It was 6:30 am., on the 21st of November, 1859. The entire 59 miles of the Chicago, Detroit and Canada Grand Trunk Junction Railway was born, with stations in Pt. Huron, Smith's Creek, Ridgeway (Richmond), New Haven, Mount Clemens, Fraser, and West Detroit. Motive power was eight woodburning locomotives.

Bricks from Detroit were used to construct six of the Italianate style depots. The Ridgeway and Mount Clemens depots were similarly constructed to the standard exterior plan of the Grand Trunk 2nd class wayside station. The depots at Fraser, New Haven, and Smith's Creek, were slightly smaller versions, being 8' narrower with only one arched door at each end. The station at West Detroit was the largest of the 19 sister stations in either Michigan or Ontario, being a mansard-roofed, double-decked depot 100' long with 10 arched doors on each side. The Pt. Huron station had the distinction of being the only one of the sister stations to be built of wood. Pt. Huron was still then a lumbering town.

Unique to the seven Michigan sister stations, the station agent's living quarters were located within the depots. In Mt. Clemens, the station was divided length-wise, by a wall. In the east half, there were two bedrooms, a parlor, with a kitchen in the northeast end. On the trackside half, there was a small waiting room in the southern part, with a larger office-baggage room in the remaining portion. The ceilings were of horse-hair plaster, painted midnight blue. The floors were maple running east and west. The first bay window was added sometime after the original constuction. A few years later, the multi-gable roofed outhouse (the old shed) was constructed.

In 1872, mineral water was discovered. Mt. Clemens soon became the internationally renowned "Bath City". Tourists flocked to one of the world's greatest resorts, and the many bathhouses, arriving mainly through the Mr. Clemens Station. The Mt. Clemens Depot was the gateway to the city. The gateway was too small.

Sometime in the late 1880s, the capacity of the Mt. Clemens Station was enlarged. The station agent's (J. U. MacKenzie) living quarters were moved into a house, built adjacent to the east side of the depot. The depot's interior was rebuilt into just three rooms, with oak ceilings and a second maple floor (laid directly across the first). The center room was the ticket office, with the men's waiting room in the south end of the depot. In accordance with the customs of the era, a separate women's and children's waiting room was located in the north end. Jewel station stoves heated the somewhat drafty structure. Passengers entered from the trackside wooden platform. A lean-to restroom for the women and children, was adjacent to the north doors.

Lighting was still either by oil lamp, candle, or coal gas. A coal gasification plant was located north of the station, where Leander Street met Grand Avenue (where Grand presently turns from north-south to east-west). Leander would not formally be renamed as an extension of Grand Ave., until well into the 20th century. Very early into the life of the 1890s era station, the depot was electrified by the Thompson-Houston Company (a competitor of Edison). In 1893, Thompson-Houston and the Edison Electric Illuminating Company were forcibly merged into a new company - General Electric.

By 1923, the trolley was king, but the automobile was challenging for the crown.. Roads were improving and people were less inclined to travel by train. The Mt. Clemens Depot was remodeled into a 3rd configuration. The restrooms were placed inside. The existing interior walls were removed, with a new wall constructed across the width of the station (where the present east-west wall is). As the station agent (Robert R. Snyder) still lived in the house, the ticket window was reached through the center arched doorway on the streetside of the building.

In Mt. Clemens, trolleys did meet the trains. Trolleys served the station from a spur track running directly next to the present fence line. The Cass Avenue trolley crossed the Grand Trunk and continued to Clinton Grove Cemetary. When the line was abandoned by the DUR, the state-mandated crossing tower (on the south side of Cass) was taken over by the Grand Trunk. Eventually, some duties (such as train orders and the telegrapher's set) were transferred to the former DUR towcr.

On 17 July 1954, a hand-fired pacific-type steam locomotive pulled the last regularly scheduled Grand Trunk passenger train, from the old station. Nearly 95 years of passenger service had come to an end. The railroad offered the Mt. Clemens Depot to the Michigan Railroad Club for one dollar, for use as a museum. The MRC was reported to have turned down the offer with the comment, "Who would ever go way out there, for a museum?".

The agent's house and the bay window section of the station were both removed around 1950. A sliding door was placed over the northern-most trackside baggage room archway. The maple floor was torn out in the baggage room, with rail installed into a new 3-4' deep low-grade concrete baggage room floor. Motor vehicles and track speeders were then stored inside. Battleship linoleum was laid directly over paving asphalt, on top of the old hardwood waiting room floor. For the next quarter century, the station deteriorated, used only by the signal and track departments. The late Leo Betts was the last GT station agent in Mt. Clemens. In 1976, there was a renewed interest in the old station, when a needlepoint was produced and sold, as a Bicentenial project. A Save Our Depot Committee soon was formed. However, the CN was no longer interested in a donation. In 1979, the City of Mt. Clemens persuaded the CN to trade a newly
constructed brick structure (across the tracks) for the historic old station. Federal funding was used for some work on the exterior. The interior still very much reflected its age.
In late 1980, the City of Mt. Clemens requested bids for proposed uses of the old depot. The Michigan Transit Museum (with the backing of the Macomb County Historical Society) put forth a bid. When a commercial venture appeared as one of the bidders, the Gratiot Valley Model Railroad Club dropped out of contention, throwing their support behind that of the M.T.M. The City Commission reacted favorably and awarded an initial five year lease, of the Mt. Clemens Depot, to the M.T.M.

The MTM began interior restoration in 1981. Most of the materials and all of the labor were donated. Careful consideration was given, before starting upon any one area of the old station. The volunteer workers of the MTM made every effort to take each section of the historic station, as far back as was realistically possible.

Much has been written, that the Mt. Clemens Depot has been restored back to its turn of the century appearance. This is not true! The Mt. Clemens Depot has not been restored to any one era. Restoration, to any one era, was not considered to be either financially or realistically possible. In fact, neither was it preferable. Parts of the restored Mt. Clemens Depot Museum historically reflect each and every time period of all its 140 years - including the last two decades.

Step inside the Mt. Clemens Depot Museum, through the Grand Avenue entrance. No visitor was ever able to do that, during the entire first 120 years of the station. Entrance was always through the trackside doors (now that's forbidden). The exterior brick walls are almost 15" thick, and bear the entire weight of both the ceiling and roof. Once inside, you will find wainscoting from three different eras, the 1890s maple floor and 1890s oak ceiling. As the ticket window was formerly located where you entered the Depot Museum, the restored ticket window wall was modeled after a surviving original
wall in the St. Mary's Junction sister station. The benches were obtained from another Grand Trunk station. The restrooms are exactly where they've been since 1923.
In the baggage room, a misstep by a Michigan Bell employee made restoration of the ceiling unfeasible. The concrete floor was deemed too expensive to replace with a hardwood maple replica. The floor and ceiling were appropriately painted to reflect both their use as a work space, along with their history. Using a still existing foundation, the missing bay window was truly restored. However, the furnace room will never be restored. It will be maintained, proof of historically what once was.

The truth is, a complete restoration back to 1859, would have destroyed everything that occurred since then. What would really be appropriate? The Mt. Clemens Depot Museum is the sum of its entire history, not just one moment in time. All 140 years are of importance. In reality, we are practicing historic historic railway preservation, not just restoration.

Of course, the work never stops. Historic preservation is never ending. We need lots of help. The Depot needs help, too. Be a preservationist! Lend a hand!! Support our Depot Museum!

On Sunday, 21 November 1999, we will rededicate the Mt. Clemens Depot Museum. A ribbon will be cut. We plan to invite numerous public officials and representatives from other various organizations. An appropriate Birthday Cake (without 140 candles) will be available.Consider attending! You're invited, too! GJM

Photo below, from the Craig N. Harris collection shows Mt. Clemens Depot around 1900. Note house by Depot, outbuilding, water tower, and of course, the bay window. Trolley track by picket fence came later.