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Station:  Owosso, MI

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Owosso Time Line:

  • 1856: Detroit & Milwaukee arrives (GTW)
  • 1857: D&M builds west towards St. Johns
  • 1858: JL&S (MC) arrives from N. Lansing
  • By 1867: JL&S builds north to Saginaw
  • By 1884: Forerunner to AA builds north.
      Owosso's first land purchase was made in 1833 and the area was settled in 1835.  The settlement was first known as Big Rapids and was given a post office as "Owasso" in 1838.  The name was not officially changed to Owosso until 1875 though this spelling became common by 1844.  The City of Owosso was incorporated in 1859.

     Railroads first arrived in Owosso in 1856, when the Detroit & Milwaukee built north from Detroit via Durand.  This line, which later became the Grand Trunk Western (and later the Central Michigan), continued west towards Lake Michigan the following year.  In 1858, the Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay railroad built south towards Lainsburg and eventually arrived at the Lansing area.  This route, which by 1867 continued north towards Saginaw, later became the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad (then the Michigan Central Railroad, NYC, PC, and later a TSBY branch).  By 1884, the forerunner to the Ann Arbor Railroad built through Owosso.