Mount Clemens station facts for kids
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Grand Trunk Western Railroad, Mount Clemens Station
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 Location in Michigan
Location in the United States
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| Location | 198 Grand St., Mt. Clemens, Michigan |
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| Built | 1859 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 81000311 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 26, 1981 |
The Mount Clemens station is an old train station found at 198 Grand Street in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Did you know that famous inventor Thomas Edison learned how to send telegraph messages right here when he was young? This special building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. It was recognized as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973. Today, it's home to the Michigan Transit Museum, where you can learn all about trains and travel!
Contents
The Story of the Mount Clemens Train Station
Mount Clemens became a town in 1781. By 1818, it was the main city for Macomb County. In the fall of 1859, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad opened a new train line. This line connected Port Huron to Detroit and passed right through Mount Clemens.
The railroad built several passenger stations along this new line. The Mount Clemens station was one of them. It looked just like other stations built around the same time in nearby towns. These stations were similar to older designs from England.
Thomas Edison's Telegraph Training
Soon after the station opened, a twelve-year-old boy named Thomas Edison got a job there. His family had moved to Port Huron a few years earlier. Young Edison worked as a newsboy and candy seller on the train route.
In August 1862, something amazing happened at the Mount Clemens station. While the train was stopped, Edison bravely saved a three-year-old boy. The boy had wandered onto the tracks, and a train was coming! As a thank you, the boy's father, J. U. Mackenzie, taught Edison about telegraphy. Mackenzie was the station agent. This experience sparked Edison's interest in technology. Later, Mackenzie even joined Edison at his famous laboratory.
From Train Station to Museum
Over the years, other buildings were added around the station. These included a house for the station master and a water tower. Most of these extra buildings were eventually taken down. Only a small water closet, or outdoor restroom, still stands today.
The Grand Trunk Railroad stopped using the Mount Clemens station in 1953. After that, they used it for storage until at least 1972. In 1980, the city of Mount Clemens bought the building. They worked to fix it up and make it look new again. Now, the building is leased by the Michigan Transit Museum. It's a great place to explore train history!
What Does the Station Look Like?
The Grand Trunk Western Rail Station in Mount Clemens is a one-story building. It's built in a style called Italianate. The building is shaped like a rectangle and made of bricks. It sits on a strong stone foundation.
Most of the walls are red brick. Yellow bricks are used for decorative corners and around the windows. There's also wooden trim. A wooden walkway runs along the side of the building facing the street. The roof has shingles and extends far out from the walls. This roof is held up by wooden brackets.
The long sides of the building have five arched sections. On the street side, three arches have large windows. One arch has a double entrance door. The last arch is bricked up, but it has a small window inside it. On the track side, two arches have large windows and two have double doors. The fifth arch is covered by a small addition. This addition was rebuilt in the 1980s to look like an old telegraph operator's booth from the 1880s. The shorter ends of the building have two arched windows. Above them, there's a round window.
Inside the Old Station
The inside of the station has two main parts. The southern part was the waiting room for passengers. It has wooden floors and a wooden ceiling. The walls are plaster with wooden panels along the bottom. There are doors leading to a restroom and a storage room.
The northern part of the building was for the staff. This is where they worked. It has concrete floors and a painted wooden ceiling. The walls are also plaster with wooden panels. There's an office and a room for machines on one side. On the other side is the re-created telegraph bay. A wall separates the waiting room from the staff area. This wall has a door and a re-created ticket office window. The brass grill on the ticket window came from another old train station in Detroit.
The Water Closet
North of the main station building, you can find a small wooden building. This is a water closet, which is an old term for an outdoor restroom. It was built around 1893. It has one entrance on one side. The windows on the other three sides are boarded up.
