County note shelf
Cass County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Cass County. This shelf has 5 practical notes and 13 local stories.
18 notes
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- History and culture The day kitty litter was invented in Cassopolis Cat litter was invented in Cassopolis in 1947 when Edward Lowe handed a neighbor a bag of absorbent clay instead of sand — the start of a billion-dollar industry.
- Outdoors Diamond Lake's island, and the barge that serves it Diamond Lake near Cassopolis is the largest lake in Cass County, a glacial spring-fed lake with a 43-acre inhabited island reached only by a private summer barge.
- History and culture Edwardsburg started as a cabin where two trails crossed Edwardsburg grew from Ezra Beardsley's 1826 cabin at the junction of two Indian trails, on the Detroit-to-Chicago road, and lost the 'h' off its name by a postmaster's order in 1845.
- Outdoors Sister Lakes: a Chicago resort town that grew a monster Sister Lakes, a cluster of resort lakes straddling three counties near Dowagiac, drew Chicagoans by rail from the 1880s — and made global headlines in 1964 over a Bigfoot scare.
- Outdoors Dr. T.K. Lawless Park: the darkest sky in southern Michigan Dr. T.K. Lawless County Park near Vandalia is a certified International Dark Sky Park, the only one in the southern Lower Peninsula.
- Outdoors Fred Russ Forest, and the 40 acres that never met an axe Fred Russ Forest near Decatur is an MSU research forest and Cass County park that protects Newton Woods, a rare old-growth oak-hickory stand in southern Michigan.
- History and culture The Newton House: a farmhouse that forgot to change The George Newton House in Volinia Township, built in 1844, is a Michigan State Historic Site run as a museum by the Cass County Historical Society.
- History and culture Marcellus: the village named for a Roman, made by a railroad Marcellus in northeast Cass County was named after a Roman emperor in 1843 — its second choice — and only became a real town when the Peninsular Railroad arrived in 1870-71.
- History and culture The college Cass County voted itself into existence Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac opened in 1966 after Cass County voters approved a $1.5 million tax levy in 1964 to build a community college of their own.
- History and culture Who Cass County is named for, and what he was known for Cass County and Cassopolis are named for Lewis Cass, Michigan's territorial governor from 1813 to 1831, who negotiated vast land-cession treaties with the region's tribes.
- History and culture Dowagiac and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Dowagiac is the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi's home base and the namesake city for Four Winds Dowagiac.
- History and culture Dowagiac: fishing lures, stoves, and a first in 1854 Dowagiac is known for Heddon fishing lures, Round Oak stoves, and receiving the first orphan train in 1854.
- History and culture Cass County and the Underground Railroad Cass County was a major Underground Railroad haven, with Quaker and free Black communities centered around Calvin, Penn, Porter, Vandalia, and Cassopolis.
- Outdoors The Painted Turtle The painted turtle became Michigan's state reptile in 1995 — chosen by a class of Niles fifth-graders, which might make it the most Michigan symbol of all.
- Home and property Buying on (or near) a Cass County lake? A few things to know Cass County lake homes can come with managed lake levels, special assessments, lake associations, and lake-specific boating rules.
- Home and property Outside town, most Cass County homes are on a well and septic — inspect before you buy Most Cass County township homes use private wells and septic systems, and the county does not require a sale-time inspection.
- Money and taxes Buying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxes Michigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxes In Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not one Most Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.