The cache at Lake Station is hidden on the Pere Marquette Trail right of way near the Lake Station Depot. The trail is accessible during daylight hours only.
Lake Station photo by A.G. Hudley, 2013
Lake or Lake Station depot when the cache was initially hidden.
Lake Station:
The village of Lake Station was established in 1877 as a post office and depot on the Flint & Pere_Marquette_Railroad. At one time, the post office was known as Crooked Lake, but adopted the name Lake Station. It was shortened to Lake in 1909. Though the official name is Lake, today the community is known by both names and appears on different maps usually as Lake, but occasionally with the longer name.
Charles Conn collection, Folder 1, Box 5,6, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, used with permission of Mr. Conn.
Lake Station from the east around 1920 based on the vintage of the automobiles at the building center-right. Depot and water tank are on the right.
Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad:
The F&PM began constructing a line in 1860 between Mt. Morris and Saginaw. It was opened in January of 1862. It reached Flint in December of that year, Holly in 1864, Midland in 1867, and Averill in 1868. By the end of 1870, the line had extended to Clare and Lake. It finally reached Evert in September of 1871 and Reed City in December that same year (dates are a little fuzzy, depending on which source is quoted). By 1874, the line extended to Ludington where a cross-lake break bulk and railroad car ferry service was created. On January 1st, 1900, the F&PM, Chicago & West Michigan Railway, and Detroit, Grand Rapids & Western Railroad were consolidated as the Pere Marquette Railroad, becoming the largest rail line in Michigan. The PM grew to a peak of 2393 miles with lines extending into Ontario, Indiana and Ohio and elsewhere with trackage rights. In 1929, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad had a controlling interest in the PM and consolidated the PM into the C&O in 1947.
In 1972, the C&O, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Western Maryland Railroad were consolidated on paper as the Chessie System, keeping their individual identities until the late 1980s. At that time, the Seabord Coast Line was added and the new company was known as CSX Corporation. CSX began to downsize its operations and in doing so, began to dismantle this line. In 1987, the portion of the line from Midland to Baldwin was taken out of service, and officially abandoned in 1988.
The depot at Lake still stands and is undergoing some restoration. It is used by the community for meetings and events. The old coaling tower also stands east of the depot and the cache. It is rumored to be slated for demolition.
Sources:
Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad
Chicago & West Michigan Railway
Pere Marquette Railway
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad
Chessie System
CSX Corporation
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