County note shelf
Clinton County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Clinton County. This shelf has 8 practical notes and 22 local stories.
30 notes
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- History and culture DeWitt's river was named 'see yourself' The Looking Glass River that runs through DeWitt got its English name from the Ojibwe word Wabwaysin — 'see yourself' — for water clear enough to mirror the trees and your own face.
- History and culture How Fowler's church got a name nobody could fight over When Fowler's German and Irish Catholics each wanted their own national saint on the church, the parish settled the argument in 1881 by naming it for the Holy Trinity instead.
- History and culture How Uncle John's Cider Mill got its name (it's not a guy named John) The St. Johns cider mill on US-127 has pressed cider since the 1970s on a farm the Beck family has worked for five generations — and its name came from a barn-raising catchphrase, not a founder.
- History and culture Maple Rapids got rich on pine, not maple Named for the rapids on the Maple River by George Campau in 1826 — brother of Grand Rapids' founder — this Essex Township village made its real money sawing pine during Michigan's lumber boom.
- History and culture Ovid, Michigan, is named for a Roman poet — by way of New York A settler named the Clinton County village of Ovid after his old hometown in New York, which itself borrowed the name of the ancient Roman poet during a classical-naming craze.
- Outdoors Rose Lake: a state research lab you can hike and shoot at The 4,000-acre Rose Lake State Wildlife Research Area near Bath is a working DNR study site with crop plots and old farmsteads, and it also runs one of mid-Michigan's busiest public shooting ranges.
- Outdoors The old Grand Trunk line is now 41 miles you can bike The Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail runs about 41 miles on a former Grand Trunk railroad bed, stringing St. Johns, Fowler, and Ovid together for walkers and cyclists.
- History and culture The St. Johns courthouse clock that outlived its building Clinton County's courthouse was rebuilt in 2000, but the old clockworks, the bell, and even the spiral stairs from the 1872 building were saved and live on inside the new cupola.
- History and culture Wacousta started as a mill town on the Looking Glass The little crossroads of Wacousta in Watertown Township began in 1837 as a speculative mill venture on the Looking Glass River, before northern Lower Michigan was much settled at all.
- History and culture A German Catholic settlement since 1836 Westphalia's German Catholic roots, St. Mary's Parish, and farming traditions still define the community.
- History and culture Mint City, U.S.A. St. Johns is known as Mint City, U.S.A., with Clinton County mint farms, muck soil, and the annual Mint Festival.
- History and culture The Deadliest School Attack in American History Happened in Michigan On May 18, 1927, a bombing at the school in Bath, Michigan killed 38 children and others — the deadliest attack on a school in U.S. history. A memorial park now marks the site.
- Outdoors Sleepy Hollow State Park and the county's wild side Sleepy Hollow State Park, Lake Ovid, Maple River wetlands, and Rose Lake give Clinton County a strong outdoors side.
- Money and taxes How Michigan State University shapes East Lansing — including your taxes Michigan State University defines East Lansing's economy, housing market, taxable land base, and city-income-tax story.
- Rules and licenses Renting out a house in East Lansing? The rules are strict East Lansing tightly licenses rentals, limits unrelated roommates in single-family neighborhoods, and uses rental overlay districts.
- History and culture Living next to MSU: a botanical garden, a Zaha Hadid, and the Dairy Store East Lansing and Meridian Township share a backyard with MSU's campus treasures — the nation's oldest university botanical garden, the Broad Art Museum, and legendary ice cream.
- Home and property No city income tax in Clinton County's cities St. Johns, DeWitt, and Ovid do not charge city income tax, though Lansing and East Lansing slivers in Clinton County do.
- History and culture Lansing, birthplace of Oldsmobile and REO Ransom E. Olds made Lansing an auto town, from Oldsmobile and REO to today's R.E. Olds Transportation Museum.
- History and culture The Michigan State Capitol: a domed landmark you can tour for free Michigan's 1879 State Capitol is a free-to-tour National Historic Landmark and the working center of state government.
- History and culture Michigan's Capitol Looks Like Marble and Walnut — but a Lot of It Is Paint Much of the marble and walnut in Michigan's 1879 State Capitol is actually paint — over nine acres of hand-painted surfaces designed to fool the eye.
- Cars and driving That '80s Rock Band? Named After a Michigan Truck The band REO Speedwagon took its name from a Lansing-built delivery truck — named, in turn, for auto pioneer Ransom Eli Olds.
- History and culture The Olive Burger: Michigan's Love-It-or-Hate-It Sandwich Chopped green olives and a tangy mayo sauce on a burger — mid-Michigan's love-it-or-hate-it specialty, born in the old Kewpee chain.
- Money and taxes Lansing and East Lansing both have a city income tax Lansing and East Lansing both charge a local income tax, with 1% resident and 0.5% nonresident rates under Michigan's city-income-tax system.
- History and culture Magic Johnson: From Lansing to History From Everett High to a 1979 national title at Michigan State, the kid from Lansing helped change basketball forever.
- History and culture The Mastodon Before robins or white pines, Michigan belonged to the giants — and the mastodon, the state fossil, still turns up in farm fields where it browsed 10,000 years ago.
- Home and property Out in the township, you're on a well and septic Outside Clinton County's cities and village centers, many township homes use private wells and septic systems, and resale inspection is buyer-beware.
- History and culture St. Johns, the Mint Capital of the World Clinton County leads Michigan in mint, and county seat St. Johns has celebrated its Mint Capital title with a festival every August since the 1980s.
- Money and taxes Live in a Michigan village? You pay an extra layer of property tax Michigan village residents usually pay village property taxes on top of township taxes, so the village boundary can change a buyer's total rate.
- 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.