This cache is located on the former grade of the Pennsylvania Railroad near the former station site at Belmont. The grade is now the White Pine Trail State Park, please obey trail rules and no night caching.
The village of Belmont was established in 1867 when the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad laid track through the site on its route between Grand Rapids and Cedar Springs. The new town was granted a post office and a railroad depot was built. The settlement was platted and recorded in 1870 as the Village of Belmont. The 1875 Michigan State Gazetteer & Business Directory lists the village has having a population of 100 and a station on the GR&I. Lumber, shingles, flour, apples, and potatoes are shipped. The village businesses included a general store, flouring mill, a physician, a hotel, and a lawyer.
1907 plat of Belmont, depot is marked in red.
The first track laid by the GR&I between Belmont and Rockford when straight through Belmont and over the Rogue River. It continued to wind its way along to Rockford and ended up crossing the Rogue River six times. This route was very problematic from the start, at times the trains could not run between the two towns because of flooding problems. It was also expensive to maintain as the floods often blew out the light wooden trestles that were used to cross the Rogue River. Around the turn of the century, the GR&I abandoned its first track between the two towns. They built new track that curved to the north from Belmont, taking the higher ground to Rockford. This new route avoided crossing the river multiple times and was left with just one crossing, just south of Rockford. When the new track was built, the first .45 miles of the first track was kept to continue service to the Belmont Northern Ice Company.
GR&I Belmont to Rockford Comparison Map. Blue ~ first route, Red ~ second route
The Grand Rapids & Indiana spent thirteen years as a paper company before being built. Service began between Grand Rapids and Cedar Springs on Christmas Day, 1867. By the middle of 1869, the rails were down as far as Morley and on to Paris in the fall of 1870. Trackage was also completed between Grand Rapids and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1871, the GR&I acquired the Cincinnati, Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad Company, extending the GR&I to Cincinnati. Trackage was extending northward as well. By late 1872, a branch was completed between Walton to Traverse City. By the end of 1873, the line reached Petoskey and in 1882, Mackinaw City, becoming the longest north-south line in the country, at that time. As such, it had a large role in the settlement of northern Michigan. In 1886, the railroad also built a line connecting Grand Rapids and Muskegon.
The primary business in the early years was timber and lumber. This shifted to tourism and the GR&I advertised itself as "The Fishing Line". In partnership with the Michigan Central Railroad, the company built and opened the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in 1887. In 1918, the GR&I was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which operated it until 1975. The Michigan DOT purchased it and leased it to the Michigan Northern Railroad until 1984.
Today, most of the line is gone. The portion of the line between Grand Rapids and Cadillac has become the White Pine Trail. The line between Marne and Muskegon has become the Musketawa Trail.
Sources:
Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad.
Pennsylvania Railroad.
"Michigan Place Names", Walter Romig, © 1986 Wayne State University Press
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