CACHE: Cemetery cache. Observe cemetery hours and etiquette. Log book only.
HISTORY: In 1842, Attica Township was set off from Dryden but was already being settled in the southwestern part of the township in an area called Poole, often referred to as South Attica. This settlement is what was needed to establish the township being independent. The township had a few larger lakes making it attractive for mills of all kinds. Once those mills fired up, the railroad came through. It almost skipped Attica by going through Blacks Corners and by Lake Pleasant. The rails skipping Poole brought about it's demise and created growth in present day Attica Village.
LUMBERING: In it's heyday, lumbering was Attica's primary industry and one that brought about Attica's most colorful history. There were several lumber companies in and around the village, but the largest of them were the mills of Isaac Newton Jenness, William Williams and the partners of Lathrop and Drum. L&D mostly milled on Long Lake southeast of town, Jenness had Lake Pleasant and Elk Lake, with Williams setting up on Grass Lake. These mills were so successful, that in 1871 when "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" burned down Chicago, thousands and thousands of board feet of freshly milled wood was sent to Illinois to rebuild. Jobs were plenty here. In fact, when American's were busy with the Civil War, the mills early on desperately needed the manpower, so men from Canada relocated here and eventually sent for their families. After the war, work was still available and both mills were bursting at the seams with orders. Both men's businesses were doing so well that they created their own towns. On the banks of Elk Lake, Jenness started Jennessville. On the banks of Grass Lake, Williams started Williamston. Many property deeds today can find notations of the property being located in one or the other. Since a town of Williamston was already established elsewhere in Michigan, it was denied application for a post office under that name, so Williams chose to rename his section of town Attica for postal purposes.
LITTLE HELL. With this much growth in such a short time, the population of Attica exceeded that of the City of Lapeer for a short while. As you can imagine, a town full of men it had to have been much like the Old West, and it was. The workers from each mill always bragged that their mill was better than the other. This led to a lot of fighting in the streets, fueled no less from alcohol imbibed from one of the 17 saloons around town. The town earned a nickname of Little Hell.
THUMB FIRES. Eventually the mad rush for lumber from the area cooled as the trees vanished, leaving stumps and brush. It was commonplace to burn the brush and stumps from some trees were used as fencing for animals and property line management. It was one such brush burning in a hot, dry day in September that was said to have caused the Thumb Fire of 1881. The actual starting point was unknown, but Attica Township was not untouched, with the fire reaching south and west of the village. Attica's losses were very minimal considering what the rest of the Thumb went through. No known human lives were lost in the township, although there are reports of livestock and cattle who were trapped by the stump fencing.
LIFE AFTER LUMBER. Once the trees were gone, Jenness seemed to move on. William Williams resided here for the rest of his life, raising a family and nurturing the town. He still ran a mill here, logs were railed in, either rolled into Grass Lake or banked next to the tracks, and cut to order, reloaded on the train and shipped to the customers. Williams helped others establish businesses in town during the peak lumber days, so when the mills died down they were still able to thrive afterwards, having their notes paid off. Many men didn't move with the companies, choosing to stay and farm the land that was now cleared of trees. They found farming was very good here despite the numerous swamplands. In the village they had all they'd ever need, grocer, hotel, post office, school, churches, etc. Even though Attica didn't grow like Lapeer did, it still remains a nice place to live and of course do some farming, which has been the township's main industry since the last mills closed.
Visit the museum across the street from this cache or look for the Attica Historical Book in the library if you wish to learn more. I'm sure I'll touch on more history in another cache too.