Daytime Only! This cache is located on the former grade of the Pennsylvania Railroad, now the Muskatawa Trail, at the former village of Reno. Please obey trail rules.
Village of Reno, 1897 Plat
The little village of Reno began in 1886, with the construction of the Muskegon, Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. A combination depot was constructed just south of Cleveland Street and houses and shops popped up around it. The village was granted a post office on January 14, 1887, located in the general store of J.L. Covey. The 1897 State Gazzeteer lists Reno as a village of 25 inhabitants, with a General Store, Two Blacksmiths, and a Sawmill. Due to its location in the center of Wright Township, Reno was selected as the location of the Township Hall. The old township hall was eventually abandoned in favor of a new one built elsewhere but, it still remains today, just west of the trail crossing. An interesting read about a death along the tracks near Reno can be found below.
According to a record of Ottawa County court cases, a man was killed on GR&I right-of-way near the station at Reno. In January of 1910, a man drove from his home to the town of Reno. The man was a commission merchant, engaged in buying, loading, and shipping farm produce at stations in the vicinity of Reno. The man left his team of horses at the village blacksmith shop and proceeded to walk south on the tracks, to the town of Herrington. While returning, the engineer of the south bound GR&I train saw him walking between the rails, in vicinity of the Reno depot. Four hundred and seventy feet north of this station the track was crossed by a highway, the main street in Reno. When the engineer whistled for this street crossing, the man went outside of the rails and a moment later when the whistle was given, he stepped further away and on his way toward the village. Within about 60 feet from the locomotive, he was seen by the fireman to hesitate, turn partly around and place his hands on his chest, and fall on the track. The fireman testified his face had a peculiar look a confused or muddled. There was snow on the ground at the time to the depth eight inches and at the point where he was struck it nearly two feet deep owing to the fact that snow had thrown out and away from a switch near by. The man was 52 years of age and in good health although wife testified that he was not feeling well when he was home that morning. It is argued from these facts the man came to his death from his own carelessness and from unnecessary exposure to obvious risk of and obvious danger and that the trial court was in refusing to so instruct the jury.
Old Wright Township Hall at Reno
The Muskegon, Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad was incorporated January 18th, 1886, under the control of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. The GR&I formally leased the MGR&I on June 9th of that year. The first train reached Muskegon from Grand Rapids on November 4, 1886. Construction was completed by December 1st. The MGR&I branched off the GR&I at Muskegon Junction, near Fuller Street in Grand Rapids, and terminated on the shores of Muskegon Lake.
The GR&I, under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad, purchased the MGR&I outright on May 5th, 1917. The MGR&I became the Muskegon branch of the GR&I. On January 1st, 1921, the GR&I was leased in perpetuity by the PRR and the company began to lose its identity, with equipment gradually repainted for the parent PRR.
The line from Walker to Muskegon was abandoned on December 14th, 1989. The remainder of the line, from Muskegon Junction to Walker had previously been abandoned in two phases, in 1961 and 1983.
Between 1997 and 2000, the twenty-five mile portion of the line from north of Marne to Muskegon was developed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, with considerable help from the Friends of the Musketawa Trail. The resulting Muskatawa Trail is popular with geocachers, cyclers, hikers and horseback riders in the summer and cross country skiers and snowmobilers in the winter.
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