The sign on the side of this building reads THE WINN SHOPPING CENTER. It looks as if it has been a while since anyone has done any shopping at the shopping center. The small town of Winn west of Shepherd was started in 1867 and either named for Mr. Winn or for Wynn England. I have seen a reference to both. The Town was platted by Wiley Dush and he changed the name to Dushville. After Mr. Dush died in 1898 the name of the town was changed back to Winn.

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Not a whole lot remains in downtown Alba these days. It was once a bustling community when the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad came through the area in the 1870s. The village was plated in 1878, and as legend has it, the town was named after Alba Haywood, a local entertainer. The town still gets a lot of traffic since US-131 passes through the old town and many motorists take Alba Road over to Gaylord.

I find it Ironic that the town was supposedly named after an entertainer because I remember the name of the town where I need to turn to go to Gaylord by the remembering the actress’s name Jessica Alba.

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While out traveling around exploring the Mitten State I visit a lot of small towns and many of the post offices I see are a typical brick building. I assume there is a standard plan that the post office used when building them. On occasion, I come across one that is a little bit different than the ordinary post office. On my way to the White River Lighthouse north of Muskegon I came across this cute little white and green post office.  The area was originally called Sylvan Beach when it was settled in 1833. When the post office was established it was named Wabaningo after the local Ottawa Chief.  In the early 1900s, the area was primarily a resort community and the post office was made a branch of the Whitehall branch and is only open in the summer months.

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I like taking a break from the expressway in northern Michigan and take Old 27 to see the sights on the back roads. The small town of Wolverine was originally plated by the name of Torrey in 1881. After the post office was built that same year, the town was named Wolverine after the state animal. Old 27 or South Straights Highway passes through the town but most people just see the sign for it as they zoom past on I-75.

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In southeastern Michigan is the small town of Maybee located somewhere between Milan and Monroe. With a name like Maybe I hade to drive through it on one of my road trips. I looked up the history hoping there was a funny story to the town’s name but it was named after Abram Maybe who settled the area in the mid-1800s

As the sign reads on the road heading into town “MAYBEE the best little town in Michigan” It seems like a nice little town to me so I am not going to argue with them.

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So I am hanging out at home flipping through the five hundred channels of nothing on TV. I get to ESPN2 and they were showing the World Championships of Cherry Pit Spitting. Living in Michigan I have spit a few cherry pits in my lifetime so I had to check it out. I figured it would be someplace like Traverse City but it was in the small southwestern town of Eau Claire.

Normally I would be scratching my head and looking up on google where Eau Claire is located, but I remembered taking a pic of this old building in downtown Eau Clair. I guess when sports are on hold, ESPN has to show something and I will say it was much better than the world championships of sign spinning and the hamburger eating competition. I can only imagine what they are gonna show next weekend.

If you like exploring Michigan I am sure you will love my Lost In Michigan books. They help me with expenses and are available on my website HERE

If you are wondering the world record distance for cherry pit spitting is at 110 feet 4 inches.

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Roaming the back roads in the middle of the thumb I came across the small town of Deford. The Grand Trunk Railroad came through the area in 1883 and a station was named Bruce for local landowner Elmer Bruce. Arthur Newton founded the village around the station and renamed it after his friend Mr. Deford. I saw these old buildings in town. I am sure they were not around when the town was first founded but the looked old. The faded handpainted sign on the one building looks like it had the word BLACKSMITH on it.

I have started selling books on my website. I have them in stock and you should have them in a few days if you live in Michigan. You can order them HERE

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In 1836 Lucius Lyon wrote in a letter to a relative. “The place is called Arthursberg but we will change the name, I own the whole town site. It will become one of the most important towns in Michigan.” Located on the banks of the Grand River east of Ionia is the town of Lyons. It never did aspire to the dreams of Lucius Lyon but it has some beautiful old stone buildings and is a nice little town along the river.

P.S. I know many of you will never visit the little town of Lyons or many other small towns I post photos of but I still enjoy highlighting these places. I sometimes hear from people who live in these small communities or did at one time. They are always appreciative of the fact that I show their towns. I guess these posts are like my Hee Haw salute. 

P.P.S. I said the words “Hee Haw” to my kids and they gave me that puzzled tilted head look like I was going insane. I guess I am getting old.

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