Starting in the 1870s, railroad were built connecting Northern Michigan to larger industrial areas to the south.
The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad reached Traverse City in December 1872 (via Walton Junction and Traverse City Rail Road Company) and reached Petoskey (known up to that point as "Bear River") in 1873.
The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad completed its terminal at Ludington in 1874.
While the Michigan Central Railroad reached Otsego County in the fall of 1872, rail investments slowed for several years due to the financial panic of 1873 and the ensuing five year economic slowdown.
Cheboygan and  Mackinaw City did not have rail service until the early 1880s.

Despite setbacks from the Great Michigan Fire in 1871 in Manistee and other lumbering ports, lumbering in Northern Michigan greatly increased.
New mechanical tools such as steam-powered (versus water-powered) sawmills and circular saws expanded the ability to process high volumes of lumber quickly.
Narrow-gauge moveable rails made it possible to harvest timber year round, in previously inaccessible places away from rivers.
The Michigan lumber market experienced a crash in July 1877 <refCabot, James L (1998-01-17). "
Lumberman Stanchfield left Ludington in 1883".
Ludington Daily News.
p. 8.
Retrieved 2019-08-10. [
he was] a sawmill owner until the lumber-market crash of 1877</ref> that coincided with the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
By 1880 the Great Lakes region would dominate logging, with Michigan producing more lumber than any other state.

The commercial fishing industry also flourished in the 1880s.
By 1881, the rich fishing areas around the Beaver Archipelago led to Beaver Island becoming the largest supplier of fresh-water fish in the United States.
By 1886, there was a drastic reduction in the amount of fishing produced, due to overfishing.
 In 1893, the Michigan Fish Commission commissioned the University of Nebraska Zoologist Henry Ward to study the sources of food for Traverse Bay area fish.

The passenger pigeon was hunted in Northern Michigan as a source of food, but by the 1870s, a combination of increased population and economic scarcity led to over-hunting and eventual extinction.
The massive flocks of passenger pigeons stopped darkening the skies of Northern Michigan, especially after the last large scale nestings and subsequent slaughters of millions of birds in 1874 and 1878.
By this time, large nestings only took place in the north, around the Great Lakes.
The last large nesting was in Petoskey, Michigan, in 1878 (following one in Pennsylvania a few days earlier), where 50,000 birds were killed each day for nearly five months.
The surviving adults attempted a second nesting at new sites, but were killed by professional hunters before they had a chance to raise any young.
Scattered nestings were reported into the 1880s, but the birds were now weary, and commonly abandoned their nests if persecuted.
Starting in the 1870s, railroad were built connecting Northern Michigan to larger industrial areas to the south. The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad reached Traverse City in December 1872 (via Walton Junction and Traverse City Rail Road Company) and reached Petoskey (known up to that point as "Bear River") in 1873. The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad completed its terminal at Ludington in 1874. While the Michigan Central Railroad reached Otsego County in the fall of 1872, rail investments slowed for several years due to the financial panic of 1873 and the ensuing five year economic slowdown. Cheboygan and  Mackinaw City did not have rail service until the early 1880s.
Despite setbacks from the Great Michigan Fire in 1871 in Manistee and other lumbering ports, lumbering in Northern Michigan greatly increased. New mechanical tools such as steam-powered (versus water-powered) sawmills and circular saws expanded the ability to process high volumes of lumber quickly. Narrow-gauge moveable rails made it possible to harvest timber year round, in previously inaccessible places away from rivers. The Michigan lumber market experienced a crash in July 1877 <refCabot, James L (1998-01-17). "Lumberman Stanchfield left Ludington in 1883". Ludington Daily News. p. 8. Retrieved 2019-08-10. [he was] a sawmill owner until the lumber-market crash of 1877</ref> that coincided with the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. By 1880 the Great Lakes region would dominate logging, with Michigan producing more lumber than any other state.
The commercial fishing industry also flourished in the 1880s. By 1881, the rich fishing areas around the Beaver Archipelago led to Beaver Island becoming the largest supplier of fresh-water fish in the United States. By 1886, there was a drastic reduction in the amount of fishing produced, due to overfishing.  In 1893, the Michigan Fish Commission commissioned the University of Nebraska Zoologist Henry Ward to study the sources of food for Traverse Bay area fish.
The passenger pigeon was hunted in Northern Michigan as a source of food, but by the 1870s, a combination of increased population and economic scarcity led to over-hunting and eventual extinction. The massive flocks of passenger pigeons stopped darkening the skies of Northern Michigan, especially after the last large scale nestings and subsequent slaughters of millions of birds in 1874 and 1878. By this time, large nestings only took place in the north, around the Great Lakes. The last large nesting was in Petoskey, Michigan, in 1878 (following one in Pennsylvania a few days earlier), where 50,000 birds were killed each day for nearly five months. The surviving adults attempted a second nesting at new sites, but were killed by professional hunters before they had a chance to raise any young. Scattered nestings were reported into the 1880s, but the birds were now weary, and commonly abandoned their nests if persecuted.
Northern Michigan