RRHX
Station: Windiate, Michigan
Michigan's Internet Railroad History Museum
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Above, the only known photo of the Windiate depot (near present day Clarkston). The steps of the depot appear to be the focus of a celebration. Below, a photograph of the original Windiate depot sign. (The other is also still in existence at the Hatchery House, the home of the Waterford Historical Society. [Both photos, Frank Riess Collection] |
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Below, a creek underpass under the Grand Trunk line at Windiate Park. [T. J. Gaffney Collection] |
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WINDIATE DEPOT
Located in Independence Township, Michigan, 34.37 miles north of Detroit and 153.93 mile east of Grand Haven, between Waterford (1.08 miles) and Clarkston (0.86 miles), the Windiate depot once stood along side what today is Windiate Rd. Windiate is named for the original property owner. John Windiate was one of the earlier settlers in what today is northern Oakland County, having moved there from Hampshire, England in 1836. He owned property throughout the area, including acreage around Lester Lake, where a street today bears his family name. The settlement called Drayton Plains, Michigan, (whose depot was 3.03 miles to the south of Windiate) was developed around the area of present day Dixie Highway and Frembes Road. One of the earliest settlers of the area, Daniel Windiate, named Drayton Plains after a mill he once owned in England (Drayton).
In 1851, the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway (in 1870 the Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee Railway) came through Independence Township. Soon after, the Windiate depot was built. The depot was a flag station, meaning no tickets were sold there. The building was only used for the passenger’s shelter.
While the area around Windiate was primarily farms in the late 1800’s, the area’s many lakes drew scores of vacationers during the latter part of the century out of Detroit during the hot summer months. Several hotels were built in the area for the vacationers. At Windiate, there was the Windiate Hotel, which was nestled between Lester Lake, Van Norman Lake (then called Mill Pond), Lotus Lake, and Maceday Lake. The hotel and the depot were within a short walk of all four lakes. The Windiate Hotel has long since been torn down.
The railroad put as many as twelve extra coaches on its trains to handle the heavy weekend traffic from the congestion of the city to the summer resorts at Windiate, Waterford and Clarkston.
Around 1850, the depot was built on the Detroit, & Milwaukee Railway, which came north from Detroit. In 1870, the railroad continued on to Grand Haven, Michigan and became the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway. Today it is the Canadian National Railroad.
In the late 1800’s, the railroad was nicknamed the Huckleberry Railroad, because it traveled so slowly and passengers could jump off and pick huckleberries then jump back on while the train was still moving.
The Windiate depot was torn down in the 1950’s.
From Frank Riess.