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In 1857 the Grand Rapids and
Indiana Railroad had won a land grant
to build a railroad from Grand Rapids to Traverse City. By
1869 they had made very little progress and the state ordered the
railroad to surrender its charter. Desperate to save their
railroad, the Indiana interests
behind the G R&I, turned over construction
of the line to the Continental Improvements Co., which was
controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Pennsylvania RR had
just acquired the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, and
saw the G R&I as a means to extend into Michigan.
It was however,
controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad, not local interests. The
Pennsylvania took the land grants and had a nice feeder to their
main line.
As Northern Michigan's lumber boom was winding down, the G R & I was
seeking new traffic for its line. One fairly successful approach was
to promote Michigan's resorts and fishing. "Where to go Fishing" was issued
by the G R&I in 1907. It listed good fishing sites and their distance
from GR&I stations along the line.
click on images to enlarge
them
1907 Grand Rapids & Indiana
promotion
1904 Grand Rapids & Indiana
schedule
1908 Grand Rapids & Indiana
system map
GRAND RAPIDS and INDIANA DEPOT
East Michigan Avenue at Pitcher Street
The Italian Revival station in
Kalamazoo was built in 1874 replacing
an earlier building that burned down. Passenger service
ended in 1954. In 1961 the railroad sold the building. In 1963
the building was adapted for use
as the Whistle Stop restaurant. It continued as a restaurant for 25 years, but then went into
disuse.
click on image to enlarge it
1900
1998
See The
Vicksburg Depot
page about
another G R&I Depot
And see, the AMERICAN MEMORY PROJECT 1871 MAP OF THE G R&I
RAILWAY
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