Digital+Storytelling

media type="custom" key="23563804" My digital story

I am starting this story at our school, Glen Lake and we are venturing out to beautiful Empire! We are so lucky to live on the Lake Shore, and take field trips there to learn about its history. You know Empire’s shoreline for its wonderful beach, and playgroud! I am sure you have hiked it with your family, or have had a beach day there during the summer. I am going to take you back into time and show you what Empire’s shoreline was like in the late 1800’s. So sit back and relax and put on your traveling hat we are going back into time! This is a picture of what Empire looked when it was a Lumber town. It had a railroad that crossed South Bar Lake! The railroad helped get the lumber acrossed from inland to Lake Michigan so they could ship it. Do you recognize Modern South Bar Lake? This is the lake where you can jump off the dock in the summer time! Obviously, there isn’t a railroad going across it anymore! Can you imagine having a lumber mill right on Empire beach? The T. Wilce Lumber company was started in December 1887 to provide hardwood for their company in Chicago, which is on the other side of Lake Michigan. In 1890 this mill was one of the largest hardwood mills in the state. Unfortunately, the mill burnt down in 1917 ending lumbering in Empire.

Now we are traveling in time to 1940 when driving on the sand dunes was a popular family activity. Before 1978 you could climb the dunes in a buggy. Started in 1935 by Louis C. Warnes, who developed specially adapted cars he called "Dunes-mobiles" and gave people rides all over the Sleeping Bear Dunes for over 40 years, until motor vehicles were stopped from using the dunes. When the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore was established in 1970, the park service started protecting our beautiful land. That meant no more buggies, but they created wonderful trails to explore. We are so lucky that we call this place home, and have amazing land that is protected for all to see! I hope you enjoyed your historical field trip to beautiful Leelanau County and learned a little bit about its history!

All pictures were captured by me and the Empire Museum with pleasure allowed me to use photos taken there to share the information in an iMovie for this class and my students!

** DigitalStorytellingStoryBoard **


 * Picture of Empire Beach ||   ||  Picture of playground  ||   ||  Picture of lumber mill  ||
 * Make local connections ||^   ||  Talk about what the area is like now  ||^   ||  Time travel back and discuss what Empire used to look like  ||


 * Picture of the Empire now to compare ||   ||  Dune-mobile pictures  ||   ||  National Lakeshore pictures  ||
 * Take picture of the same location to see the difference and make connections. ||^   ||  Talk about the history of the dunes-mobiles and how it was a big part of the area  ||^   ||  End with establishment of National Lake Shore and importance of preserving our community.  ||