Part III - Culture, a supplement to the Big Rapids Pioneer Newspaper. Used with permission.



HISTORICAL GROUPS PRESERVE COUNTY'S HISTORY
By Chris Miller, Pioneer Staff Writer

As Mecosta County and Big Rapids celebrates its 150th anniversary, several area historical scities have remained busy throughout the year collecting artifacts and preserving buildings.

Here are a few local societies and brief histories of ech organization.

Barryton Area Historical Commission

The Barryton Area Historical Commission was formed in 1987, according to local resident Dorothy Tice.

Tice and Barbara Dean, a former Barryton teacher, thought there should be a historical society in the village -- purchasing the old Titus School and moving it from southeast of Barryton next to the local park.

The school currently serves as a museum, housing a variety of historical artifacts including old photos and even cemetery books for Mecosta County.

Also, Tice said the museum, which is open every Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., mostly focuses on genealogy information.

The commission also recently purchased the former Covert School and moved it adjacent to the old Titus School.

Tice said the commission eventually wishes to renovate Covert School which was once located north of the village.

For more information about the Barryton Area Historical Commission, either contact Tice at (989)382-5530 or the Barryton Area Chamber of Commerce at (989)383-5581.

'' Big Rapids Historic Preservation Commission

It was 1975 when the old Mecosta County Jail -- at 220 S. Stewart St. -- was being threatened to be torn down, when a group of Big Rapids residents decided to protest the idea.

According to Mary Loesch, that's when the Big Rapids Historic Preservation Commission was formed.

Loesch, who serves as the commission's president, said the old jail was first turned into a teen center. It also was used as a community center in the mid-1970's.

"As the teen center lived its life, the same group of people turned it into a community center," she said. "The 1970's attitude across the nation ws to save and preserve old buildings."

Receiving several grants, the Historical Preservation Commission eventually preserved the jail and dedicated it during the city's 125th anniversary celebration in 1980.

Since then, Loesch said a caretaker/manager was appointed and is in charge of taking potential renters. The jailis rented out for special occasions, such as wedding receptions, surprise parties and anniversaries.

She also said it sometimes is used by church communities as a "starter location."

"When congregations don't have enough money to build a new church, they have rented the jail until there was enough funding," Loesch said.

To maintain the jail, the commission hosts two annual yard sales, as well as other fund raisers.

Besides the jail, the commission is busy restoring the Bergelin House Museum, located at 218 Winter Ave.

The house which was constructed in 1872 was originally located on the corner of Elm Street and Winter Avenue.

Loesch said the owner, Robert Bergelin, and his family donated their residence to Big Rapids in 1989. Over the years, it has been slowly turned into a museum -- displaying many pieces of furniture built in the area.

She also said it contains an informational Library about furniture, and there are plans to add a gift shop in the future.

For more information about the Old Jail, call 796-9507.

Mecosta County Historical Society

Formed in 1920, the Mecosta County Historical Society maintains the Mecosta County Historical Museum, which is located on the corner of Stewart and Elm Streets in Big Rapids.

The museum features a variety of historical artifacts, including a collection of Indian arrowheads donated by Ruth Zimmer, who had collected them in Colfax Township.

'' It also has a Wooten Desk -- first used by Fitch Phelps and then donated to Woodbridge N. Ferris, founder of Ferris State University and former Michigan Governor.

Other items are a high-wheel bicycle popular in the 1870's, a huge table with accompanying chairs used in the Board Room of what was then First National Bank on the northeast corner of the Michigan Avenue and Maple Street intersection and an upstairs room developed to replicate an early 1900's pharmacy.

Clothing, flags, dishes, logging tools, furniture made in the city, bricks made in the city, dolls and more also are stored at the museum.

When Phelp's wife Harriet passed away, she willed their home, where the museum is currently located to the city. Phelps was a prominent early Big Rapids lumberman, businessman and state legislator.

Today, members of the society provide museum tours every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m., said Maxine Sofoulis. It also provides tours on special occasions. For more information, contact the museum at (231)592-5091

Mecosta-Morton Area Historical Society

Members of the Mecosta-Morton Area Historical Society (MMAHS) currently are developing and finding funds to support two major projects in the area.

The group's hopes are to renovate the Little River School and rebuild the home of Isaac Berry Sr., and his wife Lucy, at School Section Lake Veteran's Park on 90th Avenue in Mecosta, as well as reconstruct the old train depot in the village.

In 1877, the Berry family moved to Michigan from Ontario, Canada, where they built a log cabin in the park in 1884. The cabin remained standing until 1931, after both Isaac (1914) and Lucy (1928) passed away.

Isaac's son, John Berry Sr., owned the property until he sold it to the county in 1930.

The school began hosting classes in 1880, as Lucy served as its first teacher.

Inside the remaining school are the original maps and books used for classes, a piano, local artist Clair Lambert's 1975 painting of the school, several antique desks and a rope, where the bell was once attached.

The MMAHS is seeking grants to restore the school and rebuid the Berry home as a tourist attraction.

The Mecosta Depot, which was built in 1880, served daily trains from as far south as Detroit until 1943, when the tracks and depot were removed.

According to local historian and resident Walter Welsch, the depot was located directly where Bradley's Hardware is now.

The depot was part of the DL&N (Detroit, Lansing and Northern) Railroad, which ran from Detroit through Lansing and up to Edmore, Blanchard, Millbrook, Remus, Mecosta, Rodney and Big Rapids.

' MMAHS officials hope to rebuild the depot to its original 1800's architectural design including replicating the interior with a complete museum. They also wish to add some train tracks and bring in aw train from Oregon.

Remus Area Historical Society

The Remus Area Historical Society (RAHS) was formed in 2003 according to local resident Char Lenon.

Stated in a press release, the society's purpose is to preserve and celebrate the rich heritage of the area, including Wheatland, Broomfield, Colfax, Millbrook, Morton, Rolland and Sheridan Townships.

Lenon said the group hopes to collect and feature historical materials such as family genealogies, newspaper articles, old post cards and handbills, charts, surveys, property records, pictures and photos and other objects from during the early Remus years.

''Rahs brochures currently are available, and members will have a booth established at the Mecosta County Agricultural Free Fair July 10 through 16th.

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