County note shelf
Midland County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Midland County. This shelf has 6 practical notes and 17 local stories.
23 notes
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- History and culture The architect's house that sits in its own pond Alden B. Dow built his Midland home and studio in the 1930s with a studio room sunk into the water; it is now a National Historic Landmark you can tour.
- History and culture The courthouse that looks like a Tudor manor — and its glowing murals Midland's 1926 courthouse is the only Tudor Revival county courthouse in Michigan, wrapped in exterior murals made from a glassy stucco mixed in Dow's labs.
- Outdoors Thirty paved miles from downtown Midland to Clare, on an old rail bed The Pere Marquette Rail-Trail runs 30 paved miles west from Midland's Farmers Market through Sanford and Coleman to Clare, laid on an abandoned railroad corridor.
- Outdoors A hill of 3,000 dahlias that started with a Mother's Day gift Dahlia Hill is a terraced Midland garden where volunteers plant about 3,000 dahlias each spring, grown from one art teacher's accidental obsession.
- History and culture A whole pioneer village, saved one building at a time Sanford's history museum is a campus of eight rescued 1800s buildings on the Tittabawassee River, born from a one-summer centennial exhibit that nobody wanted to take down.
- History and culture Coleman, named for the man who drew it on a map A land buyer named Seymour Coleman platted the village in 1868, and the Pere Marquette railroad and a wall of sawmills did the rest.
- History and culture The building Alden Dow designed to make art and science argue Midland's arts center, designed by Alden B. Dow and opened in 1970, deliberately puts a science museum, art galleries, and a 1,500-seat hall under one roof.
- History and culture The minor-league team a town owns to pay for itself Midland's Great Lakes Loons and their ballpark are owned by a nonprofit foundation that funnels the profits back into local youth and community grants.
- History and culture The Santa House downtown, and the world's oldest Santa school Each October the oldest Santa Claus school in the world trains hundreds of Santas in a purpose-built Santa House beside the Midland County Courthouse.
- History and culture Edenville: named for the Garden of Eden (really) Edenville Township's first postmaster looked out at the meeting of two rivers in 1869 and decided the view deserved the name Eden.
- History and culture Dow's town Midland grew with Dow Chemical, and the Dow family shaped much of the city's architecture, culture, and civic polish.
- Home and property Midland's three rivers, and when to check the flood maps Midland sits at a river confluence where flood maps and flood insurance can matter for buyers near low ground.
- Home and property The 2020 dam break and the lakes that are coming back The 2020 Edenville and Sanford dam failures reshaped the Four Lakes area, where lake rebuilding and special assessments matter for buyers.
- History and culture Styrofoam Was Invented in Midland (and What You Call 'Styrofoam' Probably Isn't) Dow invented Styrofoam in Midland in 1941 — and here's the twist: the foam cups and coolers you call 'styrofoam' aren't actually Styrofoam at all.
- Outdoors One of the country's biggest nature centers Chippewa Nature Center in Homer Township offers more than 1,500 acres of trails, rivers, exhibits, and homestead programs.
- Home and property The Tittabawassee floodplain and a long cleanup Downstream of Dow's Midland plant, buyers near the Tittabawassee River floodplain should know about dioxin cleanup records and advisories.
- Outdoors The Pere Marquette Rail Trail Downtown Clare and Farwell connect to the Pere Marquette rail-trail system for biking, walking, running, and skiing.
- History and culture Sanford's comeback: the lakes are filling again Six 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 property Out in the county, you're on a well and septic Rural Midland County homes often use private wells and septic systems, with county permits, soil checks, and buyer-requested inspections.
- Outdoors Dow Gardens and the treetop walk Dow Gardens and Whiting Forest give Midland a public garden, historic home, and nationally noted treetop canopy walk.
- History and culture The Tridge Midland's three-legged Tridge crosses the Chippewa and Tittabawassee confluence and anchors downtown trails, parks, and markets.
- 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.