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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- OutdoorsWilliam Mitchell State Park, wedged between two lakesOne 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 cultureThe geared locomotive a Haring logger inventedEphraim 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 cultureSherman: the county seat that burned and fadedSherman 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.
- OutdoorsThe Cadillac Pathway and its surprising hillsA 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.
- OutdoorsCadillac's Sound Garden, where you play the sculpturesA 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 cultureManton's Harvest Festival, going since 1924Every 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 cultureThe water-filter vacuum built in CadillacRexair 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 cultureWhen snowmobiles took over frozen Lake CadillacCadillac'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 cultureWhy Wexford County carries an Irish nameWexford County was first laid out in 1840 as Kautawaubet, for a Potawatomi chief, then renamed in 1843 after County Wexford in Ireland.
- History and cultureBuckley and the Old Engine ShowEach August, Buckley fills with working antique engines, farm machinery, and visitors for a show that began with a local gathering in 1967.
- OutdoorsCaberfae Peaks: the ski hill that opened in 1938Caberfae opened to the public on January 16, 1938, after the Civilian Conservation Corps, U.S. Forest Service, Cadillac Chamber, and local volunteers built a winter-sports area southwest of Cadillac.
- Money and taxesDo 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 cultureHarrietta and the birthplace of Michigan's brown troutHarrietta is known for Michigan's oldest operating state fish hatchery and its long brown-trout story.
- History and cultureManton: the town that lost the county seat in a raidManton briefly held the Wexford County seat before Cadillac seized the county records in the wild 1882 Battle of Manton.
- History and cultureMesick, the Mushroom CapitalMesick calls itself the Mushroom Capital of the United States and celebrates morel season with a spring festival rooted in its logging-town past.
- OutdoorsThe Manistee River and the Hodenpyl backwaterThe upper Manistee River and Hodenpyl backwater make the Mesick area a quiet Wexford County gateway to big woods, trout, and paddling.
- OutdoorsMorels: Michigan's Secret-Spot Spring RitualEach spring, Michigan's woods fill with secretive hunters chasing the honeycombed morel — and the towns that throw festivals for it.
- History and cultureCadillac's two lakes and the canal that built the townCadillac grew between Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell after George Mitchell's Clam Lake Canal connected lumber, mills, and the railroad.
- OutdoorsThe White-Tailed DeerNo 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 propertyWells and septic in Wexford County: what buyers should knowWexford County well and septic inspections are voluntary at sale, so rural buyers should order their own inspection and check permits early.
- OutdoorsNinety-two miles, no cars: the White Pine Trail townsThe 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 taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.