ABSTRACT
An understanding of Michigan's past economic development is an important framework for looking at the current nature of the state's economy. Four key industries have played major roles in Michigan's history and economic development—agriculture, lumbering, mining, and automobile manufacturing. Agriculture has always played an important role in the economy of Michigan, but the nature of its role has changed greatly since the early period of pioneer settlement. The key to Michigan's agriculture in the twentieth century has been specialization that utilizes the state's great diversity of soil, topography, and climate. By 1860, lumbering was second only to agriculture as the state's principal means of livelihood, and the industry created new towns, new railroads, new jobs, and new profits. Although nineteenth-century lumbering and mining activities somewhat altered the state's rural character, the automobile in the twentieth century was the chief catalyst in the transformation of Michigan from an agricultural to an industrial economy.
