Just a few pictures from our area. A few weekends ago we went on a photo taking excursion around the "neighborhood." This is Rawson's (King's Mill) near Leonidas, Michigan. Once a working mill it is now a county park and popular spot for weddings and senior pictures. It's located just a few miles from my house.
The second picture is me standing near the bridge in Mendon, my old hometown. This bridge on the quiet west side of town was one of three bridges that crossed the St. Joseph River into the sleepy little town of Mendon. The bridge closed several years ago and you can see the grass growing where the cars once crossed. This is a nostalgic place for me since it's just a few blocks from my Grandma's house and the house my parents built when I was a senior. The "west end" of town is traditionally our family's area, though during most of my childhood we lived in a house on the east end. My father and mother were both born in houses near here--next door to each other--during the Great Depression and both of them spent a lot of time swimming and fishing in this river. I think my Dad was once suspended over the edge of this bridge by a local bully, but thankfully, not dropped in the water! Though boys often did jump from the bridge on hot summer days to swim the cool river. Many times I floated under both bridges on fishing excursions with my mom in her little boat. Right behind me to my left (not visible) is a historic marker where a Catholic priest is remembered for bringing an expedition downriver in the 1800's. The historic Marantette house and farm is on the opposite bank and the whole area was a flourishing trading post during Michigan's early settlement.
The last picture is just west of where I am standing in full view of the other bridge. This is the railroad bridge, also a nostalgic place for me. I used to walk the tracks with my Dad and we often hunted asparagus on the south ridge near the tracks at this time of year. This bridge is no longer in use either. I hope they never remove it. It is just such a part of my childhood and lots of Sunday afternoon memories of walks and family time. If you walk from this bridge 5 miles south, on a pretty straight line that runs across the prairie through cornfields and across country roads, something my Dad and brother did on occasion, you enter the little forgotten town of Wasepi, where my husband grew up and we spent the first 10 years of our marriage. Wasepi was a thriving railroad crossroads in the late 1800's early 1900's. Hotels, warehouses, and a huge depot were located there with several passenger trains plus freight trains leaving there each day. Now it is a little burg of 15-20 houses, some Amish, a small church and no railroad tracks anymore. Many people in our county don't even know where it is. In the early 80's, I believe, the railroad was torn out and the land offered to adjoining landowners. My husband remembers going to sleep many a night to the steady clickety, clack of trains just outside his bedroom window.
I was recently asked to locate some pictures of the heyday of Wasepi through my job at the library history room. I guess I got nostalgic and thought a historical post would be appropriate. Though none of these are actually the town of Wasepi, this railroad is a direct connection. I hope you enjoyed it! Blessings, LORI
Loved the pictures!! We actually considered getting married at King's Mill until we read they could only seat less then 100 people! Not sure what the exact number was. I did have my senior pictures taken there! AND where we told the families we were pregnant with Miss Sophia!!
ReplyDeleteLori, I remember mom saying something about Nottowa and Wasepi being one town a long time ago. She said it was "Nottowasepi" Have you ever heard that?
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the photos and the history.
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