Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Peter White was born in Rome, New York, in 1830. He went west as a boy and was 18 when he joined Robert Graveraet’s party that landed at what is now Marquette in 1849.
The settlement was first called Worcester before taking the name Marquette.
Building a city
White worked as a clerk and postmaster and later went into insurance, real estate and banking. He served in the Michigan legislature.
He became one of the city’s wealthiest men and its most energetic promoter. He pushed for railroads, harbor improvements and a state college. Northern State Normal School, now Northern Michigan University, opened in 1899 after a push from local leaders including White.
Presque Isle and the library
White persuaded Congress to give Presque Isle to the city, and it became Presque Isle Park in 1886.
He gave money and land for the public library, and it bears his name. The current Peter White Public Library building on Front Street opened in 1904.
He died in 1908. Few people shaped Marquette more, and his name still turns up across the city.
