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 AlmaHome of Alma College, the Michigan Masonic Home, and the annual Highland Festival held each Memorial Day weekend, Alma is linked to nearby Saint Louis by the Pine River, M-46, and Michigan Avenue, and separated from it by the U.S.-27 expressway that runs between the two.Now larger than its nearest neighbor city and boasting a diverse and prosperous business community along Superior Street downtown as well as Wright Avenue which connects the downtown area with the major highways, Alma keeps a lively pace. The Wright Place Dream Park, a community-built Playscape in downtown Wright Park, affords a creative outlet for youthful energy. Industry includes oil refining, manufacture of pontoon boats, and machine shops. Alma College is noted for its excellent fine and performing arts programs as well as the ranks of bagpipers that fill its athletic field when Highland clans and lovers of Scottish lore converge on the city each May. Source: InfoMI.com Gratiot CountyGratiot County encompasses the geographical center of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.With a total population of 39,982 persons according to the 1990 census, it boasts a variety of businesses and industries built on a strong agricultural base. Broad expanses of level terrain produce crops of sugar beets, corn, and other grains and beans; gently rolling pastures support beef and dairy cattle. Petroleum products from the Alma refinery fuel transportation and lubricate the machinery of industry and agriculture. Settled in the mid-1800's, Gratiot County was named for General Charles Gratiot and established its county seat at Ithaca in 1856. The imposing courthouse on Center Street, built in the 1880's, has a majestic rotunda set off by ornate railings and interior woodwork. A Lutheran mission to the area Chippewa people, established in 1846 near St. Louis, was a forerunner of white settlement. Source: InfoMI.com Places of Interest |
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