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 day time only cache is north of the the Pere Marquette Railroad grade east of the Hungerford Station site. The cache is hidden at the Hungerford Mountain Bike trail head.
Aerial imagery annotated with M&BR/C&MLS/C&WM/PM
grade in yellow, narrow gauge logging line grade in orange.
Hungerford was established as a lumber camp in the early 1870's. A post office was opened May 3rd, 1876. George French was the first postmaster. The town once had three saw mills, a feed mill, drug store, general store and a hotel.
In 1873, the Ives family, owners of the Ives Lumber Company built a mill on the south shore of Hungerford Lake. A future governor of Michigan, Charles S. Osborn, spent a winter here working in camp as a cookee and chore boy and then in the saw mill and shingle mill. He had run away from his home in Ohio.
By 1877, 100 people lived town and Tibbals & Cannon had added a lumber operation. In 1882, Ives built a narrow-gauge lumber railroad across Hungerford Lake and into his pine bearing properties to the north-west. The little railroad was very busy, hauling up to 15 trips a day. In 1883, only the planing mill portion of the facility was still operating. The Ive's mill burned in 1884.
By 1897, the population was near 150. The lumber industry had moved on, replaced with farm related businesses, including a feed mill. The post office closed on May 14th, 1906. The station was still on the Pere Marquette passenger schedule in 1909, but the population was dwindling.
Today, there are only a few homes or vacation homes in the area. The only business is a interesting looking bed and breakfast on East Hungerford Lake Drive. Much of the area north of the lake is the USFS Hungerford Recreation Area.
Hungerford area, Norwich Township, 1880.
What became the Big Rapids Branch of the Pere Marquette Railroad was incorporated as the Muskegon & Big Rapids Railroad, with backing from the owners of the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad. Construction began in 1872. Before it was completed, the M&BR was consolidated into the C&MLS. The line was completed to Fremont Center by the end of 1872 and service began to Big Rapids on July 21st, 1873. 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.
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 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.
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
- Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad
- Michigan Shore Railroad
- RRHX: This Location
- RRHX Home Page: Railroad History of Michigan
- Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1877, R.L. Polk & Co.
- Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1897, R.L. Polk & Co.
- Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1907, R.L. Polk & Co.
- Atlas of Newaygo County, Michigan, E.L. Hayes, 1880
- 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
[arnc]
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