mileage
52 MICHIGAN CITY station, 100 Washington Street. Elevation approximately 604. Michigan
City was incorporated in 1836, and is a summer resort and yachting center located near Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (see MP 34
above). The city is also a manufacturing center with products that include air compressors, boilers, furniture, and clothing. A state prison (see MP 50.5 above) and a U.S. Coast Guard station are located here. The community was settled in the early 1830’s
and named for the Michigan Road (a route linking the Ohio River with Lake Michigan), of which it was the northern terminus. During the 19th century it was an important grain- and lumber-shipping port.
Michigan City was founded by Father Jacques Marquette in 1675. The first setters began to arrive from the east in 1833. Sailing vessels soon began to stop at the “Michigan City” to unload goods needed by settlers in northern Indiana and to take on cargoes
of grain, pork, and beef raised by them. Michigan City was a major grain port for farmers as far south as Indianapolis during
the 1840’s, but soon Chicago would overshadow it. In 1852, the Michigan Central Railroad reached here, putting Michigan City
on a direct rail line with Eastern markets, Industries began to locate in Michigan City, drawn by the easy access to markets
and raw materials.
Notice the marina and yacht basin visible on the left (eastbound).
52.5 Cross Trail Creek. Washington Park is visible across the creek. the park is located in the dunes on the beach, and is the home
of the Washington Park Zoo and the Old Lighthouse Museum, which contains exhibits on local history.
53.5 We are now following
U.S. 12 on the right (eastbound).
54 Pottawatomie Park. The Indiana Dunes are still visible north
of the railroad.
57 Pass through Michiana Shore. The Indiana Dunes are fairly close to the railroad
at this point. A few miles to the southeast (not visible from the railroad here) is the Valparaiso Moraine, an end moraine deposited
by the retreating ice sheets at the end of the Wisconsin Stage of the Pleistocene Ice Age. We will be crossing the Valparaiso
Moraine later.
58.5 Enter BERRIEN County, MICHIGAN. Berrien County has a diversified economic base with its manufacturing,
agriculture, tourism, and service industries. With the Lake Michigan resource and 306 inland lakes and rivers, the county is
a popular tourist destination which is enhanced with the unique farm markets which abound within the area.
We are also passing through the town of Michiana, so named because of its location on the Michigan-Indiana border. Michiana
is a small resort community of less than 200 residents. Michiana was one of the last resort areas in the region to be developed
because of its dense woods and swamp areas. During the land speculation of the 1920’s, the Long Beach Company acquired various
land parcels including what is now Michiana. The Long Beach Company successfully attracted Chicagoans who wanted a summer getaway
by advertising lots with summer cottages, for as low as $1000.
59 The Indiana Dunes still continue off
to the left (eastbound). A few miles further north, the same dunes become the Warren Dunes of Michigan. The town off to
the left is Grand Beach. The land now known as Grand Beach was originally purchased by Floyd Perkins as a site for a shooting
preserve in the early 1900’s. Eventually he abandoned those plans, and with the help of his partner George Ely, formed the Grand Beach
Company to promote the area as a resort community. The Company formed the Village of Grand Beach, which was incorporated in
1934.
Grand Beach remains that resort community today. With a population
of less than 150 residents, the village remains very exclusive. The area is filled with large exquisite homes which surround
the private Michiana Shores Country Club. The village is also home to the Grand Beach Nature Preserve.
61-62 Pass through New Buffalo. New Buffalo’s beauty and natural harbor was noticed by Wessel D. Whittaker in 1834. Captain
Whittaker’s vessel, the Post Boy, was destroyed when it ran aground in the area. The Captain saved his crew and returned to
his home in Buffalo, NY. He remained impressed with the area and began to draw up plans for a community. In 1835, Captain
Whittaker returned along with a few investors and began implementing his plans. New Buffalo was incorporated as a village in1836.
The beauty of New Buffalo remains today. The small community rests on the shores of the Galien River and Lake Michigan. The streets are lined with unique specialty stores, eateries, and art galleries. The soft, sandy beach of New Buffalo’s Lakefront
Park is a perfect place to watch the sailboats or a sunset after a day of shopping and art browsing.
We are still traversing the Calumet Lake Plain, and are still in dune country.
62 Note the marinas visible
on the left (eastbound). The body of water visible from the train is the Galien River, which has been dredged in this area to make
a yacht basin.
As we enter Michigan, we are also entering the peninsula-sizedMichigan Basin, a large saucer-shaped structure which underlies the entire lower peninsula of Michigan. The Michigan Basin was
formed during the Paleozoic Era as it continually received over 14,000 ft of sediments from ancestral mountain ranges to the east
and north. As the accumulation of sediments grew, the areas began subsiding and were then flattened by erosion over the years. Most of the state was above sea level after the end of the Paleozoic Era; therefore, did not receive any more sediment accumulation;
however, in the center of the state, many geologists believe a thin sequence of Mesozoic-aged sediments exists deep beneath the modern
land surface. Such sediments have only been observed in cores from deep oil wells.
During the Pleistocene Ice Age, the entire state of Michigan was buried beneath glacial ice. As these ice sheets advanced and
retreated, they left behind a chaotic mix of glacial sediments. Most of the surface of the state which is visible today consists
of glacial sediments deposited at the end of the Wisconsin stage of the Ice Age, as the ice retreated to the north and northeast toward
Lake Huron, and to the northwest toward Lake Michigan. The glacial deposits visible in Michigan consist mainly of till and outwash. The till was deposited in either ground moraines or end moraines, and the outwash was deposited by glacial meltwater between the moraines
in many areas. There are very few places in southern Michigan where Paleozoic-aged bedrock is visible at the earth’s surface;
virtually everything you will see from the train will be various landforms and deposits from the Wisconsin Stage of the Ice Age. Much of the knowledge of Paleozoic and possibly Mesozoic-aged sedimentary deposits in Michigan has been based on cuttings from deep
oil wells.
Since the Michigan Basin is indeed a structural basin, the age of
the bedrock beneath the glacial deposits becomes gradually younger as the center of the basin is approached, due to erosion of the
deposits during deposition of the Paleozoic rocks. Along this route, the age of the rocks beneath the glacial deposits is primarily
Silurian, Devonian, and Mississippian.
63 The Galien River is adjacent to the railroad on the north (left
if eastbound).
64 Pass beneath Interstate 94. We are also entering a hummocky hilly area known as theValparaiso Moraine. This is one of several significant end moraines which marks an area at the end of one of the stages of glacial
retreat at the close of the Ice Age. These deposits were laid down by a retreating glacier which started to the northwest in
the area of present day Lake Michigan, and which retreated the same direction at the close of the Ice Age. End moraines such
as this mark temporary “pauses” in the retreat of the glaciers. This moraine has been deeply eroded in some areas by modern,
post-Ice Age streams.
65 Cross South Branch Galien River. The modern river has eroded into the
glacial deposits of the Valparaiso Moraine here.
68 Three Oaks wastewater treatment ponds are visible
north of the railroad (left if eastbound).
69 Three Oaks. This village was first settled by Henry
Chamberlain in 1850. Mr. Chamberlain gave the small community its name in reference to three white oak trees growing in a cluster
in the village.
Three Oaks’ Flag Day celebration and Parade each June is the
largest in the country. Movie producers also took note of Three Oaks, and the movie “Prancer” was filmed during 1989 in this
quaint village of 2000.
A favorite spot to stop in town is at the historic Drier’s
Meat Market. This old fashioned butcher shop opened prior to the outbreak of the Civil War and is recognized as a historic place. The Drier family still makes and smokes their own sausage, ham, and bologna in the back room.
71.5 Drop down off the Valparaiso
Moraine, and enter Elm Valley, a valley composed of glacial outwash deposits (see MP 62 above). Outwash consists of stratified
sands and gravels which were deposited by glacial meltwater streams as the Ice Age glaciers retreated to the north.
73.5 We now leave Elm Valley and climb onto another Pleistocene end moraine.
75 Galien. Galien (pronounced
Ga-leen) was named after the nearby river, which was originally named after Rene Brehant de Galinee, a priest and mapmaker for the
missionaries in the late 1600’s. In 1829, the name of the river was changed to Galien. George Blakeslee was one of the
first settlers to establish a business in the area. In 1853, Mr. Blakeslee bought a mill in Galien and during the next year,
he built a store. Today, Galien remains a small, quaint village.
78 Pass through the small community
of Dayton, named after Dayton, Ohio, from whence many of the early settlers came. The town was founded by Benjamin Redding in
1830, and was originally known as Reddings’ Mills. Later is was known as Terre Coupe, and in 1851, the Dayton name was adopted. Dayton Lake is visible south of the railroad (right if eastbound). The lake most likely is a small kettle lake, which was formed
by an isolated ice block lodged within an end moraine, which did not melt as rapidly as the remainder of the retreating ice sheet. On the south is another outwash valley.
82-83 Buchanan. The first settlers began arriving in this area in 1833. The area was first named McCoy Creek and was settled
on the 60-foot gradual drop in the creek, which flows into the St. Joseph River. This provided a constant source of power harnessed
from the water. In 1842, the area was platted as Buchanan by flour mill owner John Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton named the community
after soon-to-be President James Buchanan. Buchanan was incorporated as a village in 1858 and later as a city in 1929. McCoy Pond Park and McCoy Creek Recreational Area are popular among the area’s residents. Buchanan is also the home of Bear
Cave, Michigan’s only known cave, where the temperature is always 58o F. The Tabor Hill Winery is also located near Buchanan.
83-84 Pass two more kettle lakes on either side of the railroad. According to AAPG, outwash deposits can be seen to the south (right
if eastbound).
85 Portage Prairie, to the south (right if eastbound) is also a valley underlain by glacial
outwash deposits.
86 Vineyard to the south of the railroad (right if eastbound)
88.5 Cross
the St. Joseph River on a high bridge. The St. Joseph is a modern river which has incised through the Pleistocene morainal deposits.
89 NILES station, 598 Dey Street. Elevation approximately 696. In the 1830’s, Niles was a stagecoach stop on the Detroit
to Chicago stage route. It was the home of such notables as Montgomery Ward, the Dodge Brothers of automobile fame, and Ringgold
Wilmer (“Ring”) Lardner, the American writer and humorist. This town offers plenty to do and see. The city has 23 large
antique markets within its limits and there is another large antique mall just south of the state line on U.S. 33. There is
a wide variety of sporting events to participate in or just watch. Babe Ruth baseball has a long-time standing in the Niles
community. Players from Michigan and Indiana compete at the large complex on U.S. 33, just south of town. The community
parks provide lots of recreational activities to area residents, including golf at Plym Park. The. St. Joseph River also provides
recreation for area residents and visitors. Fish along the banks or canoe down river. Be sure to enter the annual Niles
Riverfest held in August. The “Anything That Floats” event is a favorite for participants and watchers. The City of Niles
also hosts many other events, including the historic Fort St. Joseph Reenactment Rendezvous in July and the ever popular Four Flags
Area Apple Festival held in September. Niles is known as the “City of Four Flags,” since it has existed under the flags of France,
England, Spain, and the United States.
The AMTRAK station here was built for
the Michigan Central Railroad in 1892, restored in 1988, and has appeared in some films, such as “Continental Divide,” and “Midnight
Run.” Notice the pleasant little garden in front of the station, and the AMTRAK maintenance facility across the tracks from
the station.
90.5 North Niles. We are traveling through the flood plain of the Dowagiac River, which is located approximately
¾ mile to the west. The hills which may be visible on the east (right if eastbound) mark the position of the Kalamazoo Moraine, another
major end moraine of Pleistocene age, which was deposited by the Lake Michigan Lobe of the last ice sheet as it retreated (see MP
62 above).
91.5 Passing through an abandoned railroad yard, we enter CASS County. The county was organized in 1829
and named after the former territorial governor, Lewis Cass. This area was originally inhabited by 3 bands of Potawatomi Indians,
with European settlers moving here in the 1820’s. Cass County also had a role in the Civil War as a location for an Underground
Railroad station. Assisted largely by Quakers, many black slaves were successfully settled here.
Today, Cass County is both a rich agricultural area as well as a popular tourist spot. It plays a major part in pork production
in Michigan as well as other feed crops such as soybeans and corn. Its largest community is Dowagiac (see MP 101.5 below), with Cassopolis,
the second largest city, as the county seat.
93-94 The hummocky area to the right (eastbound) is the Kalamazoo Moraine, which we will be following into Kalamazoo. The tracks themselves
are located on the approximate boundary between the Kalamazoo Moraine on the east and the Dowagiac River flood plain in the west.
95.5 Pass through the small community of Pokagon, named after Pottawatomi Indian Chief Pokagon, who purchased 90 acres here and granted
it to his people. As a Catholic, Pokagon built a log chapel, and the first parish priest to serve in the new community was Father
Theophilus Marivault. The town was platted in 1858.
97-98 Although very poorly defined, we are still following the edge of the Kalamazoo Moraine. The area to the east of the tracks,
which we will pass through later, has more of a morainic topography developed on it.
100.5 Cross Dowagiac River and soon stop at theDOWAGIAC station, 100 Railroad Drive. Elevation approximately 783. This village was named after the Dowagiac River, which
on early maps was spelled “Dowagiake,” but when the Michigan Central Railroad came through late in 1848, it was given its present
spelling. In 1847, Nicholas Chesbrough, a right of way buyer for the Michigan Central, and Jacob Beeson, of Niles, bought from
Patrick Hamilton 80 acres and first platted the village, recording the plat on February 16, 1848. The original name of the area
was Ndowagayuk, which meant “foraging ground,” since, in this area, the Indians could fill all their needs for food, clothing, and
shelter.