MICHIGAN SHADOW TOWN: Bedell, in Bay County

Driving through the area known as Bedell, you'd think it was always meant to be the way it is. Houses up and down the roads, but.....where are the businesses? Well there aren't any.

This little hamlet is located at the crossroads of Beaver & Mackinaw roads in Kawkawlin Township, Bay County. You can find it just about a mile east of I-75 – you'll know it by the original old building that still stands on the corner, surrounded by houses.

It was on this corner where Frank Goulet established a grocery & hardware store in 1895. Above the store was a hall where the town could hold weekend and holiday dances.

Frank had been Bedell's first postmaster since 1884, relinquished of this duty when the P.O. Closed in 1901. Rural free delivery was finally established in 1918.

In 1910 Bedell's population was 70, with just two stores and an I.O.O.F. Hall. The original old 1895 grocery/hardware building still stands, the only reminder of the little village of Bedell.

Oh, one more thing.....where did the town name come from? Here's a clue. A list of some of the townspeople include:
Calvin Bedell
Charles Bedell
Clara Bedell
Elizabeth Bedell
Emma Bedell
Franklin Bedell
George Bedell
Ida Bedell
John Bedell
Lily Bedell
Luella Bedell
Margaret Bedell
Mary Bedell
Morris Bedell
Sophia Bedell
Wilson Bedell

Question answered.

MORE UNIQUE MICHIGAN TOWNS: