Between Jackson and Lansing near the town of Eaton Rapids is the VFW National Home. Designated as a Michigan historical landmark the home has been taking care of veteran’s families for nearly a century.

In 1923 the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) initiated a plan to build a national home for the families of deceased and disabled American veterans. The following year a Jackson, Michigan, cattleman made his Ingham County ranch available for the site of the home. A complex of buildings was erected on the property. Since the facility provided homes for families outside of Michigan, it received support from veterans groups across the country, who donated money for the construction of “cottage” residences. The VFW sought to keep families intact, furnish a homelife similar to that enjoyed by other American families, and teach self-sufficiency and independence. This remains the only privately funded home for veterans’ children and grandchildren in the United States that is national in scope.

When the Veterans of Foreign Wars announced that it would build a national home for the widows and orphan children of veterans, support poured in from across the country. Initial funding was created following the 1922 Yankees-Giants World Series. Umpires halted the tied second game due to darkness. A controversy resulted, which inspired the baseball commissioner to donate the series’ first game’s proceeds to the nation’s war veterans, and the VFW received twenty thousand dollars. Between 1925 and 1930 residential “cottages” were constructed with funds from state veterans organizations. Each house was designed as an individual home. These houses created a neighborhood environment for their residents. The National Home honors the contributions and sacrifices of America’s veterans.

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This old log cabin was built south of Cassopolis with logs donated by local citizens. It was built in 1923 to honor the pioneers that settled in the area. It was meant to be a temporary structure for a Pioneer Day celebration, but it has stood next to the shores of Stony Lake for almost a century. It operates as a museum during the summer months.

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Down the road from the Cedar Lake post office is a strange looking two story building. It is a replica of a historic two story outhouse that once stood at this site. A two story building stood in front of it and a bridge when from the second floor to the top floor of the privy. The building burned down and the outhouse collapsed from decay a few years ago. The owner of the property built this replica as a reminder of the old two story outhouse.

Please note it sits on private property but you can see it from M-575 (Academy Road) or the Fred Meijer Hartland Trail which passes nearby.

You can see a photo of the original outhouse in my post HERE

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The town of Kewadin sits at the northern end of Elk Lake. North of town next to the Cairn Highway is a stone pyramid also known as a cairn. It’s a Scottish term used to describe a man-made stack of stone used as a monument. On the front of the monument is a plaque dedicated to Hugh J. Gray “Dean of Michigan’s Tourist Activity.”  The cairn was built in 1938 using stones from all of Michigan’s 83 counties with their name inscribed on the stone. Wexford County’s stone is a block of rubber from the tire factory that was located in its borders. My favorite is Huron County which is a small grindstone most likely from Grindstone City at the tip of the thumb.

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In the southwest town of Berrien Springs is a collection of historic buildings. They include a courthouse, log cabin and sheriff’s residence. Next to the sheriff’s house is an odd shaped foundation and it is what remains of a unique jail. Inside a square brick building the jail. Built in 1870, back when Berrien Springs was the county seat, this jail’s design was inspired by Auburn New York which pioneered the humane treatment of prisoners.

The building was a square brick building but inside the 24 jail cells (16 on the first floor and 8 on the second)  were arranged in a circle. It was two stories tall and in the center was a sky light and a vent for lighting and fresh air. After the county seat moved to St Joseph in 1894 the jail was left abandoned. In 1916 it was demolished. This replica foundation and cells stand as a reminder of the unique jail that once stood here and is now part of the Courthouse Square maintained by the Berrien County Historical Association.

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Michigan officially became a state on January 26th 1837. One of the most influential cities in Michigan is the state’s capital city of Lansing. Strangely, when Michigan first became a state Lansing was not much more than swampland. Michigan’s constitution required the state have a permanent capital ten years after it acquired statehood.   The temporary capital was in Detroit, but many representatives wanted somewhere more central in the state.  Several cities including Jackson, Marshall, and Ann Arbor lobbied hard to be the new home of the capital.

James Seymour, a land speculator with a mill in what is now North Lansing, campaigned for Lansing Township. He argued that it is equidistant from Detroit, Monroe, Mt. Clemens, and the mouths of the Grand and Kalamazoo rivers. In 1847, after voting fifty one times, out of frustration they finally agreed the permanent capital would be in Lansing township. The densely wooded and marshy township had less than one hundred residents when it was chosen.

The citizens of Michigan were highly skeptical of the new plan, many even though it was a joke. In the beginning, the city did not even have a name. The location was simply known as the “Town of Michigan” when it was first platted. A wooden two-story building was quickly erected to serve as the state capital. Many of the legislators and representatives had to sleep on the upper floor of the new capital or in people’s private homes while governing the young state. In April the state legislature considered naming the capital Pewanogowink, Swedenborg, or El Dorado, but chose Lansing.

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Depot Town in Ypsilanti, all decked out for the holidays. The area was called Depot Town after the nearby railroad station opened in the late 1830s, most of the buildings standing today were constructed between 1850 and 1880. Over the years, Depot Town has included hotels, an Underground Railroad station, an American Civil War barracks, and a building that has housed a bar and restaurant continuously for more than 150 years, switching to soft drinks during Prohibition. Today it is still a popular place to get something to eat or drink and shop in the many stores along the stretch of historic buildings.

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