Hotels in Cadillac, Michigan

A little about Cadillac...

Cadillac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Wexford County. The zipcode location of Cadillac Michigan is 49601. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,000. The city is situated at the junction of US 131, M-55 and M-115. The city is between Haring Township on the north and Clam Lake Township on the south. Cadillac became the county seat after the so-called "Battle of Manton" in which a show of force was involved in enforcing a controversial decision to move the county seat from Manton, Michigan.

Cadillac was originally called Clam Lake and was incorporated as a village in 1874. George Mitchell was elected the first mayor. The village changed its name and was incorporated as the city of Cadillac three years later in 1877, named after Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, a Frenchman who made the first permanent settlement at Detroit in 1701.

Battle of Manton:
The Wexford County seat of government was established in nearby Manton, in 1881, as the result of a compromise between the feuding residents of Cadillac and Sherman. Cadillac partisans, however, won the county seat in April 1882.

Historic Landmarks:
Cadillac maintains a number of state historic landmarks. Most are marked with a green "Michigan Historical Marker" sign that includes a description of the landmark. There are six markers within the city limits: 'Cadillac Carnegie Library,' 'Charles T. Mitchell House,' 'Clam Lake Canal,' 'Cobbs & Mitchell Building,' 'Cobbs & Mitchell No. 1' and the 'Shay Locomotive,' which is pictured at the right. Two more are in the near Cadillac area ('Caberfae Ski Resort' and 'Greenwood Disciples of Christ Church') and another two are dispersed in surrounding Wexford County ('Battle of Manton' and '1st Wexford County Court House').

Cadillac is frequently considered by those who know it to be a tourist town. The center of the city is generally perceived to have a "small-town-feel.” In the summer, the downtown fills with tourists, most of whom are from southern Michigan and are referred to by locals as "Down-staters", "flat-landers" or "fudgies". The city center is in fact only one block from Lake Cadillac and is as accessible by boat as it is by car. The city’s immediate proximity to two lakes, as well as Manistee National Forest, Pere Marquette State Forest, Mitchell State Park and a number of major highways has ensured that tourism occupies a significant sector of the local economy.

During the winter months Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell freeze over and the city becomes covered with snow. Cadillac is connected to a number of trail systems heavily used by winter recreation enthusiasts, and the city itself integrates unusually well into the corridors of travel created by snowmobilers.

Cadillac is also known as Chestnut Town, USA. The local area is home to a relatively large number of American chestnut trees, planted by pioneers from New York and Pennsylvania who settled in western Michigan. A blight in the early twentieth century wiped out nearly every American Chestnut tree, but those in western Michigan developed a mysterious resistance and survived. The Cadillac Chestnut Harvest Festival is held every year, on the second Saturday of October.