Category Archives: small towns

Woodland

Posted on by Posted in small towns .

Traveling the back roads of Michigan, I come across many small towns. Some have a long history but unfortunately, they are not thriving like they once used to.  I like to take photos that highlight the town in a good way because I know people like to be proud of where they live. I saw this old building in Woodlawn west of Lansing and it just called to me to take a photo of it. Woodland was settled by brothers Johnathan and Charles Galloway in 1837 and was given the name Woodland for the dense woods it was located in.

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Deford

Posted on by Posted in small towns, Thumb .

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 hand painted sign on the one building looks like it had the word BLACKSMITH on it.

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Hickory Corners

Posted on by Posted in small towns .

The small town of Hickory Corners sits north of Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. In 1837 the settlement got its name after surveyors found a large hickory while doing their survey. A schoolhouse along with the first house was built shortly after. In 1844 it officially got a post office. It has always remained a small little town in the countryside and I imagine a lot of of people pass through it on their way to the Gilmore Car Museum which is only a few miles away.

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Deer Lick Outlets

Posted on by Posted in Houses, small towns .

In the middle of Birch Run is this beautiful old house with a wrap around porch, It was built by Charles Wolohan,  he operated a granary elevator for local farmers and later added lumber as a sideline business, it was the sideline business that grew into Wolohan Lumber, and it was eventually purchased by Wickes Lumber. I was told the room at the top of the home was used by Mr Wolohan to look out and watch over his workers.

Birch Run was originally founded as a station on the Pere Marquette Railroad by John Moore, its first postmaster, in 1852. It was named after its creek, which runs through a large birch tree area.   I could not find out why, but in 1863, the town was renamed Deer Lick until 1868 when it reverted to Birch Run. It was was incorporated as a village in 1955.

I remember Birch Run before the outlet mall was constructed, and the town sure has changed a lot. There was not much traffic and about the only place to eat was the Exit and Tony’s. It makes me wonder what the town would be like if it would have remained Deer Lick. I have a feeling Deer Lick Premium Outlets would not have been that successful, but I guess we will never know.

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One of the Most Important Towns In Michigan

Posted on by Posted in small towns .

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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Glen Haven

Posted on by Posted in Ghost towns, Sleeping Bear Dunes, small towns .

The village of Glen Haven is a few miles west of Glen Arbor in the Sleeping Bear Dunes. The town started out as a place for steamships to stock up on firewood to fuel the steam boilers. Over time the town became more of a resort community. By the mid 1970s it had pretty much declined to nothing. The National Park Service has taken over the little town and restored the blacksmith shop and general store. The old cannery is now used as a maritime museum. During the winter months it is rather quiet but in the summer it is bustling with tourists exploring and learning about days gone by.

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Frozen Fishtown

Posted on by Posted in small towns, Winter Wonderland .

Fishtown in Leland is one of Michigan’s unique places. During the summer it is bustling as tourist visit the shops and restaurants. Although everything is closed for the winter months, I still like to visit for the tranquility as the water flows over the dam and past the historic buildings.

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Girard’s Church

Posted on by Posted in Churches, small towns .

I was traveling through southern Michigan and I went through the town of Girard. I saw this old building which I can only assume was a church. The stained glass above the door prominently displays the date 1876. A hundred years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I can only imagine what the town was like back then.

As with most of the places I visit I did a little research to find out some history of the town and as usual I learned something new. The town was named after Stephen Girard. The fourth wealthiest person in United States history. Born in 1750 in France he was a sea captain transporting good between France and the port of New Orleans. In 1776 the British forced his ship into the port of Philadelphia where he settled there as a merchant. He eventually worked his way up to purchasing the First Bank of the United States. Towards the end of the war of 1812, when the financial credit of the U.S. government was at its lowest, Girard placed nearly all of his resources at the disposal of the government and underwrote up to 95 percent of the war loan issued, which enabled the United States to carry on with the war.

Girard was struck by a horse and carriage and died in 1831. At the time of his death, Girard was the wealthiest man in America and he bequeathed nearly his entire fortune to charitable and municipal institutions of Philadelphia and New Orleans. It including an endowment for establishing a boarding school for “poor, male, white orphans” in Philadelphia, primarily those who were the children of coal miners, which opened as the Girard College in 1848.

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Harrietta

Posted on by Posted in small towns .

You could say the small town of Harrietta is a ghost town since most of its buildings on main street are empty. But the small town west of Cadillac has a few houses and a couple of churches. Harrietta was first platted by James M. Ashley in 1889. It was incorporated as a village in 1891 with the name of Gaston. It was named Hariette in 1892 and the present spelling was adopted in 1923. Harrietta is a combination of the names of a railroad official, Harry, and that of his wife, Henrietta.

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The Big Fish in Indian River

Posted on by Posted in small towns .

The town of Indian River sits at the southern end of Burt Lake. At the south end of town, it is hard to miss this giant metal sturgeon sculpture. The 32 foot long fish was sculpted by Tom Moran of Moran Iron Works, with help from the students of Onaway’s Industrial Arts Institute.

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