User:Twoontwowheels

From the WikipediA article: Michigan Center, Michigan; the following excerpt (bold mine) 1834. '''The name was presumably derived from the proximity to the Michigan Meridian which divided the state into eastern and western portions for surveying. The community is not close to any sort of geographical center of the state'''. Fitch became the first postmaster in 1838.

My belief is that the name more likely probably derived from a Stage Line that ran between Detroit and St Joseph Michigan; and had a leg that perhaps ran from Detroit to Mount Clemens Michigan and may even further north to the Port Huron Vicinity where it connected with a stage that went from Sandwich to Niagra. 1. From the book History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan By Silas Farmer Published by, 1890 (Original from the University of Michigan), p. 888 JOURNEYING, it is stated: "On May 30, 1834, this item appeared in a Detroit daily: 'A new line is about to be established between this city and the mouth of the St. Joseph River, and the first coach left to-day. [sic] The line will run through the county seats of Washtenaw, Jackson, Calhoun, and Kalamazoo. Steamboats are about to commence running between the mouth of the St. Joseph and Chicago, so that the entire distance from Detroit to Chicago may be performed in less than five days.' 2. The paragraphs before describe four or more 1832 lines: The Sandusky Line (in the East), the Saint Joseph Line, the Ann Arbor Line, and the Pontiac Line. 3. A Bicyclist Group has prepared a map system (which I followed West to East) following the "Old Stage Coach Trail(Route?)" originating at Northwestern University to Detroit. It took an East turn past in swampy region near Niles in SW Michigan. It must been preceded by the Saint Joseph to Chicago Ferries; and thus swung Southerly around Kalamazoo. However, that map system took me through Michigan Center about a block away from my boyhood home. 4. Not knowing the exact routes beyond Michigan Center, the rough distance east to Port Huron area is 126 miles, whereas west to Saint Joseph is arouind 119 miles. My boyhood friend had a barn and a horse grazing pasture just off Napoleon Road (the route) and was told the great hole in it was the blacksmith's fire pit where he shod the stage horses. There also once were baths ( no longer existent on fifth street) next to the railroad (non-existent then) and across the railroad an old hotel with dining room that was operated by a Mr. Lumley, when I was a young paperboy. He told me that it had serviced stage riders. In Summation, I sincerely believe that Michigan Center got its name because, in Michigan, it was the Center of the old stage road between Port Huron and Saint Joseph Michigan. That makes far more sense than an oblique connection to a Meridian.