SWS - Borland on the GR&I (PRR) II Traditional Cache

Cache:

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^{" Atlas of Mecosta County, Michigan., E.L. Hayes, 1879, c/o UofM Digital Library"}
1879 plat map of portion of Deerfield Township showing Bell's Crossing.

Boreland

The village of Borland began as a place called Bell's Crossing, on the newly constructed Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad in 1869. The railroad built a siding and a passenger/freight combination depot on land donated by John A. Bell. Mr. Bell, a Canadian immigrant, and farmer, was the first settler at the village. Some ruins in the village site suggest that there was also a watering station but, that is not yet confirmed.

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^{" Atlas of Mecosta County, Michigan., P.A. Myers, 1900, c/o UofM Digital Library"}
1900 plat map of the same portion of Deerfield Township showing Borland PO and Higbee PO.

Bell's Crossing did not get a post office until 1884, when one was established in the village general store. The general store was owned by D. Borland, who the office was named after. With the post office, the village officially became Borland. Over the years Borland was primarily a lumber town but, survived as a farming community into the early 20th Century. The general store operated well into the 1950's but, the post office closed in 1905. Arguably the most interesting character in the late history of Borland, was a man named Chief Elk Horn. For a more in-depth story of the village and the Chief, be sure to check out the "Michigan's Lost Towns" cache, just north on the trail.

^{Photo courtesy of andonbray, © 2015}
Railroad Remnants at Borland, on private property

Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad

The Grand Rapids & Indiana spent thirteen years as a paper company before being built. Service began between Grand Rapids and Cedar Springs on Christmas Day, 1867. By the middle of 1869, the rails were down as far as Morley and on to Paris in the fall of 1870. Trackage was also completed between Grand Rapids and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1871, the GR&I acquired the Cincinnati, Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad Company, extending the GR&I to Cincinnati. Trackage was extending northward as well. By late 1872, a branch was completed between Walton to Traverse City. By the end of 1873, the line reached Petoskey and in 1882, Mackinaw City, becoming the longest north-south line in the country, at that time. As such, it had a large role in the settlement of northern Michigan. In 1886, the railroad also built a line connecting Grand Rapids and Muskegon.

The primary business in the early years was timber and lumber. This shifted to tourism and the GR&I advertised itself as "The Fishing Line". In partnership with the Michigan Central Railroad, the company built and opened the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in 1887. In 1918, the GR&I was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which operated it until 1975. The Michigan DOT purchased it and leased it to the Michigan Northern Railroad until 1984.

Today, most of the line is gone. The portion of the line between Grand Rapids and Cadillac has become the White Pine Trail. The line between Marne and Muskegon has become the Musketawa Trail.

Sources:

• Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad
  
• Pennsylvania Railroad
  
• Michigan Railroad History RRHX
  
• Michigan Ghost Towns of the Lower Peninsula, R.L. Dodge, © 1970 Roy L. Dodge, Glendon Publishing
  
• Michigan Place Names, Walter Romig, Wayne State University Press, © 1986
• Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies, Graydon M. Meints © 1992, Michigan State University Press
• Michigan Railroad Liness, Graydon M. Meints © 2005, Michigan State University Press