This cache is on the former grade of the Pennsylvania Railroad, now the White Pine Trail, north of station site at Paris. Parking for biking or hiking is available at the Fish Hatchery. Please do not attempt to access from business parking lots nearby.
GR&I Depot at Paris
Paris was founded in 1865 by John Parish, the first white settler in the area, arriving in 1853. A post office named Paris was opened March 16th, 1866 and a station on the railroad in 1870.
Paris was devastated by fire in May of 1879, burning a several business in the down town district. Fortunately, no lives were lost. It took decades to recover and the town is far less extensive than it was prior to the fire.
Paris Fish Hatchery, 1908.
The state established a fish hatchery here in 1881. Fingerlings were shipped in milk cans via specially modified rail baggage cars all over the state. One of these cars is restored at the hatchery visitor center in Oden in Emmet County. Over the years, the hatchery complex was enlarged and improved. It operated until it was closed by the Department of Natural Respources in 1964. The facility was turned over to Mecosta County and re-opened as Paris Park in 1976.
The GR&I began service 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 trail, a state park, is open to hikers and bicyclists in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter.
Sources:
Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad
Paris Fish Hatchery preserves history and offers free entertainment (video)
Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, L.H.D., © Wayne State University Press, 1986
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