County note shelf
Eaton County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Eaton County. This shelf has 4 practical notes and 23 local stories.
27 notes
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- History and culture Seven Islands: when Grand Ledge had a roller coaster over the river In the late 1800s the islands in the Grand River at Grand Ledge held a hotel, a casino, and one of Michigan's first roller coasters, drawing some 70,000 visitors a season.
- History and culture Bellevue: the first town in Eaton County, built on limestone Bellevue was settled in 1833 as Eaton County's first town and first county seat, sitting on a bed of Bayport limestone quarried for more than a century — some of it for the State Capitol.
- History and culture Burrage Library: the little stone fortress at Olivet College Built in 1890 of rough Ionia sandstone with twin octagonal towers, Burrage Library gives Olivet a fortress-like Richardsonian Romanesque centerpiece that has held the college's books for well over a century.
- History and culture Eaton Rapids and the magnetic water that wasn't In the 1880s Eaton Rapids boomed as the 'Saratoga of the West' on mineral wells said to be magnetic — until a state chemistry professor traced the magic to the iron pipe, not the water.
- History and culture Frontier Days: how Charlotte got a real rodeo Since 1970, Charlotte's Frontier Days has filled the Eaton County Fairgrounds the weekend after Labor Day with a parade, a sanctioned rodeo, and a small-town pioneer party that funnels its money back into the schools.
- History and culture The Eaton Theatre: a 1931 movie house Charlotte never let go of The Eaton Theatre on Cochran Avenue has shown movies in downtown Charlotte since 1931, opening with Eddie Cantor in 'Whoopee' under an Art Deco marquee that still glows.
- History and culture The green giant: GM's crossover plant in Delta Township GM's Lansing Delta Township Assembly opened in 2006 as the first auto plant in the world to earn LEED Gold certification, building Buick, Chevrolet, and GMC crossovers under one 3.4-million-square-foot roof.
- History and culture Vermontville's Opera House: a town hall with a stage upstairs Finished in 1896, the Vermontville Opera House packs a library, township offices, and a real upstairs theater into one mansard-roofed brick building on the National Register.
- History and culture Charlotte's Courthouse Square Charlotte's Courthouse Square preserves Eaton County's 1885 courthouse, the county's first courthouse, and a rare three-courthouse story.
- History and culture Eaton Rapids, the Island City Eaton Rapids is known as the Island City, with a downtown island in the Grand River and a mineral-springs resort past.
- History and culture Olivet College Olivet grew up around a college founded by Oberlin missionaries with early commitments to coeducation and race inclusion.
- History and culture Potterville and the Gizzard Fest Potterville is known for Gizzard Fest, a June small-town festival built around fried chicken gizzards and Joe's Gizzard City.
- Outdoors The Ledges at Grand Ledge Grand Ledge is named for the sandstone cliffs along the Grand River, with trails, climbing, fossils, and a long resort history.
- History and culture Vermontville and its maple syrup festival Vermontville's New England roots and Michigan's original maple syrup festival make it one of Eaton County's signature small-town stories.
- 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.
- History and culture Why Does Michigan Have So Many Places Named After Foreign Places? Michigan's map is full of foreign and classical town names — Paris, Moscow, Athens, Rome — left over from an 1800s naming boom, and locals pronounce most of them their own way.
- Home and property Outside town, you're probably on a well and septic Most Eaton County township homes use private wells and septic systems, and the county's former sale-time inspection mandate was repealed in 2018.
- Outdoors The Ledges: Eaton County's slice of rock-climbing country Grand Ledge's 300-million-year-old sandstone ledges rise over the Grand River — the only natural rock climbing in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
- 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.