Mint City, U.S.A.

St. Johns has a sweet-smelling claim to fame. It’s known as “Mint City, U.S.A.” And Clinton County still grows more mint than any other county in Michigan. The story goes back to the late 1800s. Mint farmers — many of them moving west from New York — found that the county’s black “muck” soil was perfect for mint. That soil is rich, drained marshland. Mint is a shallow-rooted plant that loves moisture. Stills for distilling the oil went up around 1913. Through the 1920s to the 1950s the area became one of the world’s great mint regions. At its peak it produced much of the world’s spearmint oil, the flavoring behind chewing gum, toothpaste, and candy.

A handful of family mint farms still work the muck today. One is the Crosby Mint Farm, which dates to 1912. It bills itself as the oldest continuously family-run mint farm in the country. Drive the back roads in summer and you can still see — and smell — the mint fields. And each August since 1985, the city throws the St. Johns Mint Festival downtown. There’s a parade, a carnival, and plenty of mint ice cream.

The Mint Festival is held the second weekend of August; details are at mintfest.org.