Talk:The Thumb

Usage
I'm from Michigan, and I've NEVER heard it called this. "The Thumb" yes. Never thumb country. I went around and asked my fellow Michiganders, and they'd never heard of such a thing either. Neither has google. Refactoring to follow. Mackensen (talk) 23:08, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I'm from Michigan too, and I have often heard this terminology. Segelflugzeugwettbewerber 13:50, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

The two maps show conflicting information. The color map shows The Thumb as being a much larger area than the lower map does. Flint is in Genessee County, not the Huron/Sanilac/Tuscola tri-county area as described in the text. 141.211.48.195 21:27, 21 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The colored map looks nice, but it needs to be replaced. It makes multiple errors. Lansing is not in Southern Michigan, and the region south of the Thumb is Southeast Michigan.  Much of it (not all) is coextensive with Metro Detroit, but they are two separate concepts. Funnyhat 17:50, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

I have recentaly did a major update on the thumb page by adding more categories (compare to Northern Michigan). Please, help me out by adding more information to this page! If you are someone else who lives in this area, please make as many corrections as needed under the media heading.Cgord 04:38, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

I am suggesting to anyone who will be editing the the thumb to cut down on the bulletts. Sure, they look good, but the bulletts take away from the article, and the whole article should not be all bulletts.Cgord (talk) 02:49, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Which counties are in the thumb?
I'm from Huron county and I most often hear the thumb referred to as Huron, Tuscola, and Sanilac counties. However, Thumb Area Michigan Works includes Lapeer county as well. However, I have never seen or heard of Saint Clair county being included in the thumb. We need to find an authoritative source on this or reach a consensus on what to do about these two disputable counties. Bradkoch2007 21:47, 21 September 2007 (UTC)


 * In responce from the above, when I came across this page I thought the counties reffered to as the "thumb" were not streatching it one bit. In the physical aspect, St. Clair and Lapeer Counties pass the test for being thumb counties. Also, Bradkoch2007, St. Clair Community Collage has campuses in Sanliac and Huron Counties. There are many businesses in St. Clair County with "Thumb" in their title, and there are many businesses in St. Clair and Lapeer Counties that serve the thumb area.Also Many tourists come to St. Clair and Lapeer counties for the same reason they come to Huron, Tuscola, and Sanilac counties. If that's not enough, crops grown in St. Clair and Lapeer Counties are exactaly the same as the thumb. Sugarbeets, Corn, Navy Beans, Soy Beans and more. To me, Everything adds up to just one thing: Lapeer & St Clair Counties are in the Thumb! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cgord (talk • contribs) 23:15, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

I have revised the definition of the thumb counties to what I think is a more accurate definition after discussing this with citizens of counties from accross the thumb (including St. Clair & Lapeer). I believe the definition I have posted is as unbiased as possible and anyone who sees any way in which it can be made more so is welcome to change it. However, please explain any significant modifications here so that we can fully discuss anything that might come up.Bradkoch2007 00:57, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

The new definition for the thumb is great. I think well written to descripe the area, and I'm glad that we have came up with a compormise. Now, what about that map?... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cgord (talk • contribs) 01:01, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

I grew up in Sanilac county and if you ask most people who were born and raised in Huron, Tuscola and Sanilac counties what is the thumb area consist of and they will say that it is these 3 counties exclusive of others. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.19.25.89 (talk) 00:09, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

I grew up in St. Clair County, and we very definitely considered St. Clair and Lapeer counties part of the Thumb. Many businesses in those counties have Thumb in their name. When I lived in Huron County for a few years, people there told me that they did not consider me to be from the Thumb, but I responded that my high school was part of the Southern Thumb Athletic Conference. ProfessionalCommunicatorEducator 02:24, 30 March 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Professionaleducator (talk • contribs)

Although I'm originally from Macomb County, I had relatives in St. Clair. I don't know how most people think of it, but to me the Thumb signifies rural agricultural counties - not places like Port Huron or exurban Lapeer. I did web browsing and see at least two official-looking pages that narrow it to the three main rural agricultural counties: http://www.michigan-thumb.com/ and http://www.thumbtourism.org/. I agree with the people from Huron County - the Thumb is distinctive in NOT being part of the many urbanized areas of the Southern Lower Peninsula. Look at a map of population density, by county, for Michigan and you will see this - the three thumb counties are comparable to the northern lower peninsula counties (Clare and upward), and are lower than any of the other southern lower peninsula counties in their population density. I propose these patterns, and the two web sites, as stronger evidence than a mere "people say" statement. 136.181.195.29 (talk) 20:56, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

As for the person who claims that crops are the same between the thumb and adjacent counties, take a look at this site which shows that the named crops are standard products across Michigan's lower peninsula, not specific to the thumb. https://nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Michigan/Publications/County_Estimates/index.php 136.181.195.29 (talk) 21:07, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Roads
FWIW, I fixed up the road section, so they are complete with signs and proper links.

What it needs is a discussion of what each of the roads do. See, for example, the way I did it in Northern Michigan. The end of road links and a description would be helpful. The links and the basic descriptions are all now tied in to the road links.

I'm not trying to give out assignments, but if somebody is motivated it would be a great project to complete.

My spouse wants me to get back to earning a living.

Best to you all. 7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 02:16, 4 January 2008 (UTC)Stan


 * There seems to be confusion over M-25 and where it ends in Port Huron, Michigan. Refering to the St. Clair County, MI map, it shows M-25 starting at exit #266 on US I-94 near Marysville, Michigan. Other resources state that M-25 starts in downtown Port Huron. I'm form the Port Huron area, and the signage for M-25 starts up where M-29 merges into M-25 at the north end of Marysville. I would like a second opinion, so that corrections can be made.Cgord (talk) 16:41, 6 January 2008 (UTC)


 * FWIW, In the road section of the article (on M-25), I put in a link to the end point photographs. Of course, if you go to the M-25 page itself, they have the narrative.  I don't personally have an opinion on this.  Thanks for helping.7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 16:48, 6 January 2008 (UTC)Stan

The Thumb Area chart of large municipalities seems to be in the wrong spot
I think it looks funny at the end of the article, but I don't know how to move it. Anybody have any thoughts, methods etc.? 7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 02:58, 4 January 2008 (UTC)Stan

I created the large municipalities chart, intentionally to be put under economy, but when I saved the page it went to the bottom and I just left it there. I am also wondering if I could make the chart smaller, so it doesn't fill up the whole page.Cgord (talk) 16:33, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Local and Regional events
This article would benefit from having a listing 9with appropriate references and links to local and regional events. Help would be appreciated. See Northern Michigan for an example. 7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 18:37, 4 January 2008 (UTC)Stan

Alberger salt
I am actually not sure about the spelling on that. It is a unique product made by Cargill at St. Clair, Michigan plant. It is done from brine, and is run on machinery that is over 100 years old. It produces cupped crytals, not normally shaped sale crystals. I know from personal knowledge. In any event, anyone who wants to correct the spelling (could have a "u" in it) should feel free. 7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 00:10, 3 February 2008 (UTC) Stan

Deford, MI
I am noticing that the conflict with Deford, MI is making it's way into this article as well. As I am backing up my information with sources about Deford, MI having 1,611 residents for it's entire ZIP Code and nobody else seems to be able to back up their claim, they should not be allowed to make these claims that Deford, MI is somehow a "large city." If anybody else from the Thumb knows Deford, MI, please come to my aid with anything else that can refute what certain users on Wikipedia are trying to accomplish. Mrhercli89 (talk) 05:32, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

If I may, If deford was added to this page, it is completly wrong unless they are trying to gain recognition for the town as it seems to be the biggest community in the thumb (not bigger than any city or village but bigger than almost all unincorporated communities) DanRother (talk) 23:39, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I believe that is what was trying to be done here. I believe that certain users on Wikipedia believe Deford to be much larger than it is (like over 4,000 residents), which simply is not true. 1,611 happens to be the population of the ZIP Code of which Deford is a part of, which means that the actual hamlet of Deford would be smaller than that. Mrhercli89 (talk) 04:13, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Unreferenced section
This might be the beginning for some sources.

Hand map
When some-one from Michigan is asked where in Michigan s/he is from, unless it is the UP, Detroit and perhaps a few other well-known places, the usual response will be to hold up the right hand and point to some-place on the hand analogous to its location on the "mitt" of Michigan. I don't know if this is worth mentioning in an article and if so if this is the right article, nor how this would be documented unless it has been written about in some folklore journal. I'm just throwing it out for consideration. Kdammers (talk) 02:28, 30 November 2012 (UTC)!

I agree with the comment above. And some people hold their left hand, strategically placed, above their right hand to indicate the Upper Peninsula. The UP is a lot bigger than most people realize. ProfessionalCommunicatorEducator 02:33, 30 March 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Professionaleducator (talk • contribs)

Photos
The photo showing rolling farmland is not representative of farmland in the Thumb. The three northernmost counties are flat. St. Clair and Lapeer counties range between gently rolling and nearly level (soil science terms). I'm from a farm in the Thumb and have degrees in agriculture. ProfessionalCommunicatorEducator 02:42, 30 March 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Professionaleducator (talk • contribs)
 * I agree and I removed it. It's not clear from the information we have about the image file that the photo was even taken in the Thumb. Elsewhere in the article it is correctly stated that "the Thumb region is very flat." --TimK MSI (talk) 13:01, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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