SWS (RMNE) - Suttons Bay on the TCL&M (C&O) Mystery Cache

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.

This is a mystery cache and is not at the posted coordinates. To determine the coordinates, solve this puzzle using information from the cache page:

• N 44° 56.ABC W 085° 38.DEF
  
  
• A = Second digit of the year the Traverse City, Leelanau and Manistique Railroad built through town.
• B = Fourth digit of the year the GR&I reneged on its agreement to operate the TCL&M.
• C = Fourth digit of the year car ferry service was terminated for the second time.
• D = Fourth digit of the year the village of Suttons Bay was incorporated.
• E = Fourth digit of the first year the line was revived and operated by the Leelanau Scenic Railway.
• F = Fourth digit of the year a post office was opened with the name Sutton's Bay.
• 
  
  

You are looking for a soda preform on the Leelanau Trail south of town. This is actually near a one time stop on the railroad called Leelanau. Park beyond the trail crossing, not before it, to maintain visibility for trail users.

^{Charles Conn Michigan Railroad Collection, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.}
Southbound train pulling into the station at Suttons Bay.

Suttons Bay:

What would become the village of Suttons Bay was begun in 1854 when one Harry C. Sutton and his crew began cutting timber and built a dock to supply fuel for passing wood burning steamboats. The business was called Sutton's Station. The settlement became known as Suttonsburg. In 1860 (some sources say 1871, but that doesn't agree with postal records) a Catholic missionary priest and real estate operator, Father Andrew Herbstritt, bought land from the Sutton's and platted six thousand lots to build Pleasant City and a National University on the bay. The enterprise failed.

^{Charles Conn Michigan Railroad Collection, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.}
Loads of what look to be potatoes heading for the produce warehouse and perhaps the refrigerator parked by it.

A post office was opened on August 27^th, 1861, with the name Sutton's Bay. with Sutton himself as the postmaster. The 1877 Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory reported a population of 175 with two steam saw mills, ships lumber, cordwood and potatoes, along with three churches and two schools. In 1894, the name of the post office was changed to Suttons Bay (without the apostrophe). By 1897, the population was up to 600 with a long list of businesses. The village was incorporated in 1898.

The Traverse City, Leelanau and Manistique Railroad built through town in 1903 and was operated for its first decade and a half by the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad and later by the Manistee and Northeastern Railroad. Even though the railroad had some rocky years early on, it contributed greatly to the growth of the community. The classic stone depot still stands and is now a law office.

Northport Branch:

^{Map by A.G.Hudley © 2018 using Google Earth and Google Maps Engine.}

The Northport Branch of the M&NE started life as a separate entity, not affiliated with the M&NE. The Traverse City, Leelanau and Manistique Railroad Company was incorporated on November 20^th, 1901. It's purpose was to provide a port for railroad car ferry operations for the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad between Michigan's Peninsulas. The GR&I owned twenty-five percent of the TCL&M. On October 2^nd, 1902, an agreement was made between the TCL&M and the M&NE to operate TCL&M trains over M&NE trackage between Hatchs Crossing and Traverse City. The line was completed June 28^th, 1903. The GR&I actually operated (without a written agreement) the TCL&M and began operating the railroad car ferry service later shortly after the line opened.

From the beginning, the car ferry service between Northport and Manistique was problematic and was ceased late in 1903. The service was restarted in 1905, but did not last long. The TCL&M fell victim of a foreclosure sale to Union Trust Company on April 27^th, 1907. On September 19^th, 1908, the railroad was reorganized as the Traverse City, Leelanau and Manistique Railway. Car ferry service was terminated for a second time in 1908.

Problems continued for the TCL&M. On March 1^st, 1914, the GR&I reneged on its agreement to operate the railroad. The property sat idle for five years. A group of citizens created the Leelanau Transit Company and purchased the assets of the TCL&M on May 23^rd of that year. The line was leased to the Manistee and Northeastern on June 6^th, becoming the Northport Branch. The lease was transferred to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad when the M&NE was merged into that company. The C&O operated the line until 1982, when the lease was canceled.

The line was revived between 1989 and 1995 and was operated by the Leelanau Scenic Railway which operated dinner and other excursion trains over the line. In 1995, the line was abandoned. The Leelanau Trail purchased fifteen miles of the former MINE and LTC grade between M-72 in Greilickville and the north side of Suttons Bay and converted it into a paved rail trail, connecting with the TART Trail System. This trail is very popular and gets constant use in the summer months.

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 Leelanau County, Michigan, C.E. Ferris, 1900, UofM Digital Library
• Traverse Area District 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.