The site of this cache is on village street right of way near the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad right of way and depot in Lakeview. The depot is now part of the Lakeview Elevator company and is actively used for storage.
"Photo courtesy of Michigan Railroad History (RRHX), Alan Loftis collection."
Pere Marquette Depot, Lakeview, MI, looking new.
Lakeview:
The village of Lakeview was forst settled in 1858 on the site of a Native American camp on Tamarack Lake. It was platted in 1867 by Albert French and was named for its view of the lake. The first post office was established in 1879. A plat map of Cato Township in 1897, below, shows a well developed village around Tamarack Lake. The 1907 Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory listed Lakeview as a thriving community with a population of 1100, several churches, electric lights, hotels, banks, a newspaper, plenty of craftsmen and professionals, many businesses, and a furniture factory. It also had a pickle plant.
Standard Atlas of Montcalm County, Michigan, G.A. Ogle & Co., 1897, courtesy of UofM Digital Library
Portion of 1897 plat of Lakeview, Michigan. Depot is in blue.
Railroad:
The Howard City branch of the Pere Marquette Railroad had its roots in several subsidiaries owned or leased by the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad. The Saginaw and Western was selected to represent the line in the cache title because it completed the branch and it had the longest ownership prior to the Pere Marquette.
In 1873, the Saginaw Valley and St. Louis Railroad built from Saginaw to St Louis. In 1875, the Saginaw and Grand Rapids Railroad connected St. Louis and Alma. Also in 1875, the Chicago, Saginaw and Canada Railroad built the line between St. Louis, Alma, Elwell, Riverdale, Vestaburg and Cedar Lake. In 1878, the CS&C, in receivership, extended the line from Cedar Lake to Edmore where it connected the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad. In 1879, the CS&C extended the line through Six Lakes to Lakeview. In 1883, the CS&C was reorganized as the Saginaw and Western Railroad. In 1886, the S&W extended the line through Amble to Howard City where it connected with the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad and another D&LN line through Greenville to Ionia. In 1897, the S&W, the S&GR and DL&N were reorganized as the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western. In 1899-1900, the DGR&W became part of the Pere Marquette Railroad.
More highways, trucks, and personal automobiles siphoned business away from railroads. Mergers also contributed to some lines being unnecessary. The line between Lakeview and Howard City was abandoned and removed in 1943. The PM became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in 1947. What remained of this line was part of the Grand Rapids Division , which ran from Elmdale, through Lowell, Belding, Greenville, Stanton and to Edmore and then east to Saginaw. In the fifties, sixties and seventies, it was not unusual to see very long trains on this alternate route to Grand Rapids. The C&O was merged into CSX Transportation in 1987. The line was removed between Edmore and Elwell in 1988. The line was abandoned between Alma and Elwell in 2003.
The portion of the old S&W between Edmore and the west side of Alma has become part of the Fred Meijer Trail.
Listing updated 11/1/2013, 3/17/2014, 11/21/17 by aghudley.
Sources:
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