Much of
the following information is found in the Spring Arbor Township
Historical Committee publication of 1980, edited by William J. Termon of
Spring Arbor College Department of History. We’d like you to know why
this particular railroad bed was so important to preserve and so
fascinating to walk or bicycle.
Falling Waters Trail Has a Native American History
The
earliest recorded inhabitants of our trail are the Potowatomi natives.
They had major encampments near our Trail, as well as burial sites and
council grounds, and the Falling Waters Trail County Park is a short ride
from the Trail south on Cross Rd.
The
name, Falling Waters Trail, and the Friends of the Falling Waters Trail
logo, honors the Potowotomi village of the “Kitch-ti-ki-pi” or Big
Springs. Jackson County is headwaters for four Michigan rivers and the
Land of Falling Waters was the Native American name for this area
Our
Trail’s Railroad History
The
railroad was completed in 1871, although Snyder Station at Moscow Rd.
existed in 1867 and became a busy rural shipping point with 4 passenger
trains and up to 40 freight trains every 24 hours. There was also a
depot at Lime Lake with a ticket agent in
1903 and one in Concord
An
1874 map shows the Airline Railroad line, and a 1911 map shows the
Michigan Central Railroad line
In
the 1970s Conrail abandoned the line and tore up the tracks
In
the 1990s Conrail sold to Norfolk Southern, delaying the State of
Michigan purchase and our Trail development by 14 years. Our small
board of the Friends of the Falling Waters Trail has been keeping the
hope alive since our first meeting in 1993 until dedication as the
newest Jackson County Park in 57 years, and presentation to you of the
no-fee Falling Waters Trail County Park
Our
Trail’s Economic and Sociological History
Douglass
Houghton, Michigan Territory geologist of the early 1800s, described the
area of our Trail from Jackson to Spring Arbor as “rolling filled with
marshes, lakes and cat-holes”; and “filled with numerous springs of
peculiar character that seem to contain minerals and extensive beds of
marl” near our Lime Lake’s well known Peppermint Springs; and “beautiful
oak openings with primary boulders” proceeding further on to the lovely
site of Concord
Lime
Lake was originally only a 4-acre pond called Bateman Lake on Carter
Road from which Methodist Episcopal Church seminary students cut ice
The
Portland Cement Company dug marl with two huge steam dredges from 1900
to 1929 into its current size, split by the railroad tracks. The
remnants of docks and equipment are visible to trail visitors in the
bottom of crystal clear south Lime Lake
The
first dam built in Concord, then called Van Fossenville, was constructed
in 1833 near the Falling Waters Trail on the north branch of the
Kalamazoo River.
The
saw mill equipment was installed in 1835, west of the railroad bridge on
Concord’s main street. Waterpower from the Kalamazoo River was
important to the development of the village and area
Our Trail’s Ecological and Environmental History
In
1833 David Trumbull wrote his father in Connecticut about bears, wolves,
prairie hens, and plentiful turkeys and deer in the area. The Trail
area is still filled with wildlife, though the bears and prairie chicken
booming ground have been replaced with coyotes
The
Lime Lake Fen was studied in 1984 by Cranbrook Institute of Science and
Spring Arbor College Biology Department. Prairie Dropseed, on the
Michigan list of endangered plants, is found along the southeast shore
of Lime Lake, as is Giant Sunflower, Big Bluestem, Giant Lobelia, and
the delicate blue Fringed Gentian
The
fen reconnaissance committee reported that “although the area was
greatly disturbed in the past, it has now developed into an excellent
fen community”. They recommended that it be dedicated as a “Managed
Tract” to preserve the fen vegetation by periodic burning as the
Potowotomi did. The hope exists than someone will take up the project
Lime
Lake is the headwaters of Sandstone Creek that wanders along the Trail.
South Lime Lake remains pristine waters and is the only lake of its size
in the county that is totally unblemished by cottages and uninhabited
except by herons and turtles, flora and fauna, fish and wildlife south
Lime Lake
We hope
our words have painted a picture of the Falling Waters Trail. The
development of the Falling Waters Trail will preserve a scenic and
historic corridor for generations to come, and that, from the start, has
been our mission
