County note shelf
Jackson County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Jackson County. This shelf has 6 practical notes and 16 local stories.
22 notes
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- History and culture A farmer's organ habit that filled a whole high school A Hanover farmer's collection of antique pump organs grew so large it now fills the village's old high school — more than 100 reed organs, most of them still playable.
- Outdoors Dahlem: 300 acres of woods that pay no taxes and ask nothing of you A nearly 300-acre nature preserve on the south edge of Jackson, with five miles of trails and a barrier-free path, run entirely on donations rather than tax dollars.
- History and culture Ella Sharp gave Jackson her farm — all 530 acres of it A childless widow left her Jackson farm to the city as a public park; her hilltop farmhouse is now the Ella Sharp Museum, anchoring a 560-acre green space.
- Outdoors Falling Waters Trail: 10 miles of railroad turned into a flat ribbon to Concord A 10.5-mile paved rail-trail runs from Jackson out to Concord through spring-fed lake country, on the bed of an abandoned Michigan Central line.
- History and culture Grass Lake's stone depot, and the novel that named its park An 1887 stone railroad depot in Grass Lake survived a fire down to a shell, then took its second life from a hometown author's best-selling novel, Whistlestop.
- History and culture Springport was Oyer's Corner first The village of Springport in northern Jackson County grew up around one New York transplant's store, mill, and hotel — and went by his name before it got its own.
- History and culture The farm the state forgot to tear down A German immigrant's 1850s farmstead near Grass Lake survived being swallowed by a state recreation area, and now stands as a museum of 19th-century farm life.
- Cars and driving The Jackson factory that put the honk in your car Jackson's Sparks-Withington Company built the early electric car horn, branded it Sparton, and grew into a 7,000-employee plant whose owner later built the Cascades.
- History and culture The Michigan Theatre: the coolest room in 1930 Jackson Downtown Jackson's 1930 movie palace was the first air-conditioned building in town; saved from demolition, it still runs films and concerts as a nonprofit today.
- History and culture Two sisters who left their whole house to Michigan An 1880s Victorian home in Concord froze in time when its two unmarried owners willed it — and everything inside — to the people of Michigan, now a state historic site.
- History and culture A prison town that turned the page Jackson's prison history stretches from Michigan's first state prison to the Armory Arts Village in the old downtown prison buildings.
- Outdoors Clark Lake and the Irish Hills Columbia Township is home to Clark Lake and part of the Irish Hills, a long-running resort and lake-country landscape.
- Money and taxes Jackson has a city income tax Jackson is one of Michigan's cities with a local income tax for residents and nonresidents who work inside the city.
- Outdoors The Cascades: a glowing waterfall built by one man's dream Jackson's Cascades is a man-made illuminated waterfall in Sparks Foundation County Park, built from William Sparks's hometown dream.
- Outdoors The Lower Peninsula's biggest state park is right here Waterloo Recreation Area sprawls across roughly 20,000 acres of lakes, trails, campgrounds, wetlands, and glacial hills.
- History and culture The Republican Party was born here, "Under the Oaks" Jackson's Under the Oaks site marks the 1854 anti-slavery convention where the Republican Party took shape.
- Home and property Buying on (or near) a Jackson County lake? Jackson County lake homes can come with legal lake levels, special assessments, lake boards or associations, and lake-specific boating rules.
- Outdoors The Lower Peninsula's biggest park is in Washtenaw's backyard Waterloo Recreation Area — roughly 20,000 acres of lakes, hills, and trails — sprawls across western Washtenaw and eastern Jackson counties, the largest park in the Lower Peninsula.
- Home and property Outside town, you're probably on a well and septic Most rural Jackson County township homes use private wells and septic systems, and sale-time inspections are something buyers need to ask for.
- History and culture Born under the oaks: Jackson's claim on American history The Republican Party held its first convention 'Under the Oaks' in Jackson in 1854, and the county's other showpiece — the illuminated Cascades — has dazzled since 1932.
- 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.