Milton Junction site, Manistee Branch Grade diverged left of the bush and was obliterated by the freeway.
Milton Junction
Orono was first settled in 1875 at a place in Lincoln Township on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad known then known as McDonald's Switch, in the south-west corner of section 21, on the north side of Eight Mile road. A post office was established on November 5th, 1875 and was given the name Orono. The railroad followed suit, renaming the station. According to the 1877 Gazetteer and 1878 plat map, it had a store and post office, a hotel and store, a freight House and depot and bowl factory. A school was just across the road in the north-west corner of section 28.
Orono and McDonald's Switch, original location, 1878 plat
When the GR&I constructed a logging branch to Luther in 1882, it joined the main line at Milton Junction, about two-thirds of a mile north of McDonald's Switch and Orono. For a time, the railroad maintained stops at both Orono and Milton Junction. Gradually, the village of Orono moved from its original location to a point just north of Milton Junction and re-established itself there. The 1900 plat, below, shows the village of around 50 people in its new location. The village boasted a hotel, saw and feed mill, a second saw mill and two stores, and a black smith, in addition to the railroad station.
Milton Junction and Orono (second location), 1900 plat
The Railroad
It is not known how long the settlement of Orono lasted after the Manistee Branch was abandoned. The post office was open until 1925. Both the Manistee Branch and Orono show up on plat maps as late as the 1940s, although the branch was reported abandoned much earlier. Perhaps the line was abandoned in place. At the very least, the scrap drive of WWII would have resulted in the removal of any remaining rails. The US-131 freeway corridor has obliterted all signs of Orono, McDonald's Switch and Milton Junction
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.
What came to be known as the Manistee Branch of the GR&I was constructed from Milton Junction, just north of the original location of Orono, to Luther and Carey in 1882. On September 23rd, 1885, the Grand Rapids, Indiana and Manistee Rail Road Company was incorporated with $450,000 of capital and the intent to extend this line to Manistee. This extension was never constructed. By 1904, with the timber harvest completed, the Manistee Branch and all of its spurs was abandoned. The recently constructed Manistee and Grand Rapids Railroad, a common carrier, made the Manistee Branch redundant. GR&I System maps of the day showed a connection with the M&GR from Tustin to Manistee.
Today, most of the GR&I mainline 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.
The Cache:
This cache is on the former Pennsylvania Railroad right of way, now the White Pine Trail, at the site of Milton Junction (railroad name) and the second location of Orono (post office).
Sources:
- Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1877, R.L. Polk & Co.
- Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1897, R.L. Polk & Co.
- Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1907, R.L. Polk & Co.
- Atlas of Osceola County, Michigan, E.L. Hayes, 1878
- Plat Book of Osceola County, Michigan, P.A. Myers, 1900
- Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, © 1986 Wayne State University Press
- Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies, Graydon M. Meints © 1992, Michigan State University Press
- Michigan Railroad Liness, Graydon M. Meints © 2005, Michigan State University Press
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