Cadillac Area Chamber of Commerce

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In 1872, with the G.R. & I. Railroad reaching this northern settlement, George A. Mitchell founded and was also elected the first mayor of Cadillac, originally known as Clam Lake. Cadillac was incorporated as a city in 1877, taking its name from Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, an early Michigan explorer and founder of Detroit. Four main families helped settle Cadillac. Streets, buildings and landmarks include the Mitchell, Cummer, Diggins and Cobb family names. The original plan for Cadillac included a county courthouse, which set off a multiple decade fight with Sherman for the county seat. That altercation resulted in politics at its worst and several townships being created. Sherman, near Mesick, was the first county seat. Manton briefly held the honor, but in 1882, after a long and bitter political struggle, Cadillac was permanently chosen. During 1873, the canal connecting Big and Little Clam Lakes was completed by the lumber mills on land donated by George Mitchell. The canal was roughly 20 feet wide by .3 miles long and allowed logs to be floated from shores of Big Clam Lake to the railroad lines in this thriving lumbering community. Widening and dredging of the canal was done in 1877, 1886, 1894, 1896, 1900, 1965 and in 1996. In March 1989, the Michigan Historical Commission, because of its significance to Cadillac's development, declared the canal a state historic landmark...

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