| Vassar is about 80 miles north-northwest of Detroit.
In 1878 the Port Huron & North Western started a 3-foot gauge railroad
into Michigan's thumb area, to serve the lumber industry. In 1881 the line
had reached Marlette, and by 1882 had been built through Vassar, to Saginaw.
Another branch of the railroad ran from Port Huron to Port Austin, on the
tip of the thumb. In 1889 the Port Huron & North Western was sold to
the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad.
The Pere Marquette was taken over by the C&O, which
in turn became part of CSX. In the 1990's CSX abandoned the tracks between
Port Huron and Brown City, which is about 25 miles southeast of Vassar. The
remainder of the line was sold to the Saginaw Valley Railroad, which is part
of the RailAmerica
shortline empire. Tracks through Vassar are operated by the Huron and Eastern,
another RailAmerica company.
The building shown on this page is probably the depot from
Vassar, built by the Pere Marquette Railroad. It is much like other PM-built
depots around the state. At some time, it was moved just east of Mayville.
As of the summer of 2002, it had been recently rebuilt as commercial
space. |
