County note shelf
Sanilac County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Sanilac County. This shelf has 8 practical notes and 25 local stories.
33 notes
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- History and culture The fire that gave the Red Cross its first job On September 5, 1881, a firestorm burned a million acres across the Thumb in a single day — and the new American Red Cross answered its first-ever disaster call here.
- History and culture A Sanilac village that carries a German river town's name Minden City was platted in 1855 and named by early settlers after Minden, Germany; the lumber village survived the 1871 Thumb fire and today holds fewer than 200 people.
- History and culture How Davisville became Croswell The Black River settlement that became Croswell was first called Davisville, then renamed in 1877 for Charles Croswell — the man who happened to be Michigan's governor at the time.
- History and culture How Sandusky stole the county seat — and lost two courthouses Sandusky won the Sanilac County seat from Lexington by sitting dead-center on the map; its first courthouse burned in 1915, and a red-brick replacement still stands.
- Outdoors Lexington's state harbor and the breakwall walk Lexington State Harbor is a 108-slip Lake Huron marina at the heart of the village, with a public breakwall you can walk out on for a clear view back at the town and the sunrise.
- Outdoors Sleeping on the edge of Lake Huron at Forester Park Forester Park is a 68-acre county campground six miles north of Port Sanilac, with around 200 sites, rustic cabins, and a swimming beach right on the Lake Huron shore.
- History and culture The country doctor's mansion that became a whole village Port Sanilac's Loop-Harrison mansion was built by a doctor who rode a 40-mile circuit on horseback; today his estate holds 17 historic buildings and a shipwreck room.
- History and culture The county hospital a banker's bequest started McKenzie Health System in Sandusky, the main hospital for rural Sanilac County, grew out of a 1959 gift from local banker Kenneth McKenzie and opened in 1967.
- History and culture The hardware store that has never closed since 1850 Raymond Hardware on Ridge Street in Port Sanilac has run continuously since 1850 and is recognized by the state as Michigan's oldest continually operating hardware store.
- History and culture The town named for a word carved on a shanty log Marlette took its name from 'Marlatt' — a family name two Ontario brothers carved on a log shanty before giving up and going home — respelled when the township needed a name in 1859.
- History and culture The village that went from Hall's Corners to Farmers to Carsonville Carsonville changed its name three times in thirty years — from a log store called Hall's Corners, to a post office named Farmers, to the name of the hotel keeper who put it on the map.
- Rules and licenses Where you can legally ride an ORV on Sanilac County roads Sanilac County's ORV ordinance opens most county roads to ATVs and side-by-sides, but riders must stay far right, single file, and under 25 mph — and individual towns can still say no.
- History and culture Forester's saddest ghost story In 1876 a heartbroken teenager named Minnie Quay walked into Lake Huron at Forester, and the lumber town has been telling her ghost story ever since.
- History and culture The depot a town paid $15,000 to get Marlette's farmers raised $15,000 to lure the railroad in 1881; the 1890 depot they earned survives, restored, as the town's historical museum.
- History and culture A county fair older than the cars that drive to it The Croswell Agricultural Society has thrown a county fair on the same Sanilac County grounds for well over a century, and it still fills the place every summer.
- History and culture Brown City: born on the rails, baptized by fire Brown City started in 1879 as a railroad shipping point for lumber and grain, survived the great fire of 1881 two years later, and straddles two counties.
- History and culture The Christmas parade made of glowing tractors Every December, Sandusky strings Christmas lights on combines and grain wagons and rolls them down Main Street in a farm-equipment parade that's run for over thirty years.
- History and culture The lumberman who left his name and a sauerkraut factory Deckerville grew up around Charles Decker's 1870 sawmill and gristmill, then spent decades making everything from flax and bricks to barrels of sauerkraut.
- History and culture Lighthouse, shipwrecks, and the storm of 1913 Port Sanilac's lighthouse, harbor of refuge, shipwrecks, and historic museum tie the village to Lake Huron's maritime history.
- History and culture Michigan's only ancient rock carvings The Sanilac Petroglyphs in Greenleaf Township are Michigan's only known prehistoric Native American rock carvings.
- Outdoors The last raised bog in Michigan Minden Bog is a rare raised peat bog in Minden Township and the quiet headwaters of the Cass and Black rivers.
- History and culture The swinging bridge and the sugar factory Croswell is known for its swaying Black River footbridge and its Michigan Sugar Company beet-processing factory.
- History and culture The Thumb's first town, now a resort village Lexington is Sanilac County's oldest community and a historic Lake Huron resort village.
- Money and taxes No city income tax Sandusky, Croswell, Marlette, and Brown City levy no city income tax; the nearest cities that do are Port Huron and Lapeer, each taking 0.5% from nonresident workers.
- History and culture Is the Whole Lower Peninsula Really Shaped Like a Mitten — and What's "The Thumb"? Michigan's Lower Peninsula really is mitten-shaped, and 'the Thumb' — the part jutting into Lake Huron, around Huron, Tuscola, and Sanilac counties — is a genuine, official nickname.
- Home and property Buying along the Lake Huron shore Lake Huron shoreline property in Sanilac County can mean erosion history, public-trust beach access, and state permits for work near the water.
- Home and property Wind country — turbines, leases, and who decides In Michigan's Thumb, wind turbines can affect rural land value, leases, views, local zoning, and state siting decisions.
- Home and property Wells and septic outside town Outside Sanilac County's cities and villages, most homes rely on private wells and septic systems, so inspections, water tests, and perc tests matter before buying.
- History and culture Ancient carvings and Michigan's quietest coast Sanilac County holds Michigan's only known Native American rock carvings — the Sanilac Petroglyphs — plus forty miles of unhurried Lake Huron shoreline.
- 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.
- History and culture The Thumb feeds America its beans Michigan's Thumb is the nation's powerhouse for navy and black beans, and Tuscola County farmland is at the heart of it.
- 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.