# 1923 in Michigan

Events from the year 1923 in Michigan.

## Office holders
### State office holders

* Governor of Michigan: Alex J. Groesbeck (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Thomas Read (Republican)
* Michigan Attorney General: Merlin Wiley (Republican), Andrew B. Dougherty (Republican)
* Michigan Secretary of State: Charles J. DeLand (Republican)
* Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives: George W. Welsh (Republican)
* Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court: Howard Wiest

### Mayors of major cities

* Mayor of Detroit: John C. Lodge (Republican)/Frank Ellsworth Doremus (Democrat)
* Mayor of Grand Rapids: William Oltman/Julius Tisch
* Mayor of Flint: William H. McKeighan/David R. Cuthbertson
* Mayor of Lansing: Silas F. Main/Alfred H. Doughty
* Mayor of Saginaw: Ben N. Mercer
* Mayor of Ann Arbor: George E. Lewis

### Federal office holders

* U.S. Senator from Michigan: James J. Couzens (Republican)
* U.S. Senator from Michigan: Charles E. Townsend (Republican)/ Woodbridge N. Ferris (Democrat)
* House District 1: George P. Codd (Republican)/ Robert H. Clancy (Democrat)
* House District 2: Earl C. Michener (Republican)
* House District 3: John M. C. Smith (Republican)/ Arthur B. Williams (Republican)
* House District 4: John C. Ketcham (Republican)
* House District 5: Carl E. Mapes (Republican)
* House District 6: Patrick H. Kelley (Republican)/ Grant M. Hudson (Republican)
* House District 7: Louis C. Cramton (Republican)
* House District 8: Joseph W. Fordney (Republican)/ Bird J. Vincent (Republican)
* House District 9: James C. McLaughlin (Republican)
* House District 10: Roy O. Woodruff (Republican)
* House District 11: Frank D. Scott (Republican)
* House District 12: W. Frank James (Republican)
* House District 13: Vincent M. Brennan (Republican)/ Clarence J. McLeod (Republican)

## Population

In the 1920 United States census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 3,668,412, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1930, Michigan's population had increased by 32.0% to 4,842,325.

### Cities

The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 15,000 based on 1920 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1910 and 1930 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases.
| 1920 Rank | City | County | 1910 Pop. | 1920 Pop. | 1930 Pop. | Change 1920-30 |
| 1 | Detroit | Wayne | 465,766 | 993,678 | 1,568,662 | 57.9% |
| 2 | Grand Rapids | Kent | 112,571 | 137,634 | 168,592 | 22.5% |
| 3 | Flint | Genesee | 38,550 | 91,599 | 156,492 | 70.8% |
| 4 | Saginaw | Saginaw | 50,510 | 61,903 | 80,715 | 30.4% |
| 5 | Lansing | Ingham | 31,229 | 57,327 | 78,397 | 36.8% |
| 6 | Hamtramck | Wayne | 3,559 | 48,615 | 56,268 | 15.7% |
| 7 | Kalamazoo | Kalamazoo | 39,437 | 48,487 | 54,786 | 13.0% |
| 8 | Jackson | Jackson | 31,433 | 48,374 | 55,187 | 14.1% |
| 9 | Bay City | Bay | 45,166 | 47,554 | 47,355 | −0.4% |
| 10 | Highland Park | Wayne | 4,120 | 46,499 | 52,959 | 13.9% |
| 11 | Muskegon | Muskegon | 24,062 | 36,570 | 41,390 | 15.2% |
| 12 | Battle Creek | Calhoun | 25,267 | 36,164 | 45,573 | 26.0% |
| 13 | Pontiac | Oakland | 14,532 | 34,273 | 64,928 | 89.4% |
| 14 | Port Huron | St. Clair | 18,863 | 25,944 | 31,361 | 20.9% |
| 15 | Ann Arbor | Washtenaw | 14,817 | 19,516 | 26,944 | 38.1% |
| 16 | Ironwood | Gogebic | 12,821 | 15,739 | 14,299 | −9.1% |

### Boom cities of the 1920s

The 1920s saw an explosion of growth in the population of small cities near Detroit, with some communities growing more than three fold. Dearborn was the most extreme case, growing 20-fold from 2,470 to 50,358 persons.
| City | County | 1910 Pop. | 1920 Pop. | 1930 Pop. | Change 1920-30 |
| Warren | Macomb | 2,346 | 6,780 | 24,024 | 254.3% |
| Royal Oak | Oakland | 1,071 | 6,007 | 22,904 | 281.3% |
| Ferndale | Oakland | -- | 2,640 | 20,855 | 690.0% |
| Dearborn | Wayne | 911 | 2,470 | 50,358 | 1,938.8% |

### Counties

The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 40,000 based on 1920 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1910 and 1930 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases.
| 1920 Rank | County | Largest city | 1910 Pop. | 1920 Pop. | 1930 Pop. | Change 1920-30 |
| 1 | Wayne | Detroit | 531,591 | 1,177,645 | 1,888,946 | 60.4% |
| 2 | Kent | Grand Rapids | 159,145 | 183,041 | 240,511 | 31.4% |
| 3 | Genesee | Flint | 64,555 | 125,668 | 211,641 | 68.4% |
| 4 | Saginaw | Saginaw | 89,290 | 100,286 | 120,717 | 20.4% |
| 5 | Oakland | Pontiac | 49,576 | 90,050 | 211,251 | 134.6% |
| 6 | Ingham | Lansing | 53,310 | 81,554 | 116,587 | 43.0% |
| 7 | Calhoun | Battle Creek | 56,638 | 72,918 | 87,043 | 19.4% |
| 8 | Houghton | Houghton | 88,098 | 71,930 | 52,851 | -26.5% |
| 9 | Jackson | Jackson | 53,426 | 72,539 | 92,304 | 27.2% |
| 10 | Kalamazoo | Kalamazoo | 60,327 | 71,225 | 91,368 | 28.3% |
| 11 | Bay | Bay City | 68,238 | 69,548 | 69,474 | -0.1% |
| 12 | Berrien | Niles | 53,622 | 62,653 | 81,066 | 29.4% |
| 13 | Muskegon | Muskegon | 40,577 | 62,362 | 84,630 | 35.7% |
| 14 | St. Clair | Port Huron | 52,341 | 58,009 | 67,563 | 16.5% |
| 15 | Washtenaw | Ann Arbor | 44,714 | 49,520 | 65,530 | 32.3% |
| 16 | Lenawee | Adrian | 47,907 | 47,767 | 49,849 | 4.4% |
| 17 | Ottawa | Holland | 45,301 | 47,660 | 54,858 | 15.1% |
| 18 | Marquette | Marquette | 46,739 | 45,786 | 44,076 | −3.7% |

## Sports
### Baseball

* 1921 Detroit Tigers season – Under player-manager Ty Cobb, the Tigers compiled a 71–82 record and finished third in the American League. The team's statistical leaders included Harry Heilmann with a .394 batting average, 19 home runs, and 139 RBIs, and Ty Cobb with 124 runs scored. The team's pitching leaders were Howard Ehmke 13 wins and Dutch Leonard with a 3.75 earned run average.

### American football

* 1921 Michigan Wolverines football team – In their 21st season under head coach Fielding H. Yost, the Wolverines compiled a 5–1–1 record, outscored opponents 187–21, and finished fifth in the Big Ten.
* 1921 Michigan Agricultural Aggies football team – Under head coach Albert Barron, the Aggies compiled a 3–5 record and were outscored by opponents, 126 to 68.
* 1921 Western State Normal Hilltoppers football team – Under head coach William H. Spaulding, the Hilltoppers compiled a 6–2 record and outscored opponents by a total of 262 to 40.
* 1921 Michigan State Normal Normalites football team – Under head coach Joseph McCulloch, the Normalites compiled a record of 3–3 and outscored opponents by a total of 82 to 50.
* 1921 Detroit Titans football team – Under head coach James F. Duffy, the Titans compiled an 8–1 record and outscored opponents by a total of 245 to 24.
* 1921 Detroit Junior College football team – Under head coach David Holmes, the Detroit Junior College team compiled a 6–0–2 record and outscored opponents by a total of 165 to 0.
* 1921 Central Michigan Normalites football team – Under head coach Wallace Parker, Central Michigan compiled a 7–2–1 record.

### Basketball

* 1920–21 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team – Under head coach E. J. Mather, the Wolverines compiled an 18–4 record and tied for first in the Big Ten Conference.

## Chronology of events
### January

* January 4 - Merlin Wiley resigned as Michigan Attorney General
* January 4 - A gunfight in downtown Detroit results in the death of Detroit police detective Daniel J. Couglin.
* January 5 - The announcement of a plan to purchase Isle Royale (later Isle Royale National Park) for $4 million to create a state park is met with opposition to the cost. The Detroit Free Press published front-page stories critical of the acquisition for six consecutive days. Support for the plan waned in face of the opposition.
* January 11 - Plans were announced for construction of the Book Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit.

### May

* May 9 - Southeastern Michigan recorded record snow fall for the month of May

### December
## Births

* January 1 - Milt Jackson, jazz vibraphonist, in Detroit
* March 6 - Ed McMahon, announcer on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962-1992), in Detroit
* April 16 - Vito Giacalone, capo of the Detroit organized crime family
* May 15 - Doris Dowling, actress (The Crimson Key), in Detroit
* May 18 - Don Lund, baseball player, in Detroit
* July 7 - Josephine Clay Ford, philanthropist and granddaughter of Henry Ford, in Dearborn
* August 11 - Jack O'Dell, civil rights activist and writer, in Detroit
* August 12 - Garry E. Brown, U.S. House of Representatives (1967-1979)
* November 6 - Robert P. Griffin, U.S. Senator (1966-1979), in Detroit
* 1923 - Mitchell Hooks, illustrator, in Detroit

## Deaths

* January - Daniel E. Soper, Michigan Secretary of State (1891) involved with the Michigan relics hoax, in Chattanooga, Tennessee
* April 17 - Fred M. Warner, Governor of Michigan (1905-1911), in Orlando, Florida
* November 23 - Oscar Marx, mayor of Detroit (1913-1918), in Detroit
* December 9 - Bill Donovan, Detroit Tigers pitcher (1903-1912), in Forsyth, New York
* 1923 - Marvin H. Chamberlain, mayor of Detroit (1886-1887), in Woodstock Township, Michigan