Local History

Local History Page

White River Antiques is an antique dealer and service in White Cloud, Michigan, the historic county seat of rural Newaygo County.

In creating this website we wanted to bring attention to not only the beauty and resources of our little piece of rural Western Michigan, but also the historical aspects of Newaygo County.

I will start with one of my favorites (for the full story, rather than this clip, click the link):

Ghost Towns of Newaygo

Not as spooky as they may sound, they are the remnants of day gone by, and may range from places with deserted, historical building (or remnants of), to communities that still exist around these sites, or even places with no trace of existence at all.

Roads that were once “main” roads connecting cities and towns, now less than secondary roads, sometimes even trails, that run through the most rural parts of our county, are where you now find the most unlikely places that a community or town would ever exist. Who would ever think that a bustling little place, with a general store, hotel, industry and stagecoach stop once occupied a now empty field, or over-grown section of forest. Once one of the many stop offs of the long gone stagecoach on it’s way to the next destination, or the place someone called home.

Notwithstanding, some are still inhabited by country dwellers and private property, and seekers of these places must be careful not to encroach on private lands. More than likely many of the landowners in and around these sites probably don’t even know the history they live near. It’s easy to assume previous generations have left their mark when foundations and remnants remain, but not quite so when all traces have been eradicated.

That’s why an historical “NEWAYGO COUNTY LAND ATLAS,” sometimes referred to as a plat map, is so unique. Although the sizes of townships have somewhat changed over the years, the basic layout of a land atlas hasn’t. The “Baseline” and the “Principle Meridian” (sometimes called the Centerline) still dissect the county into four equal parts. The section numbers of townships, and range lines still remain the same. Even if a township has been downsized, and its sections have been consumed to make a new township; land descriptions and section numbers remain the same. ... FOR REMAINDER OF STORY CLICK Ghost Towns of Newaygo.

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY OUR WEBSITE

E-mail us.