The Jackson Area
Inscription
The pioneers in the 1830s, by the tens of thousands, traveled west over the Territorial Road (roughly parallel to I-94). Many of them stopped in the Jackson area to take up land. Jackson County was named after Andrew Jackson and organized in 1832. The principal settlement, Jackson, founded in 1829, was first called Jacksonopolis and later Jacksonburgh.
Located near the head of the Grand River, Jackson has always been an important transportation center. One of America’s most famous political conventions took place in this city on July 6, 1854, when fifteen hundred persons from throughout Michigan assembled “under the oaks” and organized a new party, which they named the Republican party.
This area is the home of Michigan’s oldest and largest state prison and many diversified industries.
Location
Sources
More markers in Jackson
Mc Cain School
Jackson, MI
This typical one-room schoolhouse was built for School District No. 2 of Summit Township in the 1880s.
Huron Potawatomi Village
Spring Arbor Township, MI
As early as 1825 large numbers of Potawatomi encamped at this location.
First State Prison
Jackson, MI
This was the original site of Michigan’s first state prison, approved by the legislature in 1838.
Meridian-Base Line Initial Point
Pleasant Lake, MI
The 1785 Land Ordinance organized the system of surveying land in regular square six-mile units called townships and square one-mile...
Brooklyn's Founder
Brooklyn, MI
This village was founded by the Reverend Calvin Swain who filed the first land claim on June 16, 1832.