Mears, Michigan
This village, located at the center of Golden Township,
was founded in1873 by lumber baron Charles Mears along with Samuel W.
Odell. Mears was a thriving lumbering village in its early days. In 1877
Mears had three sawmills, a shingle mill, a large three-story hotel,
railroad station, bowl factory, post office, three general stores, a
bakery, other related businesses and churches. In 1879 the Spring Lake
Iron Co. constructed ten seventy-five cord charcoal kilns, located about
one-half mile north of the village. In 1907 the first school was built and
in 1913 Mears added a canning factory.
Mr. Mears built a store with a second story arranged for the purpose of
serving as a court room, he and Mr. Odell petitioned the Board of
Supervisors to move the county seat to Mears but the Supervisors refused
and the county seat remained in Hart. E. R. Averill built and operated a
store on the SW corner of 4th and Joy Street. When the two-story portion
of the store burned in 1911, Mr. Averill wouldn’t allow anyone inside to
fight the fire. Since it was supposed to be air-tight and fire-resistant
(it was made of cement blocks) he thought it would burn itself out.
However, it got into the paint he sold and the two-story part of the
building was completely consumed.
Over the years Mears has had its ups and downs, going from a once booming
lumbering village to a virtual ghost town but has now become a rejuvenated
community. It is a popular stopping point along the Hart-Montague Rail
Trail and is just a short distance from the Silver Lake Sand Dunes and is
home to the Oceana Historical Park Museums.
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