The History Center of Berrien County, 313 N Cass St, Berrien Springs MI ~ July 27, 2023

If you want to see the oldest existing county courthouse in Michigan, this is the place. (It's not the oldest still-in-use-as-a-courthouse building. That would be Lapeer County Courthouse.)

It was built in 1839 and served as the county courthouse until 1894. Subsequent uses include being rented by a college and by a 7th Day Adventist Church. The church bought the building in 1922 and moved out in 1966. In 1976, the courthouse opened as a museum. This courthouse square contains four other buildings as well and we started with the courthouse.

Information and artifacts are hung throughout the courthouse.

Behind the courthouse stands Murdock's Log Cabin, which the History Center claims is the oldest two-story cabin in its original state in Michigan. It was moved here from its original location in 1973.

The third building we visited was the old sheriff's residence. The jail was torn down in 1916.

The Records Building is currently not open to the public.

And lastly, the forge and buggy shop is a recreation and not a historic structure. It was built in 1978 and was still fun to poke around in.

The only personnel we encountered was a person in the courthouse who was friendly and informative. Other than that, we had the place to ourselves and enjoyed walking through some history.

 

Schutmaat Park, 3501 Willyard St, Hamilton MI ~ July 16, 2023

This small and picturesque park contains a historic train trestle built in the 1900s by Civil War Veterans. It rises 35 feet above the Rabbit River and is 420 feet long. The occasional train still runs on it.

The park site was donated by the family of George Schutmaat in his memory.

The railroad track runs right through the town.

Right around that bend is the train trestle but we didn't walk down to it.

It's an idyllic spot with a waterfall and a nice bit of history attached to it.

A short video of the bridge & the river.

Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theatre, 9812 Honor Hwy, Honor MI ~ 8/4/23

If you find yourself up north and drive past this, you know you have to turn around and take a look. For those of us of a certain age, it's a blast from the past 😊

A classic bug 😀

The Concession Stand

Entrance and Exit

This "drive-in" sculpture is hilarious.

The Cherry Bowl opened on July 4, 1953 and appears to be one of eleven drive-in movie theaters remaining in Michigan (lists vary). It's great to see some of them still standing.