| The railroad through Caledonia was originally built
by the Grand River Valley Railroad Company and ran from Jackson to Grand
Rapids. In 1870 the GRVR was leased in perpetuity to the Michigan Central
Railroad, which was part of the New York Central "empire". This line was
the New York Central's main line to Grand Rapids, Michigan's second largest
city. Passenger service ended in 1959. The line was abandoned by NYC successor
PennCentral and operated briefly by the Kent, Barry and Eaton Connecting
RR, with a state subsidy. State money ran out and the rails were removed
in the 1980's.
The building itself probably dates back to the original
construction of the railroad. Freight and storage facilities occupied the
rear, larger, portion of the building. The front hall is divided into two
smaller rooms. One served as the passenger waiting room. The other part served
the agent's and telegrapher's office. In the late NYC era freight trains
were halted by a semaphore order board which is also part of the mainline
manual block control. A separate green and white board was used to stop the
Grand Rapids - Jackson RDC cars whenever passengers were to be picked up.
The depot, still in its original location, is used for storage by the lumber
yard across the street.
For some reason the railroad never got around to tearing
down stations along this line. In the 58 miles between Charlotte and Grand
Rapids, stations remain in Charlotte, Nashville, Hastings, Middleville,
Caledonia, and Dutton. |
