FLINT, MICHIGAN
As a territory, Michigan's interior was long isolated from the rest of the midwest by the Great Lakes, and developed more slowly.
While the land was fertile and the teeming wildlife attracted trappers for centuries, Michigan remained a backwater until the latter half of the 19th century. When the population exploded along the eastern seaboard and the settlement of the West began in earnest, the demand for lumber sharply rose.
Boasting some of the thickest virgin forest land in the nation, easily moved through the Great Lakes to the East Coast and Chicago, Michigan rapidly developed around the turn of the century.
