USA > Michigan > A History of Northern Michigan and Its People, Volume I > Part 57
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The county seat was temporarily located at Omer, on the Rifle river, Arenac township. Besides that place, Standish and Sterling were con- tenders for the honor, Standish being finally selected.
STANDISH, THE COUNTY SEAT
Standish, a city of about eight hundred people, is located in the southern part of the county, on the middle branch of the Pine river and the main north-and-south line of the Michigan Central railroad. It is five miles west of Saginaw bay. Standish became a village in 1893 and a city in 1903. It has broad, well paved streets lighted by electricity and carries altogether a general atmosphere of substantial prosperity. As the county seat it is the natural center of much of the political and social activity of the county, and is also the center of its education sys- tem. for besides its well organized union school of twelve grades it is the seat of the County Normal. Four or five churches are established institutions for good. A creditable court house and opera house also give it standing. to say nothing of the fair grounds of the Arenac County Agricultural Society which annually attract many exhibitors and visitors. A creamery and cheese factory, flour mill, cooperage works, overall manufactory, brick and tile factory and several prosper- ous houses dealing in grain, seeds and agricultural implements, as well as a creditable array of general and retail stores, are partial indications of the business and industrial activities of the county seat. The State Bank of Standish, with a capital of $35,000, is a special institution which adds to the financial stability of the place.
OMER CITY
Omer City, the original county seat of Arenac county, is located almost in its geographical center, on the Rifle river six miles from Saginaw bay and on the main line of the Detroit & Mackinac railway. It was incorporated as a city in 1903, and has a population of nearly four hundred people. A good Union school, four churches and a variety of industries, with well stocked retail stores, are features of Omer City which tell the story of its morality, intelligence and business solidity. Its manufactories include roller flour mills, saw and stave mills, cream-
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
ery and cheese factory, and a plant for making paving and foundation brick.
AU GRES AND TWINING
Au Gres, on the branch of the Detroit & Mackinac railway which runs from the main line at Omer City, is on the Au Gres river a short distance from Saginaw bay. A place of less than three hundred people, it was never a village but was incorporated as a city in 1905. It has a bank, a shingle mill, a cooper shop, a number of general and retail stores, and is the center of a fair trade.
Twining, of about the same size as Au Gres City, was incorporated as a village in 1903. It is situated five miles north of Omer City, on the Detroit & Mackinac line, and has a bank, sawmill and a fair array of stores. It is also the center of quite an active produce trade.
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CHAPTER XXVII OSCEOLA AND LAKE COUNTIES
PRODUCTS AND POPULATION OF OSCEOLA-HERSEY, THE COUNTY SEAT- REED CITY VILLAGE-EVART-MARION-TUSTIN AND LEROY-LAKE COUNTY-POPULATION FROM 1890 TO 1910-ORGANIC AND PIONEER HISTORY-VILLAGES
Osceola is one of the most prosperous of the central counties of the southern peninsula of Michigan. From the late sixties, until well toward the nineties, its territory was virtually given up to the lumber industries and, in view of the fact that her development in the argricul- tural industries has scarcely covered twenty years, her progress has been rapid indeed. Of the 367,247 acres comprising her area, it is estimated that 204,847 acres are already devoted to farm and grazing lands, produce and fruit-raising. Fortunately, many of those who ac- cumulated money in the pineries have remained to invest it in these later and more diversified products of the soil, the permanent profits from which depend more on patience, skill, scientific knowledge and protracted labor than did the wealth realized by the pioneer lumber- men from the pineries of Northern Michigan.
PRODUCTS AND POPULATION
The soil, climate, seasons, drainage and other physical conditions of Osceola county are especially favorable to the raising of potatoes, hay, clover and beans and the development of the livestock industries. There are thousands of acres of land yielding extra fine grades of crim- son, medium and giant clover, with remarkably large and thrifty timothy ; besides there are large areas of grass, pasture and stock-graz- ing lands. With plenty of low-priced lands to furnish forage, the farmers of the county have every incentive to push the dairy interests.
Large crops of white navy, red kidney and other beans are also raised on contract with business houses, the mixture of sand and loam in the soil of many tracts being the exact requisite. Of course fruit farming in Osceola county is in its infancy, although even now her shipments of apples-Spy, Duchess, Russet and late fall-are consid- erable. The cereals have all been raised successfully and as an agri- cultural auxiliary. the raising of poultry, both for eggs and the mar- ket, is being profitably conducted.
Efforts along all these lines which have resulted in such substantial
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good to the county have been concentrated and encouraged through the Osceola County Agricultural Society, one of the first organizations of the kind in the central counties of Northern Michigan, and a sketch of which is given hereafter.
The figures showing the population of Osceola county at the conclusion of the past three decades, as presented by the United States census
338882
A FARM HOME IN OSCEOLA COUNTY
bureau, are further illustrative of its present status and continuous development.
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Burdell township (including Tustin Village) . .
1,183
1,359
734
Tustin Village
371
303
Cedar township
249
314
336
Evart township (including part of Evart Village)
1,077
1,194
1,215
Evart Village (part of)
411
425
432
Total for Evart Village in Evart and Osceola townships
1,386
1,360
1,269
Hartwick township
652
540
417
Hersey township including Hersey Village. Hersey Village
1,064
1,157
908
Highland township
1,417
792
326
LeRoy township including LeRoy Village. LeRoy Village
331
375
452
Lincoln township
1,020
1,250
1,084
Marion township including Marion Village Marion Village
1,562
1,253
1,042
Middle Branch township
520
518
219
Orient township
673
758
707
Osceola township, including part of Evart Village
1,705
1,697
1,550
Evart Village (part of)
975
935
837
Richmond township, including Reed
City
Village
2,855
3,401
3,064
310
327
328
1,033
1,312
1,087
767
741
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Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Reed City village
1,690
2,051
1,776
Rose Lake township
704
659
627
Sherman township
1,451
1,002
810
Sylvan township
724
653
504
Totals
17,889
17,859
14,630
HERSEY, THE COUNTY SEAT
In 1840 the towns numbered 17, 18, 19 and 20 north, of ranges 7, 8, 9 and 10 west, were laid off as the county of Unwattin, and its name was
OSCEOLA COUNTY COURT HOUSE, HERSEY
changed to Osceola, in honor of the Seminole chief by that name, by an act of the legislature approved March 8, 1843. Osceola county was not organized as an independent civil body until 1867, when the county seat was established at the locality called Hersey where a few settlers had settled. The village was incorporated by the legislature in 1875, and is now a place of about three hundred people. It is located at the con- fluence of the Hersey and Muskegon rivers on the Pere Marquette rail- road. The good water power at that point was its greatest original at- traction in the old lumbering days, and a sawmill and large roller flour mill are still in operation. Hersey has also a well-built electric light and power plant. With a substantial bank, a modern creamery, a depot for the sale of agricultural implements, stores thoroughly stocked, and backed by a promising adjacent country, the county seat has a solid
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
standing aside from its official position as the center of the county gov- ernment. A Union school graded and conducted under the present-day system and three churches, supported by Congregationalists, Methodists and those of the German Evangelical faith, stand for the higher life of the community.
REED CITY VILLAGE
The village of Reed City in the southwestern portion of Osceola county, at the junction of the Pere Marquette and Grand Rapids & In- diana railroads, is also four miles west of Hersey, the county seat. It is
MAIN STREET, REED CITY
also finely located on the Hersey river, a stream noted for its trout and grayling, as well as for its excellent water power. The natural advan- tages of its location and the business judgment of its founders and pro- moters have made Reed City one of the best interior towns of Northern Michigan. It was incorporated in 1872. Although the village has a number of manufactories, its most estensive are those devoted to maple flooring, the plant operated by William Horner being one of the largest in the state. The Babcock Grain Company has an elevator and mills, and does a large portion of the shipping trade in grain, flour and hay. Another plant worthy of special mention is the Reed City Woolen Mills, established in 1883, and although they are not extensive they are among the very few manufactories of their kind in Northern Michigan. Iden- tified with the industries of the village are also a saw and planing mill, foundry and machine shop.
Two substantial banks make Reed City a financial center for quite Vol. 1-35
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a stretch of country-the First National, capitalized at $50,000, with J. W. Parkhurst as president and L. G. Hammond as cashier, and the Commercial Savings Bank, capital $25,000, president Joseph Gerber and cashier, Harry Gerber.
The village has a through system of electric lighting and water sup- ply. The existing plant of the Reed City Light and Power Company was built in 1910 by an organization of business men, not incorporated, of which George D. Westover, of Cadillac, is president. It is the second plant of the kind and is a credit to its originators and builders.
Reed City has also a most creditable Union school whose average at- tendance is 400-80 in the High school, 150 in the grammar grades and 170 in the primary.
The village has also the good name of being a strong church town, the Lutherans being especially active and influential. They have two organizations. The Methodists have three churches, attended by the English, German and Swedish elements. Besides the Baptists, Cath- olies and Mennonites are represented by societies which are active and growing. So that Reed City should be a good village both in which to live and in which to die.
EVART
Evart is the second village in the county both in size and thrift. It was first settled in 1871 and incorporated as a village during the fol
EVART PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING
lowing year. It is a progressive little place, bright and clean, with well- laid cement walks, graded and graveled streets, nicely-kept lawns and two pretty parks. The village owns and operates a good system of water
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works and electric lights, the Evart Light and Power Company having been recently organized with George A. Burley as president. In the educational lines, the village supports Union, High and County Normal schools, and a public library (not Carnegie), while the religious senti- ment of the community is represented by Baptist, Catholic, Free Meth- odist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches. As to Evart's industrial and commercial establishments, they include a planing mill, foundry and machine shop, flour roller mills, grain elevator and produce ware- house, tool and grain separator works, creamery, beanery and pickle factory.
At Evart are also the large and attractive fair grounds of the Osceola County Agricultural Society. This organization which has done so much for the entire county was founded at Hersey, in the month of April, 1875, with L. Swem as president, Henry Gerhardt, treasurer, and E. J. Raymond, secretary. The first meeting was held at Hersey, September 29th of that year; in 1877 the fair grounds were located at Evart, since which the annual meeting of the society and the county fairs have been held at the latter place. The association has twenty acres in grounds, a well-graded half mile track, grand stand, halls for assemblies and general exhibits, and buildings for livestock.
MARION
Marion is a thriving little village on the middle branch of the Mus- kegon river, and at the junction of the Ann Arbor and Manistee & Grand Rapids railroads, it being the eastern terminus of the latter line. It is in the northeastern part of the county, thirty miles from Hersey, the county seat; was settled in 1880 and incorporated in 1889. It has a well-constructed plant for the generation of electric light and power a mile west of town, where is also located a sawmill, a good bank, a pretty little opera house, a graded Union school and Catholic and Methodist churches. The general appearance of the village, with its clean streets, fully-stocked stores and neat houses, is attractive and reassuring.
TUSTIN AND LEROY
Tustin is a station and pretty village, seventeen miles north of Reed City at the junction of the Grand Rapids & Indiana with the Manistee & Grand Rapids railroads. It was settled in 1871 and incorporated in 1893, its business still being largely centered in the shipment of such lumber products as cedar posts, hardwood logs and hemlock bark. The village is also the center of a productive hay and potatoe country, in which articles its merchants are active dealers. The Bank of Tustin acts as the financial agent for such dealers and shippers, for the local trade and the farmers in the surrounding country. Tustin has a good village school and is the center of a considerable religious activity, the denominations being represented by Methodist, Presbyterian, Swedish Baptist, Swedish Lutheran and Swedish Mission churches.
Leroy, of about the same size as Tustin, is on the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad, twelve miles north of Reed City. It was incorporated
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
under the village form of government in 1883. Leroy is the center of a growing stock and fruit country, whose trade it largely controls. A steam sawmill and a planing and flour mill are also in operation at that point. Further, Leroy ships considerable grain, potatoes, wood and tan bark. It has a bank, a Union school and Baptist, German Evangelical, Methodist and Swedish Mission churches; so that in all the requirements of a present day American community it is complete.
LAKE COUNTY
About half of Lake county in the valleys of the Little Manistee and Pine rivers, in the northern sections, and in the Pere Marquette region in the south, was originally covered with a dense forest of white pine. As its territory was one of the latest in Northern Michigan to be stripped of this rich clothing, the transformation from a lumber to an agricul- tural, livestock and dairy country has been fairly under way only with- in the past dozen years. While this process is going on a county may be considered fortunate if it "holds its own."
Within the past few years the progress of the farming industries of Lake county has been marked. Wisely, they have largely devoted them- selves to the cultivation of alfalfa, clover and other forms of vegetation which not only lead to the raising of livestock and the encouragement of dairying, but store nitrogen in the soil, that necessary element for the growth of the heavier grain and root crops. Red clover has espe- cially reached the point of a standard and profitable crop, and alfalfa is well on the same way. There is water everywhere in Lake county ; not only is it supplied by the Little Manistee, Pere Marquette and Pine rivers, with their numerous tributaries, but it is stored in little crystal lakes distributed through the territory and it gushes from thousands of springs which, in turn, feed the lakes and streams.
The total area of the county is 368,000 acres, of which 69,794 acres are already included in the farming sections and 200,000 available for cultivation. The territory is fortunate in the matter of railroads, as the Manistee & Grand Rapids and Pere Marquette run east and west through the fertile river valleys; while the Grand Rapids and Bay View line of the Pere Marquette system passes through the county north and south. Baldwin, the county seat, is at the junction of that division with the east and west line of the Pere Marquette which crosses the state from Port Huron to Ludington. Luther, the largest village, is in the eastern part of the county on the Manistee & Grand Rapids, whose eastern ter- minus is now Marion, Osceola county.
POPULATION FROM 1890 TO 1910
The foregoing should throw some light on the statistics of population covering the past twenty years as presented by the United States census bureau :
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Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Chase township
999
1,075
1,169
Cherry Valley township
239
211
301
Dover township
373
396
303
Eden township
103
21
120
Elk township
221
245
569
Ellsworth township, including part of Luther village
799
1,080
1,949
Luther village (part of)
226
367
1,084
Total for Luther village in Ellsworth and Newkirk townships
626
83
1,084
Lake township
201
177
59
Newkirk township, including part of Luther village
624
811
Luther village (part of)
400
470
Pinora township
336
373
890
Pleasant Plains township, including Baldwin and Marlborough villages
690
416
657
Baldwin village
502
343
429
Marlborough village
57
.
Sweet Water township
149
Webber township
205
152
162
Totals
4,939
4,957
6,505
ORGANIC AND PIONEER HISTORY
The original territory was laid off as Aishcum county April 1, 1840, and consisted of township 17, 18, 19 and 20 north of range 11, 12, 13 and 14 west. On March 8, 1843, the name was changed to Lake county. For judicial purposes this was first attached to Mason county, then to New- aygo and again to Mason, of which it remained a civil adherent until it was regularly organized in 1871.
The first settler to come to what is now Lake county was Lorenzo J. Conklin, who located in the southeast corner in the present Chase township during the spring of 1863, his homestead entry having been made February 2d. M. C. King, Jesse Akerman, F. Straup and A. Fiandt soon followed, locating near Mr. Conklin in the southern part of the township, and J. M. Foster, R. E. Bigbee, J. Pease and A. Oliver settled in the northern part. At that time the nearest grist mill was Croton, Newaygo county, thirty miles south, and the nearest market for the purchase of supplies was Paris, about fifteen miles.
In 1867 Chase township was attached to Mecosta county and on April 23d an election for township offices was held at the home of J. M. Foster-the first election to be held within the present bounds of Lake county. At the presidential election in the following year the town cast sixty-four votes. In March, 1869, Chase township was detached from Mecosta and attached to Osceola. The county seat of the latter was then at Hersey in the extreme southern part, although many of
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the settlers were in favor of Ashton further north and much more con- veniently located for the citizens of Chase township. As there seemed to be no evidence of a compromise on the part of the more thickly set- tled sections in the south, agitation for a new county became warm. Two petitions were circulated and presented to the legislature of 1871. one favoring Green Dell, in Chase township, and the other Bismarck, northwest 144 northwest 1/4 section 4, township 19, range 11 west. Two tickets were in the field for the first election of county officers and for determining the "seat of justice," to be held on the first Monday in April, 1871. The Independents won over the Republicans, carrying Green Dell as the county seat and choosing the following: Clerk and register, David G. Lathrop; judge of probate, J. M. Foster; surveyor. G. W. Brown; sheriff, George Collier, and coroner, Robert E. Bigbee. At that time the population of Lake county was 550.
Besides Chase township, during 1871, the first year of county or- ganization, there were created Ellsworth, Pinora and Pleasant Plains townships, Cherry Valley and Webber were formed in 1872, and Elk township in 1874.
VILLAGES
Baldwin, the present county seat of Lake county, is a pleasant little village of five hundred people, conveniently situated in the southern part at the junction of the two Pere Marquette lines which there cross at nearly right angles. The village was incorporated in 1887. Its $10,000 court house is substantial and convenient, its streets are well paved and lighted by electricity, it has a graded Union school and its several churches are further evidences of stability and progress. Some of the finest trout streams in Northern Michigan are near Baldwin, which is also the location of the fine club house of the Pere Marquette Railroad Company, and in the open seasons the county seat is quite a lively center for sportsmen and summer resorters in general. All around is a good agricultural country, with the result that Baldwin is something of a shipper of livestock and potatoes, and is well known as a large huckleberry market. Consequently, Baldwin has a number of strong points to make it a comfortable and agreeable place in which to reside.
Luther, somewhat larger than the county seat, is situated on the Little Manistee river and the Manistee & Grand Rapids railroad, eigh- teen miles northeast of Baldwin. It was settled in 1881 and incorpor- ated as a village in 1893. Luther has a good bank (Luther Exchange). flour and shingle mills, and its well stocked stores indicate a profitable trade with the adjacent country. Lighted by electricity, provided with a good water supply, enjoying the advantages of a modern graded I'nion school, and having in its midst organizations of Methodists, Bap- tists, Catholics, Christians and Episcopalians to uphold the moral status of the community-with such material, intellectual and spiritual influences at work there is abundant cause for the people of Luther to consider themselves fortunate.
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CHAPTER XXVIII
CLARE AND ROSCOMMON
POPULATION OF CLARE COUNTY-SETTLED AND ORGANIZED-CLARE CITY -HARRISON - FARWELL - TEMPLE - ROSCOMMON COUNTY - THE COUNTY SEAT
Clare county includes the higher altitudes, or watershed of the great central plateau which is so prominent a physical feature of Northern Michigan. The head streams and lakes of the Tobacco river, one of the large northern branches of the Tittabawassee, have their sources in the eastern, central and southern townships, while the upper waters of the Muskegon which rise in Missaukee and Roscommon counties to the north drain the northwestern sections of Clare. As a county it is therefore an important watershed of both the Saginaw and Muskegon valleys. It could not be otherwise than a good country for forage products and livestock, the latter being a growing and profitable indus- try. Dairying is also on the increase and there are a number of cream- eries and cheese factories doing a good business. Potatoes, cucumbers and all kinds of vegetables flourish, Clare City having a pickle salting station which is quite an industry. Clare county has been largely de- nuded of its original forests, although sufficient raw material is left to feed a number of busy mills in the county which manufacture lumber, shingles, hoops, heading and staves, and several firms have large deal- ings in railroad ties and telegraph poles.
Tobacco river is the chief source of water power, operating flour, and saw mills, electrical plants and other establishments at Clare City and Farwell, in the southern part of the county, and Harrison, the county seat, a short distance east of the center. Clare City has been especially benefitted and is one of the busiest manufacturing centers in the interior of Northern Michigan.
POPULATION AND RAILROADS
The status of Clare county as to population, and its advancement in this regard since 1890, are shown by the last figures from the United States census bureau :
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Arthur township
734
500
168
Clare City
1,350
1,326
1,174
Ward 1
214
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Ward 2
661
Ward 3
475
Franklin township
131
73
545
Freeman township
129
Frost township
228
194
134
Garfield township
425
294
Grant township
818
848
794
Greenwood township
462
484
259
Hamilton township
501
199
508
Harrison City
543
647
752
Ward 1
166
Ward 2
149
Ward 3
228
Hatton township
381
380
535
Hayes township
262
170
192
Lincoln township
120
Redding township
659
585
Sheridan township
934
809
693
Summerfield township
228
282
147
Surrey township, including Farwell village
902
1,292
1,292
Farwell village
522
535
584
Winterfield township
433
277
365
Totals
9,240
8,360
7,558
Clare county is furnished with good railway accommodations through the Pere Marquette and Ann Arbor railroads. Clare City is at the junction of the main line of the Ann Arbor with a branch of the Pere Marquette which runs north to Harrison, the county seat, and thence ten miles beyond to Leota station, near the northern line on the south bank of the Muskegon river. The Saginaw-Ludington section of the Pere Marquette passes through the southern and southwestern portions of the county. Farwell is accommodated by this road and the main line of the Ann Arbor, at whose junction it is located. The latter runs northwest, through the western townships, crossing the Muskegon river at Temple.
SETTLED AND ORGANIZED
The first settlers of Clare county were lumbermen of the Saginaw valley who took advantage of the fine water power of the Tobacco river and in the early seventies established camps, built sawmills and com- menced operations in the pineries at what are now Farwell and Clare City. The site of the former was occupied by a few settlers in 1870-1.
Clare county, as originally created April 1, 1840, embraced town- ships 17, 18, 19 and 20 north of ranges 3, 4, 5 and 6 west. It was then known as Kaykakee. the name being changed to Clare March 8, 1843. By legislative act of February 11, 1859, its territory was attached to Isa-
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bella county for judicial purposes, but it did not become a separate civil and political body until March 16, 1871, when it was regularly organized with Farwell as the county seat.
CLARE CITY
This, the largest center of population in Clare county, is a city of about fourteen hundred people and, as stated, is a leading industrial town. It was incorporated as a village in 1879 and as a city in 1891. Clare City is eighteen miles south of Harrison, the county seat, and the Tobacco river furnishes an abundance of water power for saw, shingle, planing and flour mills, stave and heading factory and foundry and machine shop. It also runs the dynamos which generate the electric- ity and thus light the city; and the water supply is drawn from the same source. The new city water works are operated through the "tank- pressure" system and have a daily capacity of 350,000 gallons.
The country, of which Clare City is the trade center, is progressing as an agricultural and livestock section of the state. Hay, cattle, wheat and vegetables represent the leading articles of produce, with the re- sult that Clare City is quite a large shipper of them. There, also, are a creamery, a pickle salting station, mills which turn out lumber, shingles and staves, a large knitting factory, flour mills, carriage works and a foundry and machine shop. The place has two substantial banks.
From another point of view Clare City is prominent-from the view- point of the social, educational and religious advantages which its people enjoy. Two public halls, including a neat opera house, enable its citi- zens to gather socially and have the benefit of high-grade amusements; a $25,000 Union schoolhouse is the medium through which the younger generation is being trained for useful and honorable careers; and Bap- tist, Catholic, Congregational, Free Methodist, German Lutheran and Methodist churches enable those of various beliefs to worship according to the dictates of their own consciences. In other ways too numerous to mention in this condensed article Clare City is a good place in which to really live and rear good families.
The founders of Clare City first settled in the forest, which was its future site, in 1865, and by 1870 had gained such strength in numbers and confidence that the town was platted. In 1871 the Pere Marquette railroad extended its road through Clare on the way to Ludington and in 1886-7 the Ann Arbor line built through the county on its exten- sion northward. These were the main facts in the local history which preceded incorporation as a village in 1879 and as a city in 1891.
HARRISON
Harrison, the county seat, is a neat city of between five and six hundred people, situated on the shore of Budd lake, and, as mentioned, a station on the branch of the Pere Marquette railroad running from Clare City to Leota. Its site was first settled in 1879. It was incor- porated as a village in 1885 and advanced to cityhood in 1891. With a solid standing and a fair local trade as the county seat, and situated in Vol. 1-36
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the midst of a developing livestock country. Harrison is a stanch, com- fortable looking little place. The city has a good plant for supplying electric light and water, two banks, a Union graded school, an opera house and four churches-Catholic, Congregational, Methodist and United Brethren.
FARWELL
What is now the village of Farwell was one of the first settlements in Clare county, having been founded in 1870 and incorporated in 1879. It is twenty miles south of Harrison, the county seat; has a popula- tion of over five hundred and has within its limits, or in the immediate vicinity, two saw and shingle mills and a flour and planing mill. A branch of the Tobacco river flows through the village and could pro- vide water power for many other industries. Farwell has a modern Union school and the Congregationalist and Methodist represent the churches.
TEMPLE
This is a station on the Ann Arbor railroad where it crosses the Muskegon river, twelve miles west of Harrison. It has a shingle, stave and heading factory and several general stores. Its nearest banking point is Marion, Osceola county, eight miles to the northwest.
ROSCOMMON COUNTY
The streams which flow into the northeastern shores of Houghton lake and the western extremity of Lake St. Helen are separated by a divide of less than a mile, which shed their waters into the valley of the Muskegon and Lake Michigan on the west and into the Au Sable valley and Lake Huron on the east. At this apex of the great divide of Northern Michigan, in the southeastern part of the county, also rises the northern branches of the Sugar river, an affluent of the Tittibawas- see. The great Saginaw valley therefore extends into that section of Roscommon. Of its three fine lakes, Houghton and Higgins are the natural reservoirs which supply the Muskegon, and St. Helen lake is the real birth place of the Au Sable's south branch.
These numerous courses and bodies of pure water and splendid nat- ural drainage, with a sunny, bracing climate, are productive of abun- dant grass and clover crops and form ideal conditions for stock raising. In fact, cattle, sheep and hogs, all do well in Roscommon county and dairies are profitable enterprises. During the past few years much attention has been given to the growing of clover for its seed and the results have been most gratifying. The yield of potatoes is often note- worthy, both for quantity and quality, and small fruits do particularly well, especially the strawberry.
Roscommon county is going ahead in all these lines and no two forces are to be given a greater share of credit for this progress than the St. Helen Development Company and the Central Michigan Land
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Company. The operations of the former at the town of St. Helen and in the region surrounding the beautiful lake by that name are of spe- cial magnitude. The enterprises of the St. Helen Development Com- pany include four operating or developing camps, a general store, saw and planing mill, and a hotel and other improvements on Lake St. Helen. During the seven years of its existence it has sold over eighty thousand acres of land, located nearly fifty families on their own land, organized schools and churches, brought to a productive state thousands . of acres, and built more than thirty miles of new roads and eighty miles of fencing. Over $400,000 is said to have been invested by that com- pany in land and improvements, and the entire county has been benefit- ted. Both the St. Helen Development Company and the Central Michi- gan Land Company have given much attention to fruit raising, their apple orchards and strawberry farms being models. They have espe- cially encouraged the cultivation of small tracts for fruit, vegetable and poultry farms.
Roscommon county was one of the originators of the industry of extracting turpentine from pine stumps, and thus has been opened up an avenue of profit from what had heretofore been a sheer expense to those clearing the land.
Roscommon, the county seat, is the only village in the county, an exhibit of whose changes in population for twenty years past is given.
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Backus township
85
Denton township
76
84
75
Gerrish township
337
129
66
Higgins township, including Roscommon
vil-
lage
503
584
586
Roscommon village
425
465
511
Markey township
197
76
28
Nester township
239
269
159
Richfield township
401
147
76
Roscommon township
436
396
176
Totals
2,274
1,787
2,033
ROSCOMMON, THE COUNTY SEAT
Roscommon, the county seat, is on the Michigan Central railroad near the northern line. First settled in 1872 and incorporated in 1882, it is a neat little village with a good agricultural country around it, of which it is the trading, banking and shipping center. It has a well-built elec- tric light and water-works plant, telephone service, a State Bank, shingle mill, several thoroughly-stocked retail stores, a graded Union school and Congregational, Methodist and Catholic churches. Roscommon has been the judicial and official seat of the county since it was organized March 20, 1875.
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