Inspiration for the Main Street of of New Zebedee, Michigan
The major business-lined route through downtown Marshall is Michigan Avenue (Marshall has no Main Street), which has a rather unique history in the state. Prior to the Interstate Highway System, US Highway 12 was the major thoroughfare from Chicago, Illinois westward to Detroit, Michigan. The old highway ran through various cities and towns where it was often known as Michigan Avenue; in the 1960s most of the highway was replaced by Interstate 94. Marshall originally identified this road as State Street, but Carver says the State of Michigan later required “all cities and towns on the route from Michigan Avenue in Detroit to Michigan Avenue in Chicago change their name of their main street to Michigan Avenue [Marshall; 15]. Marshall complied with the request in 1923.
"The town that Rose Rita and Lewis lived in was a small town, and the main street was only three blocks long. On it were drug stores and ten cent stores and clothing stores and restaurants and bars." [The Figure in the Shadows]
As featured in:The House With a Clock in Its Walls
The Figure in the Shadows
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