This cache is hidden on the CIS Trail, formerly the grade of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad.
Burton (Mungerville P.O.), 1895, D&M, DGH&M depot in red.
Burton:
A station was established on the Detroit and Milwaukee railroad in Burton, first known as Mungerville. A post office was established on January 22nd, 1864, with Philander Munger as postmaster. By 1877, the population was 100, with a blacksmith shop, and a general store and lumber outlet. There was a sawmill on the west side of town. In 1878, the name was changed to Burton. By 1897, the settlement included a wagonmaker, notary public, stock buyer, grocery, druggist and a physician. The post office was closed on January 31, 1936. The date the station was closed is unknown, but a 1938 Grand Trunk Western timetable still shows Burton as a flag stop for daily trains 19 Westbound and 22 Eastbound between Grand Rapids and Detroit. Today, there are still several homes in the area and convenience store just south of town, on M-21.
The D&M:
The Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad was created in 1855 as a consolidation of the Oakland and Ottawa Railroad and the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad. The D&M then built a cross-state line from Pontiac to Grand Haven where a cross-lake ferry service was established. The line reached Owosso on July 1st 1856, St. Johns on January 14th1857, and Ionia on August 12th, 1857.
In 1878, the D&M went into receivership and was purchased by the Great Western Railroad, who reorganized it as the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee. In 1882, the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada gained control of the Great Western. On November 1st, 1928 the DGH&M was merged into the Grand Trunk Western, a subsidiary of theCanadian National Railway.
In 1930, the GTW moved its cross-lake car ferry service from Grand Haven to Muskegon and operated it there until 1977, abandoning its route to Grand Haven and eventually purchasing a line west of Marne and into Muskegon from the Pennsylvania Railroad. After the ferry service ended, business declined. In 1987 the line from Owosso to Muskegon was sold to Central Michigan Railroad. In 1993, the Grand Rapids and Eastern bought the portion between Fuller (in Grand Rapids) and Ionia and operates it as far as Lowell, primarily serving the flour mill there. The portion from Lowell to Ionia was abandoned and has become the Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Trail. The portion from Owosso to Ionia has just become the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail.
For additional fun:
While you are in town, be sure and visit the Steam Railroading Institute at 405 South Washington Street for an interesting tour through railroad history. Click on the link in the Sources for more information.
Sources:
- Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad, Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway
Grand Trunk Western Railroad
- Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail
- Steam Railroading Institute, Owosso, MI
- 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.
- Michigan Railroads & Railroad Companies, Meints, Graydon M., Michigan State University Press, © 1992./li />
- Michigan Railroad Lines, Meints, Graydon M., Michigan State University Press, © 2005.
- Michigan Place Names, Romig, Walter, Wayne State University Press, © 1986.
[agh]
