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Stearn's Mill Post Office was established on the 30th, Dec. 1847 in the settlement located where the Big Muskegon and the Little Muskegon Rivers meet. The Settlement was called Muskegon Fork. John F. Stearns was the first Postmaster. In 1850 the name was change to Croton, and in 1851 George Backart, who had a large mill there became the Postmaster. In 1854 Jefferson Morrison became the Postmaster. Follow by George Backart again in 1859, Martin Brigg in 1860, Horatio Brown 1861, Aruthur Truesdell 1864, Philetus L. C. Fish 1869, Geo. H. Force 1879, Walter M. Rice 1881, John F. Granweiler 1885, Edwin E. Rice 1889, John Granweiler 1894 and Edwin E. Rice in 1898. In May of 1899 a fire broke out in the hotel in Croton and in a space of one short hour, eighteen buildings, including all of the business portion of the village lay in ashes. A heavy wind was blowing from the southwest, and the male population being nearly all out of town, it was impossible to stop the flames until they literally burned out for want of anything to attack. From the hotel the flames spread to a blacksmith shop, which stood on the opposite corner, and almost at the same time the store building of D. M. Rice, occupied by E. E. Rice as a drug, general store and the post office was enveloped in flames. The post office was saved and later located in the basement of the Higbee building. The bridge across the Little Muskegon River was also burned making it hard for the people of the village to get back and forth across the river. It took the village a long time to recover from this fire and many of the businesses did not rebuild. The office was discontinued in 1908 and the mail went to Newaygo. |