Reed City and "The Old Rugged Cross"

Beyond its trail-crossroads fame, Reed City has a quieter claim to fame: it was the later home of Reverend George Bennard, who wrote “The Old Rugged Cross” — one of the most beloved gospel hymns ever written. Bennard lived just north of town, and there’s a local history museum — the Reed City Heritage Museum (formerly the Old Rugged Cross Museum) — dedicated to his story alongside displays of early Osceola County life: pioneer rooms, old logging and farm tools, and pieces from Reed City’s early businesses.

Like most towns around here, Reed City started with timber — it grew up in the late-1800s logging boom with about a dozen mills and factories, and some of its old downtown buildings still have wood floors milled right in town. The Osceola County Courthouse still anchors the center of town.

For history-minded buyers, Reed City offers a walkable historic downtown and a real sense of its railroad-and-lumber past.