County note shelf
Gladwin County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Gladwin County. This shelf has 8 practical notes and 10 local stories.
18 notes
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- History and cultureMarvel Secord, Dick's Fork, and the township that carries his nameGladwin County histories place Marvel Secord and his family at the start of the county's Euro-American settlement story: they arrived by canoe in 1861, and a log house followed at Dick's Fork in 1864.
- OutdoorsRoss Lake and Beaverton's city-owned damRoss Lake is a 294-acre impoundment held by a hydroelectric dam that the City of Beaverton owns and operates.
- History and cultureThe Art Deco courthouse the oil boom helped buildGladwin's 1939 courthouse turned oil-boom revenue into an Art Deco county building whose stone panels and lobby floor tell local stories.
- History and cultureThe county is named for a man who never set foot in itGladwin County and its county seat carry the name of Major Henry Gladwin, the British officer who held Fort Detroit through Pontiac's five-month siege in 1763.
- OutdoorsThe Gladwin forest shaped for bird-dog trialsThe 4,750-acre Gladwin Field Trial Area traces its start to 1916 and is managed for cover-dog trials with wild grouse and woodcock.
- OutdoorsThe Trail of Two Cities links Gladwin and BeavertonA paved, eight-mile non-motorized trail built by a county authority since 2016 now connects Gladwin and Beaverton, open year-round and free for walking, biking, skiing, and snowshoeing.
- Home and propertyThe dam Gladwin County bought for a dollarWiggins Lake crosses Sage and Grout townships behind Chappel Dam, a former hydropower dam that Gladwin County bought for one dollar in 1961.
- History and cultureBeaverton: where two rivers meetBeaverton began as Grand Forks at the Tobacco and Cedar river confluence and still works as a small gateway to water and woods.
- History and cultureGladwin's lumber-town history (and the Carriage Festival)Gladwin grew from a lumber town called Cedar, and its historical village and Carriage Festival keep that local history visible.
- Home and propertySecord Township: a septic inspection is required when you buySecord Township is the one Gladwin County township where CMDHD requires a well and septic evaluation at sale.
- Home and propertyBuying in Sugar Springs: it's a private communitySugar Springs is a private lake community in Butman Township, Gladwin County, with POA dues and rules.
- OutdoorsGladwin County is built for the outdoorsGladwin and Beaverton work as hubs for state forest land, trails, rivers, lakes, and four-season recreation.
- Money and taxesNo city income tax in Gladwin or BeavertonGladwin and Beaverton levy no city income tax, and neither does Midland, where many commute; Saginaw's 0.75% nonresident rate is the nearest exception.
- Home and propertyBuying on Secord, Smallwood, or Wixom Lake? Know the dam storySeveral Gladwin County townships are in the Four Lakes dam-rebuild special-assessment district.
- History and cultureSanford's comeback: the lakes are filling againSix years after the dams gave way and emptied them, the mid-Michigan lakes are returning — Sanford Lake began refilling in April 2026, with the rest on a published schedule.
- Home and propertyWells and septic in the townships: get your own inspectionMost Gladwin County township buyers should arrange their own well and septic inspection before closing.
- Money and taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.