The Shadow Town of Sherwood: Branch County, Michigan
If you ever search for a town named ‘Hazenville’ in Branch County, look no further. The name was changed to Sherwood.
The area was called Hazenville when settlers arrived in 1832, the most prominent being founder E.F. Hazen, for which the town was named. By 1839, the name was changed to Sherwood. Evidently, Sherwood kept a low profile, as many atlas/map/directory makers failed to list the town.
It was a railroad town, with trains running beginning in 1870 on the Michigan Central Railroad’s "Air Line" branch.
Along with a train depot, Sherwood had an elevator, grocery, hotel, pickle factory, and post office. The town also had two mills: a sawmill north of the railroad, and a steam planing mill on the south side.
Sherwood became an incorporated village in 1887 and the town became even more handsome, with broad streets, shade trees, sidewalks, and a park. Today, the town isn't the prosperous mill town it once was, but it survives, with a good handful of the old original buildings in the downtown area.
It's a charming village to visit or drive-thru when you roadtrip through Michigan…and yeah, there’s a party store where you can get your supply of roadtrip munchies!