakes Junior Hockey League , an American Tier III Junior B ice hockey league. The league has 12 teams located in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern United States.-History:...
, an American Tier III Junior B ice hockey league/
Industry
Oil and gas, manufacturing, and tourism are important industries in the village and surrounding county.Fisherman are attracted to Kalkaska by the many lakes and the Boardman
Boardman River
The Boardman River flows into the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City, Michigan. The Boardman's upper tributaries rise near Kalkaska, Michigan, and its watershed drains an area of through of river and tributaries. The Boardman River is considered one of the top ten trout streams in...
, Rapid
Rapid River (Kalkaska County, Michigan)
Rapid River is a river in Kalkaska County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river empties into Torch River at the community of Torch River just south of Torch Lake....
, and Manistee
Manistee River
The Manistee River in the U.S. state of Michigan, runs approximately 232 miles through the northern Lower Peninsula, through the villages of Sharon, Smithville, Mesick, and enters Lake Michigan at Manistee. It is considered, like the nearby Au Sable River, to be one of the best trout fisheries east...
Rivers. Kalkaska has held the National Trout Festival in the last week of April each year since 1933. There is a giant statue of a brook trout in the town square. New York Times featured author Jim Harrison wrote about the Trout Festival in his book Just Before Dark: Collected Non-fiction, Clark City Press, 1991, ISBN 0-944439-33-0.
Famous residents
- Emil FriskEmil FriskJohn Emil Frisk was a pitcher and outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, and St. Louis Browns...
, Professional baseball player for the Cincinnati RedsCincinnati RedsThe Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
, Detroit TigersDetroit TigersThe Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
, and the St. Louis Browns from 1899 to 1907. - Ron WinterRon WinterRonald J. "Ron" Winter is an American football official in the National Football League . Winter previously served as a football official for the National Collegiate Athletic Association ....
, Former NCAA and current NFL official. - Mike 'Zeroe' Dombrowski, Professional wrestler and musician. (cocksmooch)
Trivia
A map of Kalkaska is featured on the cover of Problem Solving with C++ by Walter SavitchWalter Savitch
Walter John Savitch is best known for discovering the complexity class NL , and for Savitch's theorem which defines a relationship between the NSPACE and DSPACE complexity classes. His work in establishing complexity classes has helped to create the background against which non-deterministic and...
, the Seventh Edition (Pearson International Edition). ISBN 9780321549402, ISBN 0-321-54940-6.
Further reading
- Jobst, Jack. "Gone Fishin', " Michigan History Magazine, November/December 1995.
- Hemingway, E. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Simon and Schuster, 1998. ISBN 0-684-84332-3.