Category Archives: small towns

Parshallville, Cider, Doughnuts, Rock n Roll and Gangsters: A Small Town With Big History

Posted on by Posted in Grain Elevators, small towns .

The small town of Parhshallville sits in the lower mitten between Fenton and Howell. It is probably best known for the historic grist mill that is now a popular cider mill. The small town also has an interesting history. Isacc Parshall purchased land in 1834 and a few years later founded the community which was named after him. It was about a century later that the town got some new residents that were more than famous, they were “infamous” as the Three Amigos would say.  West of the quiet little town the Purple Gang of Detroit purchased a farm and throughout the 20s and 30s, they would hang out at the farm and play poker away from the watchful eyes of the police.

Besides the Purple Gang, the little town had a famous resident. Mark Farner, the lead singer and lead guitar of Flint’s Grand Funk Railroad purchased a farm near Parshallville in the 1970s and built a recording studio at his rural home. The band recorded an album produced by Frank Zappa at Farner’s farm nicknamed the Swamp.

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Michigan’s Scarecrow City

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Traveling through the town of Buchanan in the southwest part of the Mitten, I saw several scarecrows all around town. It was later I found out that they are sponsored by local businesses to raise money for a charity. What a brilliant idea. I thought they brightened up the community and also raised money to support it. If you are in the area during the fall be sure to visit the town of Buchanan and check out some of the straw-filled citizens.

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Manchester Mill and Waterfall

Posted on by Posted in Grain Elevators, small towns, Waterfalls .

This historic red mill sits in the southern Michigan town of Manchester. It is along the River Raisin and a small dam makes for an idyllic photo with a manmade waterfall. The historic town was first settled in 1826 and named after Manchester New York.

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Byron

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The small town of Byron sits between Fenton and Durand. Founded in 1824 it was the last stop on a stagecoach run from Detroit that ran west along what is now Rose Center road and Silver Lake road. The town continued to grow after the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northern Michigan Railway ran tracks through the community. Tragically, in October of 2012, a fire destroyed many historic buildings in downtown. I was driving through on a sunny summer day and I had to stop and get a pic.

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Gateway To The Thumb

Posted on by Posted in small towns, Thumb .

Traveling down M-25 from Bay City into the Thumb you pass through the town of Unionville. The sign welcoming travelers proudly says “Gateway To The Thumb” The town was founded in 1854 when Horace C. Marvin built the first home in the area. He also built and operated a general store and was the town’s first postmaster. He named the town Unionville after his native town of Union Ohio.

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Horton Bay

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If you make a trip around Lake Charlevoix, which I highly recommend you do, you will travel through the small town of Horton Bay, Besides a nice little historic general store it has this white town hall. In front of it stands a Michigan historical marker that reads:

Named for pioneer settler Samuel Horton, this village was founded as a lumbering community in 1876, complete with sawmill, shanty boys’ boarding house, company store, blacksmith shop and draft horses. The store and many early buildings still stand. After the timber was gone, three fine restaurants opened: Dilworth’s, The Waffle Shop and The Red Fox Inn. Young Ernest Hemingway frequently came here to fish and camp on “The Point.” This area is the setting for several of his famous “Nick Adams” short stories. Hemingway was married here in 1921. Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did. 

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The Company Town of Nahmah

Posted on by Posted in small towns, upper peninsula .

This general store, the Nahmah Inn next to it, and some houses still remain in the company town of Nahmah. It stands along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Big Bay De Noc east of Escanaba. The town was established in 1881 by the Bay de Noquet Lumber Company of Oconto, Wisconsin. At Its peak, the company employed over 1500 people and built housing and stores for its employees. The company closed in 1951 and the town made national headlines when the company sold the entire town to an Indiana playground manufacturer. They intended to convert the town into a resort community but never had the funding to do it. The town still survives today as individually owned houses and businesses and welcomes tourists enjoying the Upper Peninsula.

P.S. My plan was to get a pic of the silo-like structure that stood along the shoreline. It was a wood burner used by the Bay de Noquet Lumber Company. To my disappointment, I learned the historic wood burner collapsed in 2019.

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Plainfield

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Not to be confused with Plainfield Township near Grand Rapids, the small town of Plainfield sits near Stockbridge. The first settler came to Plainfield in 1835 and the town was originally called Dyersburg for the second settler Phillip Dyer. When it was given a post office it was named Plainfield after Plainfield NJ. There are a few houses in the little town of Plainfield and this old store with an Alis Chalmers sign.

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Downtown Dansville

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The small town of Dansville is southeast of Lansing. In 1844 Samuel Crossman came to the area and a few years later opened a store. He sold the store to his son Daniel who plated the town in 1857 and called it Dansville. The town prospered with the nearby railroad and some believe the citizens were trying to be the home of the state capital after it was decided to move it to the middle of the state. A series of fires destroyed many of the businesses downtown and most were never rebuilt. The town was destined to remain a small town and not the state capital if it was even considered for the honor.

It would not be surprising if the town was considered for the capital. Many towns lobbied for the distinction and it is an interesting story as to how Lansing became the capital. You can see my post about it HERE

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Old Lawrence Town Hall

Posted on by Posted in Historic Places, small towns .

The small town of Lawrence is in southwest Michigan. The old town hall built in 1902 still stands in downtown Lawrence. Besides housing the town offices, the building was the main venue for plays, recitals, concerts and movies. It was a regular stop in the 1920s and 1930s for touring Vaudeville groups. The Village Jail was located in the hall underneath the stage. I can imagine during tap-dancing recitals that would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. The township offices moved out in 2010 and a non-profit organization maintains the building now.

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