Falmouth: the town that almost kept the county seat

Falmouth is a small farm community in the southeastern corner of the county, and for a little while in the 1870s it was the most important place in Missaukee. When the county was first organized in 1871, the law put the county seat right here — back when the settlement was still called Pinhook. Falmouth held the courthouse for a couple of years, but in an 1873 vote the seat was moved to the young settlement on Muskrat Lake that grew into Lake City, and Falmouth settled back into quiet country life.

Like McBain to its west, Falmouth grew into Dutch Reformed farm country, and it still has that character today — a Reformed church, tidy farms, and a tight-knit feel. The heart of town is the Falmouth Dam and its mill pond, where the community gathers for a fireworks show every Fourth of July, and the Falmouth Youth Show each summer fills the fairgrounds with kids showing animals and crafts.

It’s the kind of place that doesn’t show up on most maps, but it carries a surprising amount of the county’s history.