Lincoln Township's old rail line: Ashton, Orono, and Milton Junction

Lincoln Township’s brief official history says the township was established in 1867 and names three places along the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad: Ashton, Orono, and “Melton Junction.” One letter in that last name deserves a closer look.

An 1885 Michigan handbook preserved by the Library of Congress lists the main-line stations in order as Reed City, Orono, Milton Junction, Ashton, and Le Roy. A separate table starts the Manistee Branch at Milton Junction. That period railroad record is why this page uses “Milton,” even though the township’s current website says “Melton.”

The University of Michigan’s 1900 Osceola County atlas also shows the railroad running through Orono and Ashton. The township now describes Ashton as its only remaining village, but that does not make every other old railroad name interchangeable with a vanished village. Orono was a place on the line; Milton was the junction where a branch split away.

For local or family-history research, it is worth searching both spellings because the township page may be repeated elsewhere. The stronger period evidence, though, points to Milton Junction.