SWS (RMNE) - Allyn on the M&NE Traditional Geocache

Manistee County Historical Museum

Cache:

This cache was hidden as part of the tRails Meandering North-Easterly Geocache Rail Tour, presented by Silent Whistles, the Manistee County Historical Museum and the Crawford County Historical Society and Museum. Record the milepost value contained on and/or in each cache container on the Ticket to Manistee form. See the To Claim a Prize section below for specific tour requirements. See the Resources section below for links to the Ticket to Manistee, Tour Cache List, and a Recommended Driving Route Map.

You are looking for a soda preform on the grade near the site of Allyn.

^{Atlas of Benzie County, Michigan, C.E. Ferris, 1901, courtesy of the UofM Digital Library.}
1901 Plat of sections 4-9, Inland Township, Benzie County, with Pratt's Post Office shown.

Allyn:

According to the BLM land patent Script no. 1029, record of sale of Federal land, a woman named Mary Allyn homesteaded the southeast corner (160 acres) of section 6, Inland Township, Benzie County in 1868. In 1875, Benzie county records show a Mary Ada Young~Allyn being wed to Horace Barney Pratt. Twenty three years later, when the Manistee and Northeastern Railroad built its Platte River Branch (apparently originally called the Honor branch) through her property in 1898, a woman named Mary A. Pratt, registered owner of that same parcel, applied for and was granted a post office named, Pratt's. The office opened May 16^th, 1899 with Mary A. Pratt as postmaster. This was, very likely, her married name. The 1901 plat above shows the property in her name. The 1915 plat below shows the property in the name of E.H. Allyn, likely a relative, possibly a child from an earlier marriage. This same(?) person had forty acres immediately east of the post office on both plats, though the spelling is different on the earlier plat.

^{Standard Atlas of Benzie County, Michigan, G.A. Ogle, 1915, courtesy of the UofM Digital Library.}
1915 of sections 4-9, Inland Township, Benzie County, with Allyn shown at the same location.

The railroad referred to the place as Allyn or Allyn Station. 1919 Valuation reports, courtesy of Mike Hankwitz, indicate there was a wood frame passenger shelter here. The 1907 Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory lists a population of 60 people. E. Allen and Wm Shults operated saw mills. W. Shults also operated a grocery store and Anthony Simmons had a general store. Mary A. Pratt was still postmaster. The post office closed on July 15^th, 1908.

^{Map by A.G.Hudley © 2017 using Google Earth and Google Maps Engine.}
Platte River Branch with stops. 1898-1924.

M&NE Platte River Branch:

^{1912 M&NE timetable, Mike Hankwitz collection.}

In 1898, construction began on the Platte River Branch, starting from Sherman's Mill, later known as Platte River Junction, 49 miles from Manistee. By December 21^st, 1898, thirteen miles were in service. In 1900, the branch was completed to Empire Junction, 17 miles from Sherman's Mill. At Empire Junction, the railroad interchanged with the Empire and South Eastern Railroad which owned an eleven mile railroad connecting Empire with Empire Junction. E&SE interchanged passengers, freight and logs with the M&ME at Empire Junction.

Sources:

• Manistee and Northeastern Railroad, michiganrailroads.com (RRHX)
• M&NE History, Trainweb.org
• Manistee and Northeastern Railroad (Wikipedia)
• Pere Marquette Historical Society: M&NE
• Manistee County Historical Museum
• Crawford County Historical Society
• History of Manistee and Northeastern Railway Company, Erwin F. Olsen © 1956 E.F. Olsen, UofM Digital Library and HathiTrust.
• Atlas of Benzie County, Michigan , C.C. Ferris, 1901, UofM Digital Library
• Standard atlas of Benzie County, Michigan , G.A. Ogle & Co., 1915 UofM Digital Library
• Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads of the State of Michigan, for years 1889-1906, Google Books
• Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory, Google Books
• 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 Lines, Graydon M. Meints © 2005, Michigan State University Press
• Michigan Railroad Atlas, Volumes 1-4, Graydon M. Meints © 2017, Michigan State University Libraries
• In the Pines, An Atlas of Michigan Logging Railroads, James S. Hannum, M.D., © 2017 Hannum House Publications

To claim a prize:

1. Download and print the Ticket to Manistee (see Resources) and take it with you caching.
2. As an aide, download and print the RMNE Recommended Route Map (see Resources).
3. Follow the instructions on that form to find the required number and combination of the hides.
4. All hides in the tour are identified on the Ticket to Manistee and in the bookmark list.
5. Look for Mile Post values on the cache labels and log books to record on the form.
6. Please do not record the Mile Post values in your on-line log or they will be deleted.
7. Please do not post photos showing the Mile Post values with your on-line log.
8. Please do not post photos showing answers to field puzzles with your on-line log.
9. Each individual GC account holder making the find must sign and date the paper log book in the cache with their GC account name. No group logs please.
10. Send the completed form via US Mail to the address on the form or scan and send a digital copy using GC email or the GC message center. Each GC account holder must send in a form. One prize per completed form. One prize per GC Account. Multiple forms per mailing is encouraged.
    
    Once your answers have been verified, the prize will be sent back to you via US Mail to the address you provide on the form, while supplies last. One hundred prizes have been minted..
    
    

Resources:

• Ticket to Manistee (PDF).
• RMNE Recommended Route Map (PDF).
• SWS (RMNE) Bookmark List on gc.com.
• Bookmark lists for other Geocache Rail Tours:
  • SWS (RAAS): tRails Along the Au Sable (6/2016)
  • SWS (ARNC): Abandoned Railroads of Newaygo County (9/2014)
• Bookmark list for Entire Silent Whistle Series:
  • Silent Whistle Series

Contributors:

I would like to express my special thanks to the following people and organizations who have helped either directly or indirectly with this project:

• Charles Conn for allowing me to use of his collection of photographs at the Clarke Historical Library. Mr. Conn thought this would be a good non-profit way to share some history.
• Mark Fedder and the Manistee County Historical Museum for being gracious cohosts.
• Mike Hankwitz and Charles Showalter, both of whom provided a portion of their digital collection, both private and that of the Manistee County Historical Museum, in support of this project.
• The Crawford County Historical Society for being gracious cohosts and providing materials.
• The Traverse City District Library, for help with and blessing to use their digital library.
• Dr. James Hannum, for sharing research, opinions and guidance along the right of way.
• James Harlow for sharing many items out of his collection and his memories.
• Dale Berry and michiganrailroads.com, always a source of great information.
• Graydon Meints, for his hard work and research which would have taken years to do on my own.