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Old November 28th, 2012, 04:44 AM   #1
Jaybird
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Port Huron, Michigan

In October, I visited the city of Port Huron, Michigan on my way to Grand Rapids. Port Huron has a population of about 30,000 people and is situated across the St. Clair River from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Many people don't see the city's handsome downtown or riverfront as they usually go for the big box stores and shopping on the city's outskirts, particularly on the city's north side. I walked a total of about 5-6 miles to downtown and back from the Fairfield Inn.

Fairfield Inn, located on Water Street, just off Interstate 69/94.


Walking through typical Port Huron neighbourhoods










Commercial block on Lapeer Avenue, just west of downtown...




Port Huron Federal Building and Courthouse, downtown's signature building...




Talmer Bank Building...


AT&T Building...


Michigan National Bank building


Commercial blocks downtown on Military Street


Times-Herald, the city's newspaper


The historic Harrington Inn, built in 1896








Huron Theatre




Old Savings Bank


Drawbridge near the waterfront...


Marina...










Port Huron Maritime Center


Looking across at the skyline of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada (Population 75,000)




Oil Refineries in Sarnia's skyline


Sarnia Grain Elevator








More commercial blocks downtown...


Looking north towards downtown on Huron Avenue...












Sperry's Building








































McMorran Place, the city's entertainment complex


McMorran Place Arena and Auditorium, home of the Port Huron Fighting Falcons of the NAHL.




Entrance to the St. Clair Community College


St. Clair County Community College Main Building, formerly the Port Huron High School.






Grounds of St. Clair Community College


Science Building


One of Port Huron's "highrises", only 6 storeys.


St. Clair County Administrative Building...


Port Huron Municipal Office Center


First glimpse of the Blue Water Bridge, connects Port Huron to Sarnia, Ontario across the St. Clair River and the south end of Lake Huron.


Sarnia, Ontario once more...


Sarnia waterfront walkway...






Residential neighbourhoods near the St. Clair River...












Pine Grove Park










Blue Water Bridge...








Port Huron Lightship Museum


Jefferson Sheldon House














Port Huron Hospital...










Ladies of the Maccabees Building, built in 1906











Hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks for viewing!
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I'm a kind of person feeling like living back in the 1950s, one who favors and enjoys the Golden-age, rust-belt cities of Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, and the Gothic skylines of New York and Philadelphia. In my eye, they have more character, soul, and history to be pictured than today's world-class, cosmopolitan, and sprawling cities.

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Old November 29th, 2012, 12:14 AM   #2
Paule
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I enjoyed it, thanks!
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Old December 1st, 2012, 04:57 PM   #3
testdrive
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I am surprised at how good it looks. Funny, I grew up in Detroit and I can't honestly remember ever visiting Port Huron. Thanks....your feet must have hurt after that ha..
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Old December 1st, 2012, 05:17 PM   #4
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Nice pictures!

Port Huron definitely has a hometown feel to it!
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Old December 3rd, 2012, 04:56 AM   #5
xzmattzx
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Nice pictures! Did you really walk 6 miles each way? That must've been a little long.
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Old December 4th, 2012, 07:26 AM   #6
Jennifat
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Another great photo tour, Jaybird. This town has an impressive amount of beautiful architecture from every era, and an interesting waterfront, too.

One would think that such a seemingly historic and scenic town would be teeming with Detroit daytrippers in the tourist season. Is this a popular place in the summer?
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Old December 4th, 2012, 04:37 PM   #7
hudkina
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennifat View Post
Another great photo tour, Jaybird. This town has an impressive amount of beautiful architecture from every era, and an interesting waterfront, too.

One would think that such a seemingly historic and scenic town would be teeming with Detroit daytrippers in the tourist season. Is this a popular place in the summer?
Port Huron gets a lot of tourists from Canada, though they're more of the "shopping at Best Buy in the suburbs" sort of tourists.

Port Huron doesn't get too many daytrippers from Detroit, though a lot of people pass through on their way up into the more touristy spots in the Thumb region (Lexington, Harbor Beach, etc.) Granted, the annual Port Huron to Mackinac Island race draws a large crowd.

Port Huron is a nice town, and the photos Jaybird showed we're nice, but it's more of a working-class town. In Michigan the Lake Huron side is more industrial/working-class and the Lake Michigan side is more touristy.
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Old December 5th, 2012, 01:21 AM   #8
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I love this city! Port Huron is doing a good job becoming a tourism town, and I've seen great progress in its downtown. While I agree a good chunk of the tourists are Canadians, I've also run into people from Detroit and Toledo.

One thing Port Huron has that pretty much trumps other shipping ports is the close-up access to the freighters. They get really close to the edge of that river! The water is gorgeous too. The St. Clair River looks tropical in the summer. This is also a place where the American side is much better than the Canadian side, hence its attraction for people from Ontario. Port Huron was one of the early boomers on the Great Lakes, so it has a lot of historic stock. Sarnia is much more modern/urban renewal.

Michigan's Lake Huron shore is more industrial than the Lake Michigan side, but the tourism industry is growing. I was really impressed with Port Austin. That's a gorgeous area of the thumb with great beaches and parks. I think the area from Port Huron to Port Austin has a lot of potential.

Last edited by Pilliod Njaim; December 5th, 2012 at 01:31 AM.
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Old December 5th, 2012, 03:10 AM   #9
Jaybird
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Thanks, everyone for the comments! Yeah I was quite surprised in how charming downtown Port Huron actually is. It's too bad most Canadians, like myself, never get a chance to see the real city up close and personal. Most of us instead drive north of the Bluewater Bridge to get deals cross-border shopping or go to Cracker Barrel for some delicious cooking.

Port Huron's got a great waterfront, looking across to a bigger city skyline (Sarnia), but yes, in response to hudkina's comment, yes, Port Huron is somewhat more of a blue-collar town, but maintains a small-town feel quite well.
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I'm a kind of person feeling like living back in the 1950s, one who favors and enjoys the Golden-age, rust-belt cities of Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, and the Gothic skylines of New York and Philadelphia. In my eye, they have more character, soul, and history to be pictured than today's world-class, cosmopolitan, and sprawling cities.

Jaybird's ZENFOLIO Photo Galleries

Jaybird's PBASE Photo Galleries
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Old December 10th, 2012, 02:07 AM   #10
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great pics! I especially love the Harrington Inn, Old Savings Bank, and the building on the corner of Military street
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Old December 28th, 2012, 03:24 PM   #11
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The first, and definitely the best, set of photos I've seen of Port Huron on skyscapercity. Great to see!
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