This daytime only cache is located on the former grade of the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, in the small hamlet of Crisp. This cache has been placed with permission of the property owner, who wished this disclaimer be posted. No night caching, please be respectful of the property, The property & cache owners are NOT responsible for any injuries acquired while searching for this geocache.
Photo courtesy of Olive Township Historical Society.
Niehuis General Store at Crisp.
Crisp, also known as South Olive, was a farming community in the latter half of the 19th century. It is not confirmed but, it's likely that the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad stopped here for loading produce from the farms. At the time the area was home to many wheat, corn, potato, and fruit farms. The lack of evidence that this settlement was ever a station on the CM&LS doesn't mean the train never stopped here. This could have been a whistle stop, meaning the train may have stopped to pick up or drop off someone at a designated point.
The Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad was chartered in 1869 and built north from New Buffalo to St. Joseph, opening on February 1st, 1870. The line was extended to Grand Junction in northern Van Buren County on February 28th, 1871, and through Waverly (outside Holland) to Nunica by June 30th, 1871. At Nunica, the line connected with the track that had been built in 1870 from Muskegon to Nunica. The C&MLS was in competition with the Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, already operating a line between Allegan, through Holland to Muskegon by 1870. In 1876 the C&MLS went into receivership and reorganized as the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad. In 1881 the C&WM , along with three other lines, including the Grand Haven Railroad(formerly the Michigan Lake Shore) reorganized as the Chicago & West Michigan Railway. This left the C&WM Ry with two lines between Holland and Muskegon, The C&MLS line was superfluous and Waverly to Fruitport was abandoned by the end of 1881. The abandonment was very secretive, and spawned a few law suits from lumber companies that the line had served. On a Sunday in 1881, a C&MLS locomotive ran from Fruitport to Waverly, picking up rails and ties. This left many small towns along the line in economical shock, and left them to be abandoned.
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