Elsie

Cravens' Mills was a predecessor of the village of Elsie. Thomas Craven Sr., his family and others, arrived in 1836 from Ohio at their destination on the Maple River, one mile west of the present village. They built two dams and two mills; lumbering was a main business.

The mills attracted other settlers, among them the Sickles brothers, who owned land three-quarter mile east of Cravens' Mills and moved their store to that area where a new settlement developed. The plat for the new village was recorded in June 1857. The new village of Elsie was named for Elsie Tillotson, the first child born in the village. Her father, Franklin Tillotson, became the first postmaster.

The coming of the Toledo, Ann Arbor and Northern Railroad was a boon to the village in 1884. It helped in the markets for grain and livestock, and stimulated new businesses like a cider and vinegar mill, milk plant, cheese factory and grain elevator.

Churches - Methodist, Free Methodist, and Baptist - added to a thriving cultural life that included an opera house, literary club, fraternal orders and library.

Elsie experienced an economic blow when the Detroit Creamery bought the cheese factory in 1929 and moved it to Ovid, and passenger rail service was discontinued in 1950.

Its strong agricultural heritage is evident in the Elsie Dairy Festival, which began in 1980 as the Elsie Festival Parade. Green Meadows Farms is one of the largest dairy operations in the United States, milking a herd of 3,200 cows every day.

Lear Corporation is a leading employer in the county in terms of manufacturing, producing parts used in the automotive industry.

Historical information taken from the 1980 History of Clinton County; complied by Hila Bross with assistance from Neva Keys.

Elsie Public Library
145 W. Main St.
Elsie    862-4633