
Is This Really the Smallest Town in Michigan? Turner, in Arenac County
We humans are intrigued by the biggest, smallest, oldest, first, last, etc. In our state. There are a number of communities that are called the smallest: whether it’s a village, city, burg, hamlet, community, borough...there are many variations and many disputes. So here’s another one.
This has been called “The Smallest Town in Michigan”.
I’m not going to debate it.
I’m just letting you know.
It’s the village of Turner in Arenac County. Originally called Turnerville, it was named after lumberman Joe Turner who came here in the 1870s and settled on the same site where the Ojibwa tribe had their campgrounds.
Joe formed a lumber company, cut a trail, laid railroad tracks, and added more lumber camps. Joe’s diligence and determination brought more and more people and business to the town. Soon the downtown had a blacksmith, church, depot, general store, hotel, mill, post office, restaurant, roundhouse, saloon, schoolhouse, shoe store, and train repair facilities.
In 1886, the railroad tracks were ripped out by Joe Turner himself. His mission was to transport the tracks somewhere else to continue lumbering. Not long afterward, the Detroit & Mackinaw Railroad cut through town.
In 1915, the community officially became a village. Today, the old downtown still has a few old buildings that stand empty and some residents still live throughout the tiny blocks. It’s almost a ghost town, but not down for the count yet.
Is Turner really our smallest town? It gets confusing, with all the "smallest town, village, city, community, area, burg, hamlet" posts popping up all over the inetrnet. Which to believe?
I just write about it, I don't make the conclusions.
So you decide.
