bellion of 1779 liberated the city from British rule and in 1783, Ste. Marie became part of the young United States.
On July 13, 1787, Ste. Marie became the capital and largest city of the Northwest Territory. Included in the Northwest Ordinance was the prohibition of slavery in the territory, liberating a total of 1,340 black slaves and bringing the total of free blacks in Ste. Marie to 2,472 of the total population of approximately 13,000.
19th century Edit
In 1812, the British captured nearby Fort Mackinac and occupied Ste. Marie. The Battle of Ste. Marie in 1814 was lost by the Americans, and to prevent an uprising in the city of 20,000; Ste. Marie was placed under martial law. The British retreated from the area months later in December 1814, and Ste. Marie was returned to American control on February 18, 1815.
On July 21, 1818 an earthquake with an intensity of M ~7.0 – 8.0 shook the city of Ste. Marie at around 2:15 a.m. The city which had been infamous for hastily, and often poorly built infrastructure experienced major damage. Fires were ignited by ruptured gas lines, which were particularly damaging in the poor, working class neighborhood south of the Place d'Buade. Approximately 27 aftershocks were recorded until the "Daylight Shock" was felt at 8:15 a.m., which was of the same intensity as the first. The earthquake of 1818 killed a recorded 498 individuals, but the toll may have been well over 750. 31,000 of the city's 33,445 were left without a habitable place to live.
Rebuilding and rebirth were rapid in the city's hardest hit districts and all elsewhere, due to a strong growth of industrial jobs. Germans, and later Irish immigrants passed through Mackinac Island in search of a better life. Segregation in Ste. Marie was based less on race than it was on money and social status. Many blacks from southern states sought freedom and opportunity in Ste. Marie in the years before the Civil War. In addition to blacks, white French Canadians began immigrating to the city after 1840; and by 1930 over 340,000 French Canadians had started a new life in Ste. Marie.
Ste. Marie served as the Union's farthest stronghold from the fighting in the south during the Civil War. The Mackinac Arsenal on Mackinac Island was one of the largest arsenals in the Union, which doubled as a large Union army prison camp during the war years. The Springfield Armory, the largest manufacturer of riles in the Union, employed thousands of workers during the Civil War. Due to Ste. Marie's importance during the war, the National Civil War was founded at 2061 Barrin Street in 1905.
20th century Edit
21st century Edit
Much of Detroit's population loss before 2010 relocated to Ste. Marie, where jobs were more plentiful and living standards were better. An earthquake in 2008 did little to slow population growth, and little signs remain of this earthquake.
2014 Waugoshance earthquake Edit
- Main article: 2014 Waugoshance earthquake
Increasing population Edit
Starting in the mid-2000s, Ste. Marie experience population growth due to several factors. Many residents who came to live in Ste. Marie after 2005 came to avoid rising poverty and closures of many manufacturing centers in Detroit. Ste. Marie also saw a rising job market, with a Chrysler facility opening in 2007. In 2000, Ste. Marie's population was 688,701, which rose to 702,513 in 2010.
After the 2014 earthquake, population, estimated by use of city services on December 27, had fallen to about 402,865, 56% of the October 19, 2014 population of 719,401. The Census Bureau has rejected the December 27 calculation as inconclusive, as many people have yet the chance to return to their homes and decide whether or not to rebuild.
Ste. Marie has been a center for music in the United States since the early 1920s when Swing and 1920s Jazz were developed in the city. A pioneer of Ste. Marie's music was Bix Beiderbecke, a Ste. Marie native of German ancestry who formed The Wolverines in various dancing halls in Central City. Jazz grew to become synonymous with Ste. Marie in the "Jazz Age" when America soug