This cache was hidden as part of the Abandoned Railroads of Newaygo County Geocache Rail Tour, presented by the Newaygo County Museum and Heritage Center and Silent Whistles. Record the milepost value contained on and/or in each cache container on the Ticket to Newaygo County form. See the additional information below for specific tour requirements.
This cache is on the former right of way of the Pere Marquette Railroad, near the station site of Fields. The cache is hidden on land owned by the US Government as part of the Manistee National Forest.
Fields PO and Station, 1900 plat.
Fields, or Field's Station was the site of the Smith & Field mill. A man named Hill also had a bark camp nearby. By 1887, Thomas J. Sheridan had established shingle sheds and a lumber yard here. Charles Sheridan took these over in 1889, then sold all of holdings to Morehouse & Bullman in 1891.
John J. Williams had a mill here in 1892 A post office was established on June 17th, 1889, with Williams as postmaster. This office remained open until November 15th, 1900.
Field's Station lasted well after the lumber boom was over. Passenger trains stopped here regularly, for fishermen who accessed the White River “Pool” from there. The station, itself, was an old boxcar that still sat on the site long after passenger trains no longer stopped there. Fields still appeared on the 1909 passenger timetable.
Today, the property that once housed the post office and several of the mills is private. Aerial imagery shows evidence of siding grades curving off the main into the area north of the post office site. Other than that, Fields has all but disappeared.
1993 Aerial imagery edited to show possible sidings serving the mills.
The Muskegon and Big Rapids Railroad was incorporated on August 24th, 1871, with the purpose of connecting the namesake towns and to harvest the white pine along the way. Financial backing came from the owners of the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, and the line shared trackage north of Muskegon with another C&MLS subsidiary/branch, the Montague, Pentwater and Manistee, as far as Big Rapids Junction, now known as Berry. On July 27th, 1872, while still under construction, the M&BR was merged into the C&MLS. By the end of 1872, construction had reached Fremont Center and was completed to Big Rapids on July 21st, 1873.
This was a time of rapid railroad expansion and consolidation in Michigan. In 1878, the C&MLS, was reorganized as part of the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad. In late 1899, the C&WM, the Detroit, Grand Rapids & Western Railroad and the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad were purchased and merged into the Pere Marquette Railroad, which began operations January 1st, 1900, a few short years before the end of the railroad building boom in Michigan.
In 1926, with dwindling business, redundant coverage into Big Rapids from Ionia, and competition from the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, the PM abandoned the portion of the original Big Rapids Branch from White Cloud to Big Rapids. Nearly all of the settlements along this portion of the route had already, or would soon disappear.
To claim a prize:
- Download and print the Ticket to Newaygo County form (PDF). See alternate below.
- Find 28 of the 35 cache hides in the table below.
- Find at least five of the seven mystery and multi caches in any combination.
- Record the milepost number from the label or log of each cache you find on a printed copy of the form. Milepost numbers are on cache labels and log book covers.
- Each individual GC account holder making the find must sign and date the paper log book in the cache with their GC account name. No group logs please.
- Optionally, upload a photo of your log entry. Be careful to not include the milepost value in the photo.
- Send the completed form via US Mail to the address on the form. Each GC account holder must send in a form.
Once your answers have been verified, the prize will be sent back to you via US Mail to the address you provide on the form.
The first 95 cachers to complete the tour will be awarded a Silent Whistles pathtag commemorating the Big Rapids Branch of the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad.
One prize per completed form. One prize per GC Account.
Download the Ticket to Ride form:
Click Ticket to Newaygo County (PDF) to download a printable version the form (PDF).
Click Ticket to Newaygo County (PNG) to download an alternate, less clear graphic version of the form.
If you don't have access to a printer, printed copies can be obtained at the Newaygo County Museum and Heritage Center, or by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to the address on the bottom of the form.
Sources:
- Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad
- Chicago and West Michigan Railroad
- Pere Marquette Railroad
- Standard Atlas of Newaygo County, Michigan, G.A. Ogle & Co., 1900
- The October Project, Newaygo County, Michigan
- Lumbering in Newaygo County, Harry L. Spooner, © 1946, Cooper Press, reprinted 1976 by the Newaygo County Historical Archive
- Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, © 1986 Wayne State University Press
- Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies, Graydon M. Meints © 1992, Michigan State University Press
- Michigan Railroad Lines, Graydon M. Meints © 2005, Michigan State University Press
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Visit the Newaygo County Museum and Heritage Center at: 12 Quarterline Road, Newaygo, Michigan (at the downtown light).
Visit the Newaygo County Museum and Heritage Center on Thursday, September 11th, 2014 at 7:00PM for the Heritage Speaker Series topic: Logging and Railroads in Newaygo County by Dr. Carl Bajema. Reservations are required