County note shelf
Wexford County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Wexford County. This shelf has 4 practical notes and 19 local stories.
23 notes
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- Outdoors William Mitchell State Park, wedged between two lakes One of Michigan's original state parks sits on the narrow neck of land between Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell, the two lakes joined by the old Clam Lake Canal.
- History and culture The geared locomotive a Haring logger invented Ephraim Shay, a logger from Haring just north of Cadillac, patented a geared steam locomotive in 1881 that could haul logs up steep grades and around tight curves where ordinary engines failed.
- History and culture Sherman: the county seat that burned and faded Sherman was Wexford County's first county seat starting in 1869, until an 1880 fire and a railroad that bypassed it left the village to dwindle and finally disincorporate.
- Outdoors The Cadillac Pathway and its surprising hills A few miles east of Cadillac, the Cadillac Pathway threads hilly state forest land with miles of looping trail groomed for cross-country skiing and ridden by mountain bikers the rest of the year.
- Outdoors Cadillac's Sound Garden, where you play the sculptures A small riverside park on Cadillac's west side is filled with big outdoor instruments visitors can actually play, plus thousands of daffodils and a boardwalk over the water.
- History and culture Manton's Harvest Festival, going since 1924 Every Labor Day weekend the small town of Manton throws a Harvest Festival it has run since 1924, built around a big parade that draws crowds from across northern Michigan.
- History and culture The water-filter vacuum built in Cadillac Rexair has built the Rainbow Cleaning System — the vacuum that filters dust through a basin of water instead of a bag — at its Cadillac plant since the late 1960s.
- History and culture When snowmobiles took over frozen Lake Cadillac Cadillac's North American Snow Festival began in 1984 as a snowmobile blowout on frozen Lake Cadillac, then shifted as the snow grew less reliable.
- History and culture Why Wexford County carries an Irish name Wexford County was first laid out in 1840 as Kautawaubet, for a Potawatomi chief, then renamed in 1843 after County Wexford in Ireland.
- History and culture Buckley and the Old Engine Show Buckley swells each August for one of the country's biggest antique-engine and tractor shows.
- Outdoors Caberfae Peaks: Michigan's oldest ski resort Caberfae Peaks opened in 1937 in the Manistee National Forest and remains Michigan's oldest ski resort.
- Money and taxes Do Cadillac or Manton have a city income tax? Neither Cadillac nor Manton levies a city income tax; the nearest city that does is Big Rapids, about 40 miles down US-131, at 0.5% for nonresidents.
- History and culture Harrietta and the birthplace of Michigan's brown trout Harrietta is known for Michigan's oldest operating state fish hatchery and its long brown-trout story.
- History and culture Manton: the town that lost the county seat in a raid Manton briefly held the Wexford County seat before Cadillac seized the county records in the wild 1882 Battle of Manton.
- History and culture Mesick, the Mushroom Capital Mesick calls itself the Mushroom Capital of the United States and celebrates morel season with a spring festival rooted in its logging-town past.
- Outdoors The Manistee River and the Hodenpyl backwater The upper Manistee River and Hodenpyl backwater make the Mesick area a quiet Wexford County gateway to big woods, trout, and paddling.
- Outdoors Morels: Michigan's Secret-Spot Spring Ritual Each spring, Michigan's woods fill with secretive hunters chasing the honeycombed morel — and the towns that throw festivals for it.
- History and culture Cadillac's two lakes and the canal that built the town Cadillac grew between Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell after George Mitchell's Clam Lake Canal connected lumber, mills, and the railroad.
- Outdoors The White-Tailed Deer No symbol shapes the Michigan calendar like the white-tailed deer — state game mammal since 1997, and the reason much of the state pauses for two weeks each November.
- Home and property Wells and septic in Wexford County: what buyers should know Wexford County well and septic inspections are voluntary at sale, so rural buyers should order their own inspection and check permits early.
- 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 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.