Ludington, Michigan

Encyclopedia : L : LU : LUD : Ludington, Michigan

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 ⁶.

Ludington is a harbor located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River. Many people come to Ludington in the summer for recreation, including boating and swimming on Lake Michigan and inland lakes as well as hunting, fishing and camping. Nearby are Ludington State Park, Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area and Manistee National Forest. It's also the home port of the SS Badger, with service across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. In June, the city hosts one of the largest Gus Macker basketball tournaments. As a result of its many attractions (based on AAA's 2005 TripTik® requests), Ludington is the fifth most popular tourist city in the state of Michigan behind Mackinaw City, Traverse City, Muskegon, and Sault Ste. Marie.[link]

Contents

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Industry
5 Retail
6 Restaurants
7 External links

History

Ludington Lighthouse

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

In 1845, Burr Casswell moved to the area near the mouth of the Pere Marquette River as a location for trapping and fishing. In July of 1847 he brought his family to live there as well and began a small community known as Pere Marquette village. 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 later named after the industrialist James Ludington who owned some of the logging operations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and also lived here. The area boom in the late 1800s 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 1897, the Pere Marquette Railroad constructed a fleet of ferries to continue the rail cargo across the 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 to, 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.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.6 km² (3.7 mi²). 8.7 km² (3.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (8.94%) is water.

The 2 main area highways are U.S. Highway 10, which has its western terminus in town, and U.S. Highway 31, which is a freeway to the south of an intersection with US-10 east of Ludington. US 31 and US 10 run concurrently for about 5 miles (8 km) east of Ludington, before US 31 continues north again just outside of Scottville, Michigan.

The Ludington North Breakwall Light is at the end of the north pierhead on Lake Michigan.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 8,357 people, 3,690 households, and 2,166 families residing in the city. The population density was 957.5/km² (2,482.2/mi²). There were 4,227 housing units at an average density of 484.3/km² (1,255.5/mi²). 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 the Dow Chemical Company which manufactures calcium chloride products, Great Lakes Castings Corporation, Amptech, Inc., and Carrom Company among others.

Retail

The US 10/31 corridor between Ludington and Scottville is the home to such retail centers as Wal-Mart and Meijer, as well as a Dollar General and a Family Dollar. It is also home of a Tractor Supply Company, Home Depot and will be the home to a new Lowe's home center current under constructions as of May 2006.

Restaurants

Several sit down and fast food chains are located in Ludington as well. Located in the US 10/31 corridor is a Big Boy restaurant, Ponderosa Steakhouse, and Applebees Neighborhood Grill and Bar. Ludington is also home to two Subway restaurants, a Dairy Queen, a KFC, a McDonald's, a Burger King, a Wendy's and a Taco Bell. Several pizza places are located in Ludington including Pizza Hut, Hungry Howie's, Little Caesars, Mancino's Pizza and Grinders and Chuck Wagon Pizza.

External links

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