In 1840, the Michigan State Legislature named the county Kaykakee after a Sauk Indian Chief. In 1843, an Irish surveyor renamed it “Clare” after his native County Clare in Ireland.
Established during Michigan’s lumbering era, Clare County was home to the first successful logging railroad, the Lake George & Muskegon Railroad. This line revolutionized the logging industry. The presence of timber, the Muskegon and Tobacco Rivers, abundant land, and the railroad led to prosperity, and the area has thrived since. Historically, the railroad was a lifeline for Clare County’s rural communities, transporting lumber, goods and supplies, and transporting passengers to various points in the state. Restoration of the depot in Clare, one of the few remaining of its kind, is currently taking place so the community can continue to preserve its storied past.
The Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in mid-1935. The nation was in an economic depression; millions were unemployed. The WPA’s mission was to take 3.5 million people off relief and put them to work. Within a year, some 5,000 artists were tasked with creating works of art across the country. Clare’s Middle School auditorium was the recipient of one such mural by Grand Rapids artist, Gerald Mast. The mural lives on today, a national treasure in our own community, located at 209 E. State Street, Clare, Michigan. If you are interested in arranging a tour of this mural, please call (989) 386-9979 to schedule a visit.
The Clare Post Office on Fifth St. in downtown Clare is the site of another famed WPA mural. Visitors can view the art during regular postal business hours.
Last but not least, the historic Doherty Hotel in downtown Clare also features fabulous depression era murals by artist, Jay McHugh.
The Purple Gang was a notorious group of mostly young Jewish men who controlled a large portion of Michigan, from U.S. 31 to the state’s eastern border. The most infamous event at the Doherty Hotel occurred on May 14, 1938, when Central Michigan oil promoter Carl Jack Livingston shot and killed Isaiah Leebove in the hotel’s Tap Room. Mr. Leebove was an attorney with ties to the Purple Gang. The home he built is located just north of downtown Clare.