At 20, Finnish immigrant Maggie Walz arrived in Michigan with just $7; in 1903 she claimed 160 acres on a Lake Huron island and the colony she founded grew to five settlements with around 1,000 people
- Maggie Walz Photo credit: National Park ServiceBorn Margareeta Johanna Konttra Niiranen in Tornio, Finland, in 1861, Maggie Walz came to the United States at the age of 20 with almost nothing, just $7 in her pocket and a determination to build a new life.
- According to the National Park Service (NPS), Walz arrived in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as “a mere girl… a stranger among strangers” in a cosmopolitan settlement of immigrants.
- She took a job as a domestic servant, learned English through night school, and quickly set her sights on something more.
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- Maggie Walz Photo credit: National Park ServiceBorn Margareeta Johanna Konttra Niiranen in Tornio, Finland, in 1861, Maggie Walz came to the United States at the age of 20 with almost nothing, just $7 in her pocket and a determination to build a new life.
- According to the National Park Service (NPS), Walz arrived in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as “a mere girl… a stranger among strangers” in a cosmopolitan settlement of immigrants.
- She took a job as a domestic servant, learned English through night school, and quickly set her sights on something more.
Sources: Times of India