This cache is on the former grade of the Pennsylvania Railroad, now the White Pine Trail, north of the late 1800's station site of Byers. Access from your bike or on foot from Arthur road or Arnold road off New Millpond Road. Do NOT cross the the private land between New Millpond Road and the cache.
1879 plat map of Byers Station and Post Office
Byers started as a small settlement around a shingle mill on the Muskegon River in 1870. The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad erected a station at that time, calling it Byers Station. A post office named Byers was opened on May 11th, 1877 and operated until May 15th, 1902. By 1900, the GR&I station was gone, as was the siding to the river, one mile south.
Lumberman John Sweet of Rodney built the Mecosta Railroad, a three foot gauge lumber line from the Muskegon River west of Byers, to Horsehead/Horseshoe Lake, in section 22 of Martini Township, east of Rodney. This line passed under (most likely) or bridged over the GR&I on its way to the log rollaway at the river bank. The exact location of this line has not been determined. The Mecosta Railroad was abandoned in 1888.
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
Portrait and biographical album, Mecosta county, Michigan/
Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, L.H.D., © Wayne State University Press, 1986
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