Four women outside a tent; date unknown. Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

By Emily Bingham | ebingham@mlive.com

We all know there's nothing like the beauty of Michigan's wild spaces -- and previous generations knew it, too. From camping canoe expeditions at the turn of the last century to the "tin can tourists" (the very first car campers) in the early 1900's to the emergence of travel trailers and beyond, folks have long sought respite and adventure in the Great Lakes State's great outdoors.

We trawled a handful of archives to get a look back at what camping looked like to Michiganders who came before us; read on for a look at some of our favorite photos and to see how camping has evolved over the years.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

Cars and camping trailers at a "tourist camp" at Luce County Park campground in Newberry, Mich. Photo circa the 1930's

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

Handwritten on the back of this photo is the following caption: "Camping. Motor camping became popular after World War I, in the 1920's. There were few organized camps, though some communities created camp grounds often by filling and grading the town dump. The campers organized into a loose-knit outfit called 'Tin Can Tourists,' and used as a signia [sic], a five-cent Pet milk can fastened to radiator filler cap."

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

While not taken in Michigan, this photo offers a bird's-eye view of a car camping exhibit at the 1909 Sportsman's Show in New York City, featuring a Detroit-built Chalmers Motor Co."Forty" car with a tent, picnic table, and two men cooking over a simulated campfire. The photo suggests the rise of popularity of car camping at that time.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A family parks their Stream-Lite trailer next to a river. Stream-Lite was a camping trailer produced by General Body Corporation, a Detroit-based company that manufactured travel trailers in the 1930s.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

Another travel trailer, this one called the Pacemaker, which was manufactured by the Covered Wagon Co. in Mt. Clemens, Mich. The company had an assembly plant in Mt. Clemens from 1935 to 1945, and it became one of the nation's top travel trailer manufacturers. This model retailed, unfurnished, for $298.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A Covered Wagon Co. trailer is pulled through what was then designated as the Lunden Hunting Refuge in Montmorency County, Mich. Circa 1937

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

This photo, snapped from the Detroit River, shows a small tent on the shore of Belle Isle. A man with a mosquito-netting hat sits nearby. A handwritten note on the back identifies the tent as belonging to the "Camp of A.C. Bowman, F.J. Stevenson, Bert Campau." The Campau mentioned would have likely been a relative of Barnabas Campau, a merchant who bought Belle Isle in 1817 when it was still called Hog Island. This photo is from 1869; the Campaus would sell the island to the City of Detroit 10 years later.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

Another photo of a camp on Belle Isle, this one featuring a canoe along with a tent. The camp is identified as belonging to F.J. Stevenson and is dated 1866.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A handful of people are shown hanging around a campsite in St. Clair, Mich.; handwritten on the front of the photograph is the following: "Camp at St. Clair, August 28, 1888."

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

Another photo taken from a camp in or near St. Clair, in Michigan's Thumb.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A small sailboat at a campsite at an undisclosed Michigan location.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A "typical camp scene" at D.H. Day State Park in Glen Haven; date of photograph unknown.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

Camping at a county park in Caseville, Mich. Date of photo unknown.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

Campers -- who don't exactly look like happy campers -- pose in front of a cluster of tents at Hutchins Lake in Fennville, Mich. Date uknown

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A 1960 Plymouth Valiant station wagon parked at an unknown campsite.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A trio of men camping on Snake Island, Mich. Date unknown.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A group of men lounge around a campsite on Hickory Island in the Detroit River in this undated photograph.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

Also from Hickory Island, a group of people are captured on the banks of a lily pond, looking on at their fellow campers in a row boat.

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Photo courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A photo postcard postmarked June 1928 shows the sign welcoming campers to D.H. Day State Park in Glen Haven, Mich. The inscription on the back of the postcard reads: "Tuesday nite. Dear Minna, We're camping at Glen Lake. M. St. Park tonite [sic]. If you or any of the folks come to [undecipherable] Sun. bring a crate of strawberries if you have them. But don't pick them special if you don't have them. Having a dandy time. Love, Dorothy."

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Courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

A postcard of a campground at Fife Lake, Mich., postmarked August 1937. The following is handwritten on the back: "Dear Ellen, We are having a very nice time up here & I sure hope your are feeling better by now. We are looking for you Friday. Sure hope you will come. We got acquainted with Marjorie Graumlich. Will be seein' ya, get well honey, Beve & Sis."

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Courtesy Detroit Public Library Burton Historical Collection

An undated photo showing cabins at a campground in Eaton Rapids, Michigan.

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Courtesy the Michigan State Archives digital collection at SeekingMichigan.org

A color postcard from 1928 at a campground overlooking the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

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Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

An undated photo showing campers cheesing for the camera at White City, located on the Keweenaw Peninsula.

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Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

Another photo of camping life at White City, date unknown.

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Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

A man stands in front of his tent along the Sturgeon River; in the foreground, a picnic meal is set up on a log.

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Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

Setting up camp on the Sturgeon River.

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Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

If you look to the left in this photo, you can see a man reclining in a chair, hopefully relishing in that sweet Michigan fresh air, in an unidentified Copper Country location.

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Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

This photo from the Michigan Tech Archives shows a campground concession stand in the U.P.; a man and his young children sit nearby at a picnic table.

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Courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

Another image from the previous location showing a teepee-style tent and an automobile.

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Courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

A camp near Elm River, in Houghton County in the western U.P. These fellows may have been on a fishing expedition; fishing gear can be seen scattered around on the grass. Circa 1904

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Courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

Three young girls read comics in their tent before bedtime at a 4-H Club camp-out at Twin Lakes in the U.P. Photo from the Daily Mining Gazette, August 19, 1958

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Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

The 4-H Club's three-day encampment at Twin Lakes included taking turns cooking dinner over the camp stove. Photo via the Daily Mining Gazette, August 19, 1958

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Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Archives

Four men stand in front of a tent at an unknown location in the U.P.; the fellow second from the left leans back to get a fresh shave.

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Photo via the Library of Congress

This 1868 stereograph photo was taken during a University of Michigan scientific expedition to Lake Superior.

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Via Wikimedia Commons

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