Transportation
At
this time a man would come out pump your gas, check your oil, put in oil all for
14 cents per gallon.
hauling ass
Transportation
in our area for most of its history was by foot and canoe. There
were no cars, or vehicles. There were no roads at all.
There were foot trails thru the woods.
Horses
and other livestock were introduced in our area after 1818. Horses
were utilized until the late 1930s.
Steam power was used mostly for tractors
by local farmers.
Ride the Stage
By 1830 there was a stage line running from Detroit to
Romeo and another to Ft. Gratiot. The stage line followed
the State Road which followed Sherwood. Kunrod’s Corners at
ten mile road was a stop on this route. Beebe’s corners was next.
First railroad Line in the West
In 1836 the Erie and Kalamazoo railroad line reached Adrian Michigan and had stage
connections to other areas. Several stage lines began around
this time.
Sherwood Road was planked in 1856. This also became
known as the State Road sometimes called the Center Line road which ran from
Detroit North from Connor Creek past Harper and north along what is now called
Sherwood to the Village of Warren. A settlement of Hickory Corners
once exited at Connor
Road, which followed
Connor Creek to Jefferson.
A rail road was built along the State Road running from Detroit to Shelby and later to Utica. At first it had wooden rails, poles
strapped to logs then later iron rails. The railroad car was pulled by horses.
Later steam engines were used. The
huge engines were a wonder to behold and their whistles could be heard for miles.
As soon as the farmers raised enough to feed their families
they found a ready market in Detroit for their excess crops and meat. They had horse drawn wagons and drove to Detroit using either the State Road or if the roads were dry they would follow the best
trail over to Gratiot. There were several farmers markets
in Detroit. Eastern market was founded in 1841.
On Foot, Canoe, Animals, Stages, Railroads,
Trolleys, Steam, Cars, Aircraft, Spacecraft
That is the progression
of transportation.
A
stage ran from Detroit to Utica in the early 1800s. Beebe’s was
about half way.
The State Road was located on present day Sherwood road.
The little settlement located near what is now Ten mile road and Sherwood
was called Kunrod’s corners. The corners became a stage stop
between Detroit and Utica. The horse drawn stage fare was about
75 cents to Detroit or Utica and double that to Romeo.
1880-1914 Steam tractors had wide use. Herman
Weir had several in use on his farm. One ran a saw mill.
It was fascinating to watch these big engines run.
Soon
railroads were built. The Grand Trunk on the east from Detroit to Port Huron went thru Warren in 1859. The Detroit Shelby
line the little railroad that ran next to the state road Sherwood that had wooden
rails consisting of poles strapped to logs and a car pulled by horses.
This was improved and began to run to Bay
City about 1860.
It is said that it took ten years to build it. ( I have not had time to verify
that.) The Warren stop was called Spinnings Junction and it was just south
of 14 Mile Road. The train would stop if signaled becaue it was a
business and derived income from carrying passengers and itens.
After the New Your Central took over they placed a station at Chicago Road.
The
center of Warren Township was at eleven Mile Road and Van Dyke ) the Center
Line Road. On the South East Corner there was
built the Old
Township hall. Many of us old-timers remember
going there for meetings and events.
Inter-urbans were planned but the only one that got into
Warren was one that ran from Detroit to just north of Ten Mile road on Van Dyke.
A lot of growth in southern Warren was due to the great service these inter-urbans provided.
They ran from 1901-1930. More would have been built but farmers did
not want their lovestock disturbed.