This cache is on the former grade of the Pennsylvania Railroad, now the White Pine Trail, north of the site of Ashton station. Parking is available at the park and ride by the freeway. Do not attempt to access this cache from Railroad Street.
Ashton produce being loaded onto a box car :)
Ashton was founded in 1868 by Joseph W. Ash, after it had been determined that place was on the route of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad northward. A post office was opened on January 17th, 1870, called Bates. The village was renamed Ashton two years later.The railroad established a station here, just south of main street, on the east side of the tracks. The remains of the location are easily spotted in a stand of trees there. Also visible on the right of way are foundations of what was likely a feed mill, just north of main street.
In the early years, there was a general store, a druggist, the Exchange Hotel and the Ashton House. There were also two saw mills nearby. The populous also supported Methodist Episcopal and Baptist Churches. The village of Ashton is still an active place with many homes and a few businesses.
Site of the GR&I station at Ashton, just south of Main Street.
1878 plat of a portion of Lincoln Township, Osceola County, Michigan
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 depot photos/
Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad
Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, L.H.D., © Wayne State University Press, 1986
Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies, Graydon Meints © 1992, Michigan State University Press
Michigan RailroadLines, Graydon Meints © 2005, Michigan State University Press
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