Station: Camp Grayling, MI

Camp Grayling, at one time also known as Rasmus, is the main facility of the Michigan National Guard. It is located near Lake Margrethe, five miles southwest of downtown Grayling. The property was donated to the government by Rasmus Hanson, a lumberman. The railroad ran a spur to this location in 1914, using part of the Manistee & Northeastern branch from Messick. The branch was known as the Rasmus Branch and the Michigan Central also had trackage rights between Grayling and the Camp.

Photo info: Top, the Michigan National Guard poses for a photo as they load mechanized artillery onto flat cars in the late 1920's. This photo may be near Grayling on the MC's Rasmus Branch. Bottom, the railroad yard and loading docks at Camp Grayling. [Both, Mark Worrall Collection]

Notes

Time Line

1914. The Hanson state military reservation contains 14,000 acres of land. It is the gift of Rasmus Hanson, a millionaire lumberman of Grayling who turned it over to the state as a military and game reserve the acres on which he laid the foundations of his fortune a third of a century ago. There are flats, valleys, and hills; heavily wooded portions, other tracts with scant wood, and several beautiful open valleys. Practically in the center is Portage lake, a fine body of water which is three miles long by one mile wide. Of the entire shore of 8 miles, four miles belongs to the state. The balance is divided by summer resorts and private owners.

A spur track, 5 miles in length, connects the Michigan Central and Manistee & Northeastern railroads with the township of Grayling. Unloading facilities consist of the main track and two sidings each 2,600 feet in length. There are three docks, two for unloading flat cars and one for emptying horse cars. Three cars of horses can be unloaded simultaneously. The cost of these docks is about $1,000. A warehouse of brick and cement, two stories and basement, 50 x 150 feet cost the state $7,500. On one side is a team track, on the other a railroad spur siding. [LSJ-1914-0828]

1925. Plans for the acquisition from he M&NE of more than 2¼ miles of track lying between Grayling and the Michigan Central spur to Camp Grayling were under consideration here at a conference of state officials and the attorney for the railroad interests. The action was deemed necessary following an order by M&NE receivers that the line from Kaleva Junction to Grayling is being abandoned. The M&NE has been in receivership for nearly five years. The state may lease the road for a number of years or buy it outright, applying the purchase price on taxes unpaid by the railroad, the balance of which is about $25,000.  The state last summer spent considerable money repairing this road and the railroad bridge over the AuSable. [DFP-1925-0811]