X Marks The Spot Oakwood

“X” marks the spot of a piece of land that has seen many changes. Land tells a story. This piece of land tells a large amount of the history of Lowell.
 
The land began as track number 7 in the Southeast quarter of section 35 in Vergennes Township. This includes today’s Oakwood Cemetery, which became an official cemetery in 1872, and the land now owned by Navico, formerly Attwood. Today this land is under the jurisdiction of the City of Lowell. 

Odawa
The first known residents of this land were the Odawa. Originally, they lived closer to the mouth of the Flat River, however when the American Settlers saw how fertile the land was, fur trader Rix Robinson negotiated a trade with the Odawa. Rix cleared about 20 wooded acres for fields here on Section 35 for the Odawa, and they moved their village, leaving the fields west of the mouth of the Flat River available for the Robinson settlers.

The land was first purchased from the government by Isadore ‘Nauntie’. * He transferred the land to Odawa Headman Cobmoosa. Other Odawa owners include Oshkypicash and Se-pye-qua. By 1857 the Odawa had left the area and moved to Oceana County.

Fairs and Horse Racing
The land closest to the east bank of the Flat River, on the west side of Oakwood Cemetery, where Navico sits today, was owned by Dr. Isaac Malcolm and used for fairgrounds and a horse racing track. Lowell was known for horse racing. In May of 1872, according to the Lowell Journal, “the best speed horses of Canada, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Missouri, will be brought to the Lowell Horse Fair in June.” In May of 1873 horsemen were encouraged to apply early for stabling room as there were already twenty horses at work at the Lowell track. While Jarvis Train also opened a racetrack where Recreation Park is now, it was usually referred to as Train’s Driving Park or Train’s Racetrack. The 1890’s were called the great age of horse racing locally. Kentucky thoroughbreds were shipped here for competition. While the horse racing continued into the 1930’s, the later racing was exclusively at Train’s Racetrack. The fairgrounds folded during the late 1920’s. 

Farms and Dairies
After the departure of the Odawa, Rowland Ryder owned land on the northern part of this land and farmed it. He sold milk to Lowell residents. He sold the dairy and delivery route to J.H. Cramer in 1899, who named it Riverside Dairy. Cramer was the first to introduce the general use of delivery bottles in Lowell. In 1927 George Boyenga* purchased the farm and dairy business, including the bottling and milk route. His dairy was called Lo-View Dairy and included the Malcolm land, (previously fairgrounds and racetrack), where Navico sits today, along with land to the south, crossing the municipal line into the Village of Lowell. His address was 830 N. Monroe. George worked hard farming the land, raising and milking the cows, and bottling and delivering milk. As the boundary line between the Village of Lowell and Vergennes Township ran through the farm, Boyenga paid property taxes to both municipalities. 

This farm was the last operating farm in the Village of Lowell. This caused complications for Boyenga, as the Village considered an ordinance to not allow farm animals within the Village limits. George negotiated to keep his farm, but the future of the land clearly would not be farming. George died unexpectedly in 1959, followed by his wife Beuhla a few months later. The land was for sale. 

Industry
In March of 1960, the directors of the Lowell Showboat Inc. voted to purchase the farmland known as the Boyenga property near the north village limits and present it to the Attwood Brass Company. They donated $6,000 of the $7,000 needed. The Board of Trade paid the additional $1,000. The vote to rezone the land to industrial was the last act taken by the Village Council before the incorporation of Lowell into a city. The land was then annexed to the City of Lowell. 

This land has seen the entirety of Lowell history. From an Odawa Village, fairgrounds, horse racetrack, farming as part of the many dairies that once thrived here, and finally, industry. 

 Images: 
Original Survey showing the land discussed in this article.

Horse track showing end of a race.

Boyenga farm buildings.

Boyenga farm in summer and winter. The winter picture shows the intersection of Sherman and Lafayette Streets.
 
Map produced by Kevin Finney showing the location of the Odawa village in section 35 and the earlier village.

Turkeys on the Boyenga farm. 

 *For more information on Isadore Nauntie (Nauntais), see U is for Underdog from Round 7, for more information on George Boyenga, see B is for Boyenga from Round 7.
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