This cache is a quick park n grab located at a local tavern in the former village of Englishville. This place can be busy at times so stealth may be needed.
Town: Englishville
Population: Approximately 50 to 70 Permanent residents
Reason for Decline: Many townspeople left when the sawmill that employed them closed. The post office closed due to rural free delivery, in this case from Sparta.
Workers at the English Sawmill stop for a photo. This photo taken in 1889, shows the workers at the right, and the camp cooks to the left.
History: The village of Englishville began around the sawmill of Richard English in 1845. The sawmill provided the workers with timber and other building materials, in hopes of starting a village. It worked. The workers built homes, and their families and other settlers arrived. A one-room schoolhouse was constructed at the village in 1852, and four years later a post office was established. Timber was Englishville's main export but, it was also home to many fruit farms. In early 1872 the rails of the Grand Rapids, Newaygo & Lake Shore Railroad reached the town and a passenger/freight depot was built. The 1873 Michigan State Gazetteer & Business Directory lists the village as having a population 150, a sawmill, three blacksmiths, two general stores, and a wagon maker shop. The village manufactured lumber, and shipped apples and wheat.
The timber eventually did run out and the sawmill closed around the turn of the century. Many who were employed by the mill left in search of work. The post office closed in 1926, due to rural free delivery from Sparta. Farms still thrived at the town until the Great Depression in the 1930's when many of them were abandoned. Today, there are some modern buildings in the former village.
Wood being stacked at Englishville
Notes: The cache is a 50 ml centrifuge tube. This place can be busy at times so stealth may be needed.
Sources:
Michigan State Gazzeteer and Business Directory 1873
