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In the early 1800's professional land-lookers came to this area and reported not one acre in a thousand would admit to cultivation because of swamps.

In 1835 Pioneers came anyway not at first for the land but for the timber and water power. Land at that time cost $1.25 per acre. They were greeted by the friendly Algonquin Indians, who brought them venison, fish, berries turkeys and tanned deer skins. They lived along the river. Near the campground was a sacred gathering place.

First to Arrive:

Amos and Pierpoint Spicer, Samuel Hamlin, C. C. Darling settled at Spicerville near Spring Brook. They saw possibilities in the small stream for water power and found good soil for farming. They erected a saw mill in the first year. They followed the stream to its junction with the Grand River and predicted that someday that spot would be an industrial center. They added 633 acres to their already 160. In 1838 the original plat of the village was laid out. However between the two locations were swampy low lands. A two mile road was built to transport lumber. The road has always been known as Hogsback Road.

The first lumber brought in from the Spicerville sawmill was in the summer of 1838 and was used by Benjamin Knight who built a general store on the corner of Main and East Knight Streets where the Quality Dairy store stands today. There were only three slab shanties in the area at the time.

Settlers were taking up land rapidly. The four original pioneers, the Spicer brothers, Darling and Hamlin formed a mill company. They dug a channel on the south side of Spring Brook at its junction with the Grand River, it came to be called the South Race and water gates were installed. The mill company put up a framed building and in 1837 the first industry in Eaton Rapids was born. The Old Red Mill. It was razed in 1882 when the Island City Flouring Mill was erected on the site. It was a three story structure with cupola. And it was widely known for turning out Indian cornmeal and wheat flour. (The first floor stands today at the location of Ranch Life Plastics.)

The mill company also erected a saw mill with lumber from Spicerville. They were kept busy supplying timbers for local use as well as rafting lumber down river to Biddle City, now called Lansing.

Next the mill company built a wool carding mill and sold it to William and John Gallery and they later sold it to Samuel Horner. Mr. Horner was a professional spinner who originated from Yorkshire England. Horner Mill expanded and grew. In 1883 the first cloth for wool blankets was made. From this beginning developed a business that became known the world over.

Later John B. Davidson, Sr. came to Eaton Rapids from Philadelphia. He had considerable knowledge of wool yarns and experience in manufacturing woolen products. He started his mill in 1921 and was the only mill in Michigan spinning its own yarn. The Davidson Mill supplied 95% of the wool yarn for the major league baseball, as well as high grade yarns for other. After 48 years in business the mill burned in 1969. John B. Davidson served as mayor of Eaton Rapids as well as in both the State House and Senate.

Mineral Water:

Eaton Rapids’ first claim to fame was its curative waters. Barely out of its buckskins and patches, the famous magnetic mineral springs were discovered. The spring water was analyzed by professors Duffield and Kedzie of the Michigan Agricultural College and found to be high in magnesia, iron, soda, potassium, sodium, silica acid and lime. People came from all over the world to seek cures for every ailment known to man. The first mineral rich water was discovered in 1852 when a dry goods store owned by E. B. Frost needed to increase its water supply. He put down a 160 foot well at the curb on the north east corner of Main and East Knight Streets. He tapped into a free flowing supply of mineral rich water that promised to make Eaton Rapids one of the most famed cities in the world. News spread quickly and new wells were put down and hotels sprang up all over town. 14 well in all were drilled. Six passenger trains daily brought rich people to Eaton Rapids for cures. Every available hotel room was taken up by visitors and those seeking good health.

The Vaughn House (Bay Station is now located here) was the first luxury hotel built. It had three stories with125 rooms with an outside balcony that completely surrounded the second floor. It featured a ballroom, a parlor, formal dining room, exquisitely fitted bedrooms and large sample rooms where salesmen met with their customers. The full basement included a cistern to provide fire protection.

The second luxury hotel was build diagonally across from the Vaughn House, present site of National City Bank, called the Anderson House. It featured four stories with 126 rooms. It was lighted throughout with gas lights, fireplaces graced each floor, and for its visitors convenience an elevator. To keep the visitors warm it was heated with steam. The open staircase led to the spacious grand ballroom on the second floor.

Eaton Rapids was advertised all over the country and was called: The Saratoga of the West. Imagine how busy the streets of Eaton Rapids must have been. Farmers coming to town in their horse drawn wagons bringing their wool to the mills or taking their grist to be ground. Horse drawn carriages, surreys & hacks loaded with trunks and luggage and health seekers as they come and go from the depot to the hotels, stirring up the dust on the dirt Main Street. Housewives with their baskets over their arms filled with eggs and homemade butter doing their trading with the shop keepers. Children hanging onto their mothers long skirts afraid to venture too far. People visiting on the street corners and in front of the many, many stores stocked with all kinds of merchandise. A few gray haired and bearded men in civil war uniforms getting supplies for their encampment at GAR park, now known as Island Park. Wealthy visitors strolling the street while others sit on the balconies overlooking the busy streets below. Merchants in the stores wrapping purchases in brown paper and tying it with string.

What happened to Eaton Rapids? What happened to the Saratoga of the West? One by one the hotels burned and were never rebuilt. The health seekers went elsewhere. Synthetic materials took over the market instead of wool. Most of the wells have been pulled out. However there are three that I am aware of, one at Spicerville, one at Smithville Dam and the final one at the old athletic field. The last bath was closed in 1962.

Eaton Rapids has a rich history unlike most small towns. Eaton Rapids the Saratoga of the West has given Michigan two governors, Judge Ransom in 1838 and Austin Blair in 1842. Dr. Bradley lost his bid for governor by a very slim vote. In 1891 one of the very first women Physicians and Surgeon, Henrietta Carr, practiced medicine her entire life in Eaton Rapids. Dr. Derby of Eaton Rapids put together a cough syrup that is still being manufactured by Park Davis. The Bissell Plow Co. invented, patented and manufactured horse drawn plows. Twenty-five men were employed and the produced 6,000 plows a year. True Manufacturing Co. invented a combination hay & stock rack for wagons. The first newspaper published in Eaton County was born in Eaton Rapids in 1847, the Eaton Democrat. The Eaton Rapids post office was established in 1838 the second in Eaton County.

Other business that helped Eaton Rapids thrive were a furniture manufacture, a cigar company, brick plants, a foundry, tin shop, a cooperage, an artificial stone manufacturer, a fish line and rope factory and a bed spring company. E. R. Baking Company produced a fine line of crackers and gingersnaps, shipping as many as 15 barrels in one order. Eaton Rapids also claims the invention of the Bradley Incubator which allowed 100 eggs to be turned at once rather than one at a time. The Farmers Cheese Cooperative Factory manufactured cream cheese and shipped over 11 tons to England a week. A. M. Smith Co. shipped 125 carloads of eggs and a million pounds of butter plus 2 million pounds of poultry annually. J. C. Selby Evaporator Co. sliced and dried apples, packed them in fancy paper and shipped them all over the United States. The company also dried apple peelings and cores for shipment to champagne distillers. Miller Dairy Farms started freezing ice cream in 1896. From a shaft arrangement turning several freezers, the industry grew into the largest independent producer/manufacturer/retailer of its kind in the United States.

We need only to look at her history to see the fine contribution she has made in the settling of our state and our nations. We can be proud of the industrial activity and commerce that was born here. We indeed can be proud to be residents of the finest city in Michigan