County note shelf
Van Buren County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Van Buren County. This shelf has 5 practical notes and 26 local stories.
31 notes
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- History and culture Lawton: the grape town Prohibition couldn't break Welch's opened a grape juice plant in Lawton in 1919, the same year Prohibition arrived — and more than a century later it still presses local Concord grapes a few blocks off the main drag.
- History and culture The South Haven farmhouse that raised the father of modern horticulture Liberty Hyde Bailey, the man who taught universities to take garden plants seriously, was born in a small frame house outside South Haven in 1858 — and that house is now a museum and garden.
- Outdoors Wolf Lake hatchery: where six-foot sturgeon live near Mattawan The state fish hatchery west of Mattawan has been raising Great Lakes fish since 1927, and its free visitor center includes a show pond where lake sturgeon glide along the bottom.
- History and culture Paw Paw is named for a fruit most people have never tasted The county seat of Van Buren County takes its name from the pawpaw, a custard-fleshed native fruit that once grew thick along the river the town sits on.
- Rules and licenses South Haven limits how many homes can be vacation rentals Unlike its quieter inland neighbors, the beach city of South Haven caps the share of homes that can operate as short-term rentals and requires each one to register and pass safety inspections.
- History and culture South Haven's tall ship fought in the War of 1812 The Michigan Maritime Museum on South Haven's Black River sails a replica sloop, Friends Good Will, whose namesake was captured, recaptured, and named in Oliver Perry's famous victory dispatch.
- History and culture Bangor's depot and the daily train to Chicago Bangor's restored 1926 brick depot is a working Amtrak stop on the Pere Marquette line — one train a day each way between Grand Rapids and Chicago.
- History and culture Decatur: named for a naval hero, where the county started Decatur honors War of 1812 naval hero Stephen Decatur, and its township holds the 1829 cabin site of Dolphin Morris, Van Buren County's first recorded settler.
- History and culture Gobles: a town the railroad put on the map Gobles grew up around the Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad in the 1870s and took its name from the Goble family, who platted the village as Gobleville.
- History and culture Lawrence's Ox Roast: free beef since 1921 Every Labor Day the village of Lawrence roasts beef and hands out the sandwiches free — a giveaway that started in 1921 and was revived in 1985 for the village's 150th.
- Outdoors Maple Lake was built on purpose The lake in the middle of Paw Paw isn't natural — the village made it in 1907 by damming the Paw Paw River for hydroelectric power.
- History and culture The county museum that used to be the poorhouse Van Buren County's history museum fills the 1884 brick building on Red Arrow Highway in Hartford that served as the county poorhouse and farm until 1952.
- Outdoors The old rail line you can now walk: Van Buren Trail Van Buren Trail State Park is a 14-mile path on a former railroad bed from South Haven to Hartford, running through farms and blueberry fields.
- History and culture The red tower at the end of the South Haven pier South Haven's red pierhead lighthouse has marked the Black River since 1872, and its original keeper's catwalk is one of only four still standing in Michigan.
- Outdoors Van Buren State Park: dunes and a mile of beach south of South Haven A 400-acre state park on Lake Michigan a few miles south of South Haven, with forested freshwater dunes, a mile of sand beach, and a big campground.
- History and culture Why so many roads through here are called 'Territorial' The Territorial Road through Paw Paw was one of Michigan's first east-west pioneer routes, approved in 1829 to run from Detroit west toward Lake Michigan.
- History and culture Hartford throws a whole festival for the strawberry Every June since 1988, Hartford has filled its downtown with a parade, a carnival, and a great deal of locally grown fruit for the Hartford Strawberry Festival.
- History and culture The last depot on the Kal-Haven line, kept as a museum Bloomingdale's 1870 railroad depot — the building the village grew up around — is the last original station left along the Kal-Haven Trail, and it's now a local museum.
- History and culture The county fair that's older than the county fairgrounds Van Buren County has held a fair of some kind since 1851; today's Van Buren Youth Fair runs on land in Hartford that was once the county poor farm.
- History and culture Why the old highway through here is called Red Arrow Red Arrow Highway, the two-lane that strings together Van Buren's fruit-belt towns, is the old route of US-12 — named for the 32nd 'Red Arrow' Division of Michigan and Wisconsin National Guardsmen.
- History and culture Covert: the township that integrated America a century early Beginning in the 1860s, Covert Township's Black and white settlers built a fully integrated community — schools, ballots, and public office — decades ahead of the nation.
- History and culture Paw Paw and Michigan's oldest winery Paw Paw is home to St. Julian, Michigan's oldest winery, plus a long-running local winemaking tradition.
- History and culture South Haven: beaches, blueberries, and the maritime coast South Haven is known for Lake Michigan beaches, blueberries, the Michigan Maritime Museum, and Liberty Hyde Bailey's hometown history.
- History and culture Four Winds Casino in Hartford Four Winds Hartford is a Pokagon Band casino and entertainment venue just off I-94 in the Hartford area.
- Home and property Living near the Palisades nuclear plant Homes around Covert and South Haven may sit inside the Palisades Nuclear Plant emergency planning zone while the plant is being brought back into service.
- Outdoors The Kal-Haven Trail The Kal-Haven Trail is a 34-mile rail-trail between Kalamazoo and South Haven, with Bloomingdale at its midpoint.
- Home and property Building near the Lake Michigan shoreline and on the dunes Lake Michigan shoreline and dune properties can be affected by Michigan critical-dune and high-risk-erosion-area permits.
- History and culture Michigan's original wine country is here, between the vines and the lake The Lake Michigan Shore wine region covers Berrien and Van Buren counties, where lake-tempered winters ripen grapes for dozens of tasting rooms.
- History and culture Blueberries, peaches, and the lake that makes them possible Southwest Michigan's fruit belt grows a huge share of America's blueberries — South Haven calls itself the Blueberry Capital of the World and has thrown a festival since 1963.
- 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.