Walkerville, Michigan
Fayette Walker arrived in Leavitt Township in 1869,
having come from Warsaw, New York. By 1883,
he felt his new location was a good place to start a village and had it
platted as Walkerville.
Sometime in the early 1860's Rufus James Carpenter moved to the area and
built a house and a
small grocery store. Later he started the Bird Post Office. He rode a pony
into Hart each week
over a blazed trail to pick up mail and supplies. His only pay for
operating the post office was
the outgoing mail that he cancelled.
During 1882, Mr. Alvin S. Stetson was responsible for establishing the
Stetson Post Office east
of town. He was Postmaster until 1885, when the post office was moved into
the village and in
1898 the post office was officially named Walkerville.
Those days in the early 1880's were the boom days of logging in western
Michigan. In August
of 1886, Butters and Peters Railroad was incorporated under the new name
of Mason and Oceana
Railroad. Later the name was shortened to the M & O Railroad, and
sometimes called the
"Miserable and Ornery". On January 20, 1888, the line reached
Walkerville.
Some of the people in that area claimed they lived in "Leavitte"
(Leavitte Township), while
others said they lived in "Walkerville" the platted village, and
still others said they lived in
"Stetson" using the name of the old post office. This fact
caused some confusion and one
drawing shows the railroad going to the Stetson Store east of the village,
instead of Walkerville.
Fire has always been a hazard of the village and the fire which started at
approximately 2:00 pm
on Saturday, May 9, 1891, proved this to be a true statement. The fire
started in Beal's Livery
and burned both sides of Main Street, including two hotels, three saloons,
halls and stores,
leaving 22 families homeless. The atlas of 1895 states, "At one time
being almost completely
destroyed by fire, the village was rebuilt in less than two years, as it
is now (1895) a bustling
village of over 200 people". Fires again raged through the village in
1914 and 1941.
In 1976, the year of our country's bicentennial, a local group of people
was organized to help the
community join in this celebration. What started as a small bicentennial
celebration has turned
into a yearly homecoming. Every year on the Saturday before Independence
Day, the
Pioneer Day festivities are held. The events are always started with a
parade, followed by an
afternoon of pioneer games, and a pig roast, with the day being climaxed
by an old fashioned street
dance.
Today the processing facilities and the school in the
area provide employment for many people.
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