SWS (RMNE) - Northport on the TCL&M (C&O) Multi-Cache

Manistee County Historical Museum

Cache:

This is a multi-cache with a field puzzle and is not at the posted coordinates. See the Cache Location section information you need to find the 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.

Cache Location

This is a multi-cache with a field puzzle and is not at the posted coordinates. To determine the location of the cache, go to the posted coordinates and answer the following questions with information from a historical marker. Use the checksums below the puzzle to help verify your results. Ground zero is near the former depot.

• N 45° 07.ABC W 085° 37.DEF
  
  
• A = Number of letters in the fifth word on the fifth line of descriptive text on the east side.
• B = Fourth digit on the third line of descriptive text on the east side.
• C = Number of letters in the last word of descriptive text on the east side.
• D = Fourth digit of the registered local site number.
• E = Number of letters in the first word on the fifth line of descriptive text on the west side.
• F = Number of licensed anglers minus seven hundred thousand.
  
  
• North Checksum: A+B+C = 11, West Checksum: D+E+F = 16

You are looking for a soda preform near a really nice overlook. Make sure you drive to the top for a nice view.

^{Northport Area Historical Association photo collection.}
First depot in Northport, circa 1905, Traverse City, Leelanau and Manistique Railraod.

^{Charles Conn Michigan Railroad Collection, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.}
Northport Depot in Manistee and Northeastern era.

Northport:

Of all the reasons settlements were started in northern Michigan, Northport's is another interesting story. A smallpox epidemic in southwest Michigan in 1848 convinced Chief Peter Waukazoo and the Reverend George Smith to move a band of Ottawa indians from the Black River area near South Haven to the protected harbor area in Grand Traverse Bay. Smith and his family sailed on the schooner Merrill. The indian band paddled their canoes. They established a settlement known as Waukazooville. in 1854, Deacon Joseph Dame and his son, Eusebius, platted land just north of Waukazooville and founded Northport. Later that year, Northport annexed Waukazooville. On June 13^th, 1856, a post office was established with Aaron B. Page, postmaster. William Voice also built a sawmill that year. Due to its safe harbor so close to the big lake, Northport became the most important settlement in the immediate area. When Leelanau County was created, it served as the county seat between the years 1863 and 1883. Northport was incorporated as a village in 1903.

^{Photo courtesy of Mike Hankwitz, used with permission.}
Cherry cannery in Northport. Stack can be seen in the depot photo above.

The cherry industry that is the mainstay of Leelenau County today got its start in Northport on Reverand Smith's farm in the 1850s. Cherry production rapidly grew and, along with potatoes, cordwood, fish and harvested ice, became the town's lifeline With a protected and deep bay, boat traffic was heavy, both for products and people. There were three main docks in the harbor. Northport became a vacation place down lake city dwellers.

^{Photo courtesy of Traverse Area District Library, Grand Traverse Pioneer & Historical Society Collection.}
Cherry cannery from the bay.

When the Traverse City, Leelanau and Manistique Railroad first arrived in 1903, its primary purpose was to use the deep port for cross-lake rail car ferries. That was the reason the upper peninsula town of Manistique was included in the name. A fairly crude station was built. The ferry service didn't pan out and the railroad operators, the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad lost interest. The Manistee and Northeastern Railraod took over operating the TCL&M and some time before 1925, built a fine stone depot. The depot still stands and has been used as a restaurant, an insurance agency, the Northport Area Heritage Association Museum, a retail business and most recently restored as a private residence.

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
• Destination Northport
• Wikipedia: Northport History
• Facebook: Northport Area Heritage Association
• 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.