Allegan County Heritage Trail
Tour
The Allegan County Tourist Council has developed a
self-guided tour so that people can discover and have
adventures into the history, sights and sounds of Allegan
County. This
tour will allow people to see historic villages and towns as
well as bountiful farmlands and orchards which were and still
are the backbone of this rural county. More information on the
Heritage Trail Tour can be found at www.allegancounty.org/heritagetrail/. This
tour has numerous stops, but it is not necessary to do them
in order, they can be completed in any order.
We plan to place caches at each historic stop along
this tour. Our
goal with this series is to have fun, but also to enjoy the
beautiful sites of Allegan County. We also hope that we can
bring some history of the area to people who are
interested. Now
let’s get on with our journey.
Welcome to Shelbyville
and Gun Lake
Shelbyville, a station on the Grand Rapids &
Indiana Railroad in 1870, was a typical railroad
town. It was
named after Mr. Shelby who was the first train station agent
there. The
settlement’s name was originally Shelby, but there was
already a town in Michigan by that name so they added the
“ville”.
Some wanted to call the town Meredith after another
resident, but Mr. Meredith didn’t like the idea of the train
conductor calling out his name every time the train went
through town and nixed the idea.
If you are looking for a great place to relax, enjoy a
picnic lunch, or go for a refreshing swim, Gun
Lake is just three short miles form
Shelbyville. To get
there, head east on 124th Ave
and follow it until it ends at Gun
Lake.
You are looking for a micro. Please make sure that you
replace it on its mount. There could be a lot of muggles if
you pick the wrong day to find this one. Have Fun!
Sorry, but no FTF
prize on this one.