SWS - Freeport on the L&H (PM) Traditional Geocache

This cache is on Kent County road right of where the Pere Marquette Railroad once crossed Duck Creek. The grade, and the site for a trestle, are clearly visible. Don't climb the grade, as it is on private property. Please do NOT record the milepost (mp) value from the cache log sheet in your log or in an image attached to your log. This is for an upcoming challenge.

^{"Photo courtesy of Michigan Railroad History (RRHX), Alan Loftis collection."}
Pere Marquette depot, Freeport, Michigan.

Freeport:

The village of Freeport, in the north-east corner of Barry County, on and on the banks of the Coldwater River, was founded in the mid 1800s by brothers Michael and Samuel Rouch, from Freeport, Ohio. The village was platted in 1874. Freeport got a station on the fledgling Lowell and Hastings Railroad, and a post office, 1878. Samuel Rouch was the first Postmaster. The village was incorporated in 1907. The railroad originally intended to reach Hastings, but that was never realized.

Lowell and Hastings Railroad:

The L&H got its start in 1883 when the Kalamazoo, Lowell and North Michigan Railroad was incorporated as a 3' gauge line to build a 68 mile long line from Kalamazoo, via Hastings and Lowell to Smyrna. The line was never constructed. The rights to the proposed line were sold the Hastings, Lowell and Northern Michigan on August 29^th, 1883 (north of Hastings), and on December 31^st, 1884 to the Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw (south of Hastings). The HL&NM was incorporated on May 18^th, 1883 to build the 32 miles from Hastings to Smyrna, as a standard gauge line. The HL&NM was, in turn, sold to the Lowell and Hastings Railroad on May 31^st, 1887.

The L&H had a more modest goal of connecting Hastings with Lowell. Construction was completed and the line opened in December, 1887, on the segment from Freeport to Lowell. The line was graded to the south edge of Freeport, but was never extended to Hastings. On May 1^st, 1899, the L&H was sold to the Grand Rapids, Belding and Saginaw Railroad, which extended the line from Lowell to Belding, opening that line on January 1^st, 1900, under control of the Pere Marquette Railroad. The PM purchased the GRB&S outright in 1903. The line north of Elmdale, to Belding, Greenville, Stanton, Edmore, and points east became part of the Pere Marquette main line between Grand Rapids and Saginaw, and saw heavy traffic for several decades. The portion of the original L&H between Elmdale and Freeport was abandoned by the Pere Marquette in 1935.

Sources:

• Grand Rapids, Belding and Saginaw Railroad
• Pere Marquette Railroad
• RRHX: Michigan Railroad History Home Page
• Michigan Railroad Lines. Meints, Graydon M. Michigan State University Press, © 2005.
• Michigan Railroads & Railroad Companies. Meints, Graydon M. Michigan State University Press, © 1992.
• Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, © 1986 Wayne State University Press