Manistee, Michigan

The city of Manistee occupies 3.2 square miles in northern Michigan, located at the mouth of the Manistee River on Lake Michigan. Home to more than 6,500 people, Manistee serves as the seat of Manistee County. Manistee Township is located to the northeast of the city, but is politically separate.

The village of Manistee was one of approximately fifteen Ottawa villages nestled along the shore of Lake Michigan in 1830. Much of the Manistee River Valley, including Manistee itself, was an Ottawa Reservation from 1836-1848. The first permanent Euro-American settlement occurred in 1841, when the Stronach brothers arrived at the mouth of the Manistee River in a schooner loaded with fifteen men and equipment to establish a saw mill. Manistee soon boasted a booming logging industry. By 1885, there were forty sawmills operating and by the end of the century, the city’s population reached over 14,000. During this 1880s lumber boom, Manistee had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the country. Additionally, during the 1800s, Manistee was one of the leading shingle manufacturing cities in the world with over 30 shingle mills on the Manistee River at one time; and with the discovery of salt in the city, another industry was born. Today, Manistee is the site of three prominent factories on Lake Manistee: Packaging Corporation of America, Morton Salt, and Martin Marietta. The city is also notable for tourism and fishing.

Manistee has a lengthy history of manufacturing in fields known for their use of asbestos-containing materials, placing it in a high risk category for asbestos exposure. Workers and loved ones who have been exposed to asbestos may be at risk for malignant mesothelioma. Additionally, mesothelioma lawyers may be able to give guidance if you were exposed to asbestos in Manistee and then diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Jobsites in Manistee where Asbestos Exposure Occurred

A number of jobsites in Manistee, MI have been identified as harboring asbestos containing materials. These sites, at one point in their history, were known to have exposed a variety of tradesmen to asbestos. We will be documenting in more detail how asbestos exposure occurred at these sites in the future on this web site.