County note shelf
Gratiot County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Gratiot County. This shelf has 8 practical notes and 14 local stories.
22 notes
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- History and cultureThe college that turned itself ScottishAlma College opened in 1887 as a Presbyterian school, traded its 'Fighting Presbyterians' nickname for the Scots in 1931, and now pipes its graduates across the stage in kilts.
- OutdoorsAbout 16,700 acres of public wildlife landThe DNR currently lists the Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area at 16,684 acres, a broad patchwork of forest, openings, and wetlands along the county line.
- History and cultureAlma's refinery was first in the country to sell 96-octane gasLeonard Refineries grew from a small Alma plant into a statewide gasoline business. CMU's Clarke Historical Library says it became the first U.S. company to offer 96-octane gasoline to the public in 1953.
- OutdoorsAn old farm that grew its wetlands backForest Hill Nature Area north of Alma is a 90-acre former farm where a conservation district and a school agency rebuilt the wetlands and opened the trails to anyone, free.
- History and cultureThe 1881 brick house that became the county's atticGratiot County's historical museum lives in a red-brick Victorian on Ithaca's Center Street, built in 1881 and filled with a century of local life from the 1850s to the 1950s.
- OutdoorsThirty miles of Pine River that ends two blocks from downtownThe Pine River Canoe Trail runs about 30 miles through Gratiot County's farm country and floodplain woods, from Lumberjack Park near Riverdale down to within two blocks of downtown Alma.
- History and cultureWhy a town in mid-Michigan is named St. LouisSt. Louis, Michigan, grew from Joseph Clapp's 1853 sawmill on the Pine River and took its name from St. Louis, Missouri — the city where the county's own namesake, General Charles Gratiot, spent his final years.
- History and culturePompeii, Michigan, and the 'i' that took 40 yearsThe Gratiot County village of Pompeii was settled in 1854 and spelled 'Pompei' for decades — until someone finally noticed the Italian original had a second 'i.'
- History and cultureThe brothers who gave away the land the railroad rode in onBreckenridge took its name from two brothers, Daniel and Justin, who ran a sawmill and handed over their own land for the railroad bed and a school when the rails reached Gratiot County in 1872.
- History and cultureWhen St. Louis was 'the Saratoga of the West'In 1869 a salt-drilling crew in St. Louis struck 'magnetic' mineral water, and for a generation the town was a famous health resort with grand hotels and celebrity guests.
- History and cultureScotland, USAAlma's Scottish identity runs through Alma College, its tartan, and the annual Highland Festival and Games.
- History and cultureThe county seat and its courthouseIthaca is Gratiot County's seat, anchored by its 1900 stone courthouse and historic downtown.
- Home and propertyThe old chemical plant and the Pine RiverSt. Louis has a long-running Superfund cleanup tied to the old Michigan Chemical/Velsicol plant, PBB, DDT, and the Pine River.
- Home and propertyThe old county landfill: sealed, capped, and monitoredThe old Gratiot County Landfill in Bethany Township is a contained and monitored Superfund site tied to Velsicol/PBB waste.
- Money and taxesNo city income tax hereAlma, Ithaca, and St. Louis charge no city income tax; the nearest cities that do are Saginaw and Lansing, which tax commuters' wages at nonresident rates.
- Home and propertyWind country: turbines on the skylineGratiot County's wind farms can affect rural land through turbine leases, views, tax base, local rules, and state siting decisions.
- Home and propertyOut in the township, you're on a well and septicOutside Gratiot County's cities and villages, most township homes rely on private wells and septic systems.
- History and cultureGratiot County's other crop: windGratiot County's 133-turbine wind project was Michigan's largest when it opened in 2012, and the county now hosts six wind farms that support farms and local services.
- History and cultureThe Middle of the MittenSt. Louis marks the geographic center of Michigan's Lower Peninsula and has a mineral-springs resort history.
- Money and taxesLive in a Michigan village? You pay an extra layer of property taxMichigan 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 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.