County note shelf
Mecosta County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Mecosta County. This shelf has 9 practical notes and 13 local stories.
22 notes
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- History and culture Old Settlers: the Black homesteaders who made Mecosta home in 1860 Black families homesteaded near Mecosta starting around 1860; their descendants have gathered at School Section Lake every August since 1934 for the Old Settlers Reunion.
- Outdoors The Stanwood spring that started a fight over who owns the water Nestlé's Ice Mountain plant near Stanwood drew spring water by the hundreds of gallons a minute for a state fee of about $200 a year, sparking a long Mecosta County court fight.
- Outdoors Paris Park, where the state raised trout and shipped them in milk cans Michigan opened one of its first fish hatcheries at Paris in 1881; for decades it shipped trout in red milk cans by rail, and it is now a Mecosta County park.
- History and culture The Big Rapids jail where seventeen sheriffs raised their families Built in 1893 with turrets and stained glass, the Old Jail in Big Rapids housed both prisoners and the sheriff's own family until 1965; it is now a community building.
- Outdoors Haymarsh: 6,700 acres the state flooded on purpose for the ducks The Haymarsh State Game Area's lakes are man-made — Haymarsh Lake was impounded by a dam in 1949 to grow marsh and open water for waterfowl, fishing, and trapping.
- History and culture Barryton: a lumberman platted a town and put his own name on it Frank Barry laid out Barryton in 1894 on farmland at the fork of the Chippewa River; within two years the timber town had two hotels, two general stores, and a sawmill.
- History and culture Morley was born the day the railroad crossed the Little Muskegon When the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad bridged the Little Muskegon River in June 1869, it created the village of Morley — the first rail town in Mecosta County.
- History and culture The Potawatomi leader whose name the county still carries The county and village of Mecosta take their name from a Potawatomi leader who signed an 1836 treaty; when the county organized in 1859, it chose to honor him.
- History and culture A lumberman's house in Big Rapids, willed to the city and full of county history The Mecosta County Historical Museum fills the former Big Rapids home of lumberman and legislator Fitch Phelps, whose widow left the house to the city.
- History and culture Ferris State University: the heart of Big Rapids How Ferris State University shapes Big Rapids as a college town and county employer.
- History and culture The Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State A sober look at Ferris State's Jim Crow Museum and its anti-racism teaching mission.
- History and culture The Wheatland Music Festival Wheatland Township hosts one of Michigan's best-loved traditional music festivals near Remus.
- Home and property Buying in Canadian Lakes: it's a private community Canadian Lakes buyers should budget for property-owner membership, dues, and community rules.
- Money and taxes Do you pay the Big Rapids income tax out here? Only if you work in the city Big Rapids Township and Green Township residents do not owe Big Rapids resident income tax unless they live in the city.
- Outdoors Lake living in Mecosta County Mecosta County lake buyers should ask about assessments, wells and septic systems, and legal lake levels.
- Outdoors The White Pine Trail and the Muskegon River Big Rapids, Morley, and Stanwood sit on the White Pine Trail, with the Muskegon River running through Big Rapids.
- Money and taxes This city has a local income tax Some Michigan cities charge the standard local income tax: 1% for residents and 0.5% for nonresidents who work in the city.
- Home and property Wells and septic in the townships: get your own inspection Mecosta County township buyers should arrange their own well and septic inspection before closing.
- Outdoors Ninety-two miles, no cars: the White Pine Trail towns The Fred Meijer White Pine Trail runs 92 miles from Grand Rapids' edge to Cadillac, giving a string of small towns a linear state park for a main street.
- 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.