Michelson Mill, ~1909-1924.
Michelson was a mill town on the Muskegon River near its origins at Houghton Lake. The town was established in 1902 to harvest nearby lumber. Typical of such towns, the timber business was short lived and mills were torn down and often relocated when the timber was gone. An interesting description of Michelson can be found at the archived cache page for MLT Michelson, GCQKKD.
Shingletown at Michelson.
The Missaukee Branch of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad was started in 1882 with a branch line to a lumber camp at Mitchell (Jennings) from the GR&I mainline at Missaukee Junction, north of Cadillac. In 1890, the line was extended from Round Lake Junction to Sands Junction and in 1894, a short branch north was built into Lake City. This construction made the line to from Round Lake Junction to Jennings a branch. Between 1906 and 19089, the branch was extended to Falmouth, via Veneer, and from Veneer to Merritt. In 1912, the line was extended to Michelson. The GR&I was acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1918.
GR&I Michelson Depot.
Lumber was the primary business of the branch until the timber was harvested. Business trended toward agriculture after that, with elevators in Merritt and Falmouth. With more road construction, the need for the rail line diminished. The line was abandoned between Merritt and Michelson in 1930 and between Falmouth Junction (Veneer) and Merritt in 1938. In 1964, the remainder of line was sold to the Cadillac and Lake City Railroad and was operated primarily as both a tourist railroad and common carrier through 1971. The line was abandoned and removed about 1984.
The grade approaching Michelson can be spotted at the Reedsburg dam. Between there and the town site, parts of the grade and parts of the town site itself are under water.
This spot is, unfortunately, a good spot for CITO. Fishermen seem to use the makeshift fire pit as a dump. I've hauled stuff out on my recon trip, but when I dropped off the cache, I didn't have anything to put stuff in.
Sources:
Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad
Cadillac & Lake City Railroad
Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University
Michigan Railroad Lines, Graydon Meints, MSU Press, (c) 2005
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