Wednesday marked 150 years since Ludington officially became a city.
Ludington was officially incorporated as a city on March 22, 1873 and the city is celebrating their sesquicentennial with events throughout the year.
“This is an exciting day. It’s a birthday party. We’re just truly looking forward to kicking off a full year of sesquicentennial celebratory type of events,” Ludington Mayor, Mark Barnett acknowledges.
Hundreds of locals gathered with past and present city officials at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Ludington Wednesday to kickoff the festivities and reflect on how far the city has come.
Ludington was able to grow to what it is today due to the sawmills in the area and the ease of access to Lake Michigan. Now, 150 years ago Mayor Barnett says he’s amazed to see how much it’s grown.
“The technology advancements, communication, transportation the fast pace that we live in. All of those things are really incredible to see how far we’ve come in the first 150 years,” Barnett admits.
Wednesday’s celebration included speeches from the Mayor and the President of the Mason County Historical Society, James Jensen. They even received a video of recognition from Senator Gary Peters.
The president of the Mason County Historical Society, James Jensen, says he’s amazed to see how far the city’s come and is looking forward to 150 more years.
“This is a very resilient community. It basically burned to the ground in 1881 and we came back. It has changed completely in terms of our economic base, but that strength and that resiliency is still here and I suspect it will be here 150 years from now,” Jensen says.
The city is hosting another event during Love Ludington Weekend starting June 9 to give both residents and tourists a chance to celebrate the city’s sesquicentennial.
