The Geocache hide itself does *NOT* require you to climb ON or UNDER the caboose.
The Geocache is *not* hidden anywhere that requires anything to be taken-apart.
Thank you.
The "Witch's Hat" Depot currently
The city of South Lyon, located in present day Lyon Township within Oakland County, with the first noted settlers of the area being around 1817. The official "start" of the proper settlement began around 1832 under the name "Thompson’s Corner", given the name from one of the original founders, William Thompson. The "center" of the settlement was the current-day intersection of Pontiac Trail and 10-mile roads.
The area around the settlement was mostly marsh land and the primary way of travel was through horse and wagon which was pretty rough due to harsh winters and muddy, rainy roads.
In 1833, the residents of the current day Lyon Township petitioned the State legislature to set aside 36 square miles for a township that they wished to have named “Fruitland”. This was not because there was an abundance of fruit or fruit groves, but as a refernce to the future of settling the virgin landscape to "bear fruits of the labor" that they had envisioned.
Lucius Lyon (February 26, 1800 – September 24, 1851) was a U.S. statesman from the state of Michigan. He served as a Delegate to the U.S. House from Michigan Territory (1833-1835), a U.S. Senator from Michigan (1837-1839), and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's second congressional district (1843-1845).
The State legislature instead decided to honor the senator Lucius Lyon and was Michigan's first U.S. State Senator. Lyon had had come to Michigan in 1821 as a surveyor, working on the Ohio/Michigan border dispute, and also the process of getting Michigan admitted to the Union, as well as the process of acquisition of the Upper Peninsula to be part of the State of Michigan.
Thompson’s Corner Obtained their first post office in 1847 and, because of it’s location in the township, the little settlement obtained its name of “South Lyon”, but was still a small wilderness settlement in the very young state that had only been created a few years prior.
1920's view
The first church service in the settlement was held in 1842 in a Methodist church, and soon thereafter there was a Presbyterian church across the street along with a Lutheran and Catholic church to serve the residents of the area.
The middle 1800’s saw a boom in interest toward the railroad industry. Railroads were being built on a massive scale and many different railroad companies started during this time. There was a chaotic buying spree of land throughout lower Michigan as these new railroad companies edged to be the first and best. South Lyon just happened to be in the middle of a route from Detroit towards Lansing along with Pontiac, Jackson, and Ann Arbor. This brought many railroads into town, and therefore, travelers.
View from the southeast, unknown date
South Lyon was a busy railroad town in the late 1800’s. In 1871, the first railroad line to enter into the settlement of Thompson’s Corner was the Detroit, Lansing, and Northern. This railroad was later renamed to the Pere Marquette, followed by Chesapeake and Ohio, and finally the CSX. After the settlement was incorporated into a town in 1873, two more railroads came into the now South Lyon. In 1881, the Toledo and Ann Arbor built a spur into town that was supposed to continue on to Pontiac, but wouldn’t until the rail road changed names later on. The final railroad that had a line through South Lyon entered in 1883 and was the Grand Trunk. This railroad went from Pontiac to Jackson and finally up to Battle Creek.
The Grand Trunk rail road was originally not supposed to come to South Lyon. It’s original destination was to go from Pontiac through Wixom and to go along the Huron River. The route was later changed to connect with the Ann Arbor railroad in South Lyon and then head west through Rushton, toward Jackson.
The first depot was built in 1871 with the Detroit, Lansing, and Northern Railroads coming to town. This depot was located at the north-side of present-day East Lake Street, at the northwestern "corner" of the track-intersection of the Grand Trunk and Pere Marquette (now CSX) railroads.
1960's view - wintertime
With a population of about 400, the settlement was finally incorporated into a village in the year 1873 and the town was gaining popularity and notariety for their dairy farming. The farmers of the area would often send Detroit upwards of 250 cans of milk per day over the railroads. The town was a bustling railroad central with three different railroads running tracks through the town and the Depot was usually busy as the focal point for the town with all the mercantile traffic routing through it.
The railroads would provide goods and materials, as well as fresh faces coming to the area of South Lyon and positively contributed to the boom in the railroad industry in the small town.
1950s view
In 1881, there was a spur from Toledo and Ann Arbor rail road created to connect South Lyon to Ann Arbor because of the amount of commerce taking place. However it would be removed in 1891 due to a few socio-economic factors including the great fire in the thumb of Michigan which caused a lack of interest in expanding business towards that area. This change of direction from the thumb toward the Northwestern portion of the state meant that the resources were going to follow where they were most-needed, and so the spur was removed and added elsewhere.
The original Depot served the area well, up until the morning of Sunday, June 28, 1908, when a spark from a passing excusion train caused a fire in the all-wood-construction building.
Sunday, June 28, 1908 original Depot
As it was a Sunday morning, most of the volunteer fire fighters were in church and slow to react to the fire. The original Depot building was a total and complete loss.
The replacement structure would be built in its place and completed the next year in 1909. The design features a rounded front and a distinctive, conical roof. Because of this roofline view, the Depot's was quickly given the name: "The Witch's Hat".
1909 still under construction
However, by the time this one-story "Queen Anne"-style depot was erected by Grand Trunk Western Railroad, only two rail lines came to South Lyon.
1910s "New Depot" photo
Progress came to the area with South Lyon gaining the designation of "City" in 1930 and the Depot would continue to serve the public and commerce alike.
For more than 45 years, the Witch’s Hat Depot brought cargo and passengers along the two intersecting rail lines, serving as a waypoint between the towns of Pontiac and Jackson before it was closed in 1955.
The Witches Hat Depot was vacant for the next two decades before it was bought by the township in 1975.
The restoration came to be because of efforts by local residents to keep it from being demolished and hopefully repurposed. The building was moved from the original location on East Lake Street to McHattie Park in 1976 as part of a bicentennial project and it now serves as the focal point for the historic village.
Original Station Location : approx. N 42° 27.690 W 083° 38.800
The interior of the depot has been preserved to show what a turn-of-the-century train depot would look like and the information available here is an excellent resource for railroad buffs or those who simply want to know more about the history of South Lyon.
The former Grand Trunk railway that once ran the eastern side of the original depot location was removed in the early 1980's. IT served the city of South Lyon and has now been replaced with one section of the South Lyon City Trails for the purpose of hiking/biking/walking (and of course, Geocaches).
C&O Caboose, added 1982
The caboose is a unique and fun attraction for the area, with railroad buffs, children and the simply curious enjoying the Chesapeake & Ohio caboose that dates from 1926. The interior is furnished as much as it might have been when in daily use by the rail road workers and was added to the site in 1982.
*Sources: Google, South Lyon Historical Society, South Lyon Fire Department, Wikipedia, misc. others