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Two
more photographs at
South Lyon
by Charlie
Whipp from the 1970's. The photo above was taken of the depot from the
east side of it. The track in the foreground is the GTW
Jackson
line. The
C&O main line from
Plymouth
to
Grand Rapids
is behind
the depot. The photo below was taken from the Grand Trunk
Western Jackson
Subdivision right of way, looking south
past the depot and across the Chesapeake & Ohio diamond. (The
diamond is beyond the depot. What looks like a crossing before the
depot is a road). The interlocking signal post for the crossing is at
the right. The siding branching off to the left is the interchange
track with the C&O. |
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South Lyon
was founded in 1832 and was called Thompson's
Corners. In the same year, the surrounding township was named
Lyon
for Lucius Lyon a member of the State
Legislature. The village was given a name for its location within the
township.
South Lyon
was incorporated as
a village in 1873 and as a city in 1930.
South Lyon
was
home at one time to three railroads.
In the
summer of 1871, the
Detroit
,
Lansing
and Northern was built west from
Plymouth
on the
way to
Lansing
and
Ionia
.
In 1880, the predessor to the Ann Arbor Railroad built a line into town from
Ann Arbor
. The goal
of this line was to continue on towards
Pontiac
but that did not occur under the original owners. The line was pulled up
around 1890. - Article - In 1883 the Grand Trunk built their Jackson Branch from
Pontiac
to
Jackson
,
which crossed the Pere Marquette near the elevator (photo above). The GTW
branch line continued to serve
South Lyon
until the early 1980's. The branch line is now a paved bicycle trail
through town and
Reynold Sweet
Parkway
follows the original route. Today,
South Lyon hosts the CSX main line from
Detroit
to
Grand Rapids
,
and a passing track is located there. After
the first DL&N depot was destroyed by fire, the PM and GTW built a union
station to serve both roads. The depot used a "witch's hat"
design, which was also used at a few other locations in
Michigan
. In the mid-1970's, the depot
was moved from its track-side location and became the center piece of a
historic park in the City about 1/2 mile away.
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