Location: Town Line (Station), Dearborn, MI

Town Line was located on the Michigan Central main line at "Town Line Road", which was later renamed Greenfield Road. This was the boundary line between Springwells and Dearborn townships before Dearborn was expanded as a city in the late 1920's. After about 1918, the Michigan Central railroad established a junction at this location which today is still known as Town Line.

in 1893, the railroad built a small passenger/freight station at Town Line road.

Notes

A photograph (shown) has recently emerged from the Dearborn Historical Museum showing a passenger station called Town Line. Railroad historian Jim Harlow, also of Dearborn, suggests that this appears to be a "builder's photo", taken shortly after completion, supposedly in 1893. The framed signboard is typical of the Michigan Central's station signboards. A search of MCRR employee timetables (ETT) of the period in 1883 shows no station named "Townline". An ETT No. 310 (June 30, 1895) shows a station called "Townline" at milepost 7.3 (from Detroit Third Street depot), which likely is this depot. One westbound mail and express train (#3B) stopped there at 7:39 a.m. An eastbound mail and express train also stopped there at 5:09 p.m. Both were daily except Sunday. An ETT (No. 316) effective September 27, 1896 shows the same Townline station with similar mail and express stops. 

But an ETT dated 1897 does not show the Townline station nor do any others after that time, until the train order station at Townline was placed into operation in 1914. This new telegraph station was never a passenger, mail or express station and was in a smaller shed-type building.

Jim notes that no station named “Townline” was in the Official Guide listings of 1894 and 1895 under MCRR or in the general index of station listings, except on the Detroit, Lansing and Northern (DL&N) railroad which is listed as being in Wayne County, MI. The DL&N railroad (which became the Pere Marquette in 1899) would have crossed Townline Road near what is now Tireman Avenue. However, this DL&N station is not listed in the timetable listings under DL&N.

We have no DL&N employee timetables from this period to check on this station – so we have no idea where it actually was.

A 1904 USGS map shows a black "dot" indicating a building or house where the MC Townline depot would likely be. (Note that Town Line road was east of the current Greenfield Road.) But the DL&N also has a similar black "dot" at Townline Road (near Tireman Road).

The 1904 map shows there was no townsite at either location and the area was fairly desolate. There were also other Townline roads at other locations in Michigan.

A search for Town Line station in newspapers.com, revealed little, except for a small real estate ad from 1893 which notes "M.C.R.R. station now built on the property", and the property described is between Michigan Avenue (on the north), Town Line (on the east), and North Dearborn Road (which paralleled the north side of the Rouge River, running northwest). This is apparently the station in question. There was no article about the building of the station or when it was removed. [DFP-1893-0305] 

The location of Townline Depot was just west of the former Town Line road, and just east of the current Greenfield Road in Springwells Township. 

Time Line

1893. Station is built and put into service. [MCRR-ETT-1895]