Port Huron, Saint Clair Co., Michigan
Volga German immigrants who settled in Port Huron, Michigan, came from Paulskaya and Katharinenstadt. They were joined by settlers from Kind and Susannental.
Nearly all of Port Huron’s Volga Germans had their start in Sanilac County as beet laborers. By 1915 many of Sanilac’s resident Volga Germans had resettled to Port Huron where they transitioned into factory work such as Mueller Brass Company. For several years these families would continue summer beet work or weekend harvest work.
In 1917 they organized “Volga Plat” near Wells Street and 14th Streets and built St. Paul Lutheran Church. This area grew and became known as Germantown. The neighborhood was eventually bordered by 10th Street, Lapeer Ave., 17th Street, and Water Street.
The following Volga German families are known to have settled in Port Huron and the surrounding area:
Albert from Kind
Baerns from Enders
Dortman from Kind
Emerick from Kind
Ermisch from Orlovskaya
Eurich
Falk from Kind
Fink
Gorte from Reinwald
Herber from Kind
Hergert from Walter
Herrmann from Laub
Hopp from Kraft
Jäger
Kober from Susannental
Koch
Kohl
Kolb
Langholf from Kind
Lefler
Lehman from Susannental
Loos
Machleid
Markus from Schulz
Meinhardt from Susannental
Pickelhaupt from Kind
Reiche from Paulskaya
Rothermel from Kind
Runk from Susannental
Rusch from Enders
Schmidt from Susannental
Schumann from Kind
Schwabauer from Balzer
Seltzer from Kind
Stroh from Frank
Stuckert
Volk from Kind & Rosenheim
Wasmuth from Susannental
Wehrwein from Meinhard
Weiss from Kind
Werner from Susannental
Zeller from Messer
- Connell, Mike. "Volga Germans Prospered Locally." The Times Herald (15 November 2009).
- Pickelhaupt, Bill. The Volga Germans of Michigan's Thumb (Fort Gratiot, MI: Flyblister, 2009).
- Sallet, Richard. Russian-German Settlement in the United States (Fargo, ND: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1974): 54.
- USA Settlement List (Patricia Miller)
- Weeder, Tim. "When Volga Germans Worked Sanilac's Fields." Sanilac County News (9 May 2018). [Online]
Port Huron, Michigan (Wikipedia)