| The north-south tracks through Greenville were built
by the Ionia & Lansing Rail Road Company around 1870. The rail road built
a depot at the foot of Montcalm Street. In 1876 this route was merged into
the Detroit, Lansing & Northern. In 1882, the DL&N built a new brick
depot, and moved the old one a bit north for use as a freight station. In
1896 the DL&N was reorganized as the Detroit, Grand Rapids & Western
Railroad. In 1899, it was sold to the Pere Marquette.
On the night of February 4, 1908, the brick depot was destroyed
by a fire, believed to have started in the north room of the depot
where there was a fire in a stove. The railroad placed a passenger car at
the foot of Grove Street as a temporary passenger station. The replacement
depot was not started until October of 1908. So the present Pere Marquette
depot in Greenville probably opened in 1909.
Passenger service continued, in the form of a mixed train,
until at least 1940. But by 1947, the line was freight only. In the 1980's
the tracks into Greenville were sold to a short line railroad, the Mid Michigan.
The station now serves as headquarters for the Mid Michigan RR, which runs
from Greenville to a connection with Grand Rapids & Eastern in Lowell.
|
