Lake Odessa: a town that moved to meet the railroad

Start with the name, because it has three pieces rather than two. The village and township histories say “Lake” refers to both Tupper Lake and Jordan Lake. “Odessa” comes from Odessa Township. When the township was organized in 1846, a local committee chose that name to honor the city of Odessa on the Black Sea.

The railroad explains why the village sits where it does. Bonanza, an earlier community, stood north of today’s Lake Odessa. In 1887, Humphrey Wager bought an 80-acre farm along the planned Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad route and laid out a new community. When the first train came through in 1888, Bonanza’s principal merchants moved south. They brought their buildings, inventory and all. Lake Odessa incorporated as a village in 1889.

So the familiar line that the whole town moved is a little too neat. The official histories specifically describe Bonanza folding up and its main merchants relocating their businesses. That is still a wonderfully literal railroad story: the community’s name came from two lakes and a township, while its location followed the tracks.