The Railroad

The Railroad. . , In 1871, the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad (JL&SR) began laying track north from Bay City. One year later, JL&SR built a freight station called Crawford to aid nearby logging businesses that used temporary, narrow-gauge rail lines. In 1873, the main line tracks from Bay City reached the Crawford Station. The following year, JL&SR used state and federal grants to plat the village of Grayling at that location. , , Why would a community want a train station? , I came to Grayling 52 years ago [in 1882]....I was then eleven years old; we came directly to Grayling from Le Havre, France....There was no [train] depot or hotel at Grayling then, so when the train stopped we brought what we had with us. , Henry Stephan, Sr. , , Much faster than horses, railroads opened reliable transportation for people, goods, newspapers and mail between established city centers and developing towns. A train station boosted local commerce, industry and recreation. Railroad employees provided essential services such as sending and receiving telegraph messages. , , Narrow-gauge Railroads , In the 1870s, narrow-gauge railroads opened all of northern Michigan to large-scale logging. Their closely-set steel tracks were affordable and easy to place in dense forests and hillsides where standard trains could not go. Narrow-gauge railroads allowed logging companies to remove large trees from forests of white pine that weren't near rivers, like the thousands of acres cut at Hartwick Pines. , , Pere Cheney , In 1873, the Michigan Central Railroad issued a grant to establish a service stop on the rail line. Located seven miles southeast of Grayling, the stop became known as Pere Cheney and served as the first county seat. It grew into a thriving town of approximately 1,500 people with mills, hotels and a post office. Diphtheria ravaged Pere Cheney in the 1890s, leading to its demise. By 1917, there were only 18 residents. All that remains is a cemetery. , , Roundhouse , Grayling was a railroad hub in northern Michigan. It had a roundhouse where steam locomotive engines could be serviced and stored until their next run. A round turntable in front of the building was used to turn the train in a different direction since early steam engines were either unable or too slow to back up easily. , , Bottom image caption: In 1882, the railroad built this large depot that today houses the Crawford County Historical Museum.