Station: Kaleva, MI

Kaleva, in northeast Manistee County, was settled about 1894 as Manistee Crossing. It was also named Maple Grove. It was renamed Kaleva in 1900 and a union depot was established later that year. [DFP-1890-1231]. The town became a village in 1948. [MPN]

Kaleva was the crossing of the Pere Marquette north-south line from Grand Rapids to Traverse City and the Manistee & North Eastern main line from Manistee to Copemish. Both railroads used the depot, making it a small "union" depot by railroad terms.

When the M&NE came under PM ownership, the M&NE line was abandoned between Kaleva and Interlochen in favor of the PM route.

Photo Info: Top, The depot and crossing in the 1920's; 2nd photo, an old photo of the union depot in Kaleva. 3rd and 4th photos, a 2004 view of the restored depot from two sides. The top is a street view and the bottom faces the former railroad diamond crossing. [Alan Loftis]

Notes

Time Line

1890. A union depot was established at Kaleva. [DFP-1890-1231]

1902. Within the past two years, over 60 families have left the iron and copper regions of the upper peninsula for Kaleva, including 20 from Ishpeming. [DD-1902-0823]

1903. The crossing was protected by an interlocking device (US&S) in 1903. [MCR-1904]

1907. Eight cars of the fast freight No. 55 on the PM went off the track near Kaleva. No one was hurt. Kaleva is the only point where the PM cannot detour trains and the whole north end is tied up tightly. [SJHP-1907-0708]

1908. Practically the entire business section of the village of Kaleva has been wiped out by fire of unknown origin. The resident section was saved by an energetic bucket brigade. [PHTH-1908-0805]

1908. The PM built a new depot here. [PMAR-1908]

1908. Arthur Salo, 18 years of age, astonished county officials today by opening his valise and taking out a fine specimen of a lynx which he shot yesterday two miles north of Kaleva. He brought it to the court house to get the $5 bounty which the law allows. [DFP-1908-0916] The lad was hunting for the animal which had been stealing rabbits from his trap and he killed it with a single charge of buckshot. [PHTH-1908-0918]

1910. November 16. Trains Nos. 53 and 3 on the Grayling branch of the M&NE collided head-on near Kaleva. No. 53 was going about 18 mph as it was a few minutes late. The crash occurred near a switch where No. 3 was pulling in. Two persons were injured. The Conductor was severely cut when the impact threw him through the glass of a coach. The engines were not greatly damaged. [DEN-1810-1116]

1913. Cyrus Dolph, the postmaster at Kaleva, turned himself in to the postmaster at Toledo. "I want to surrender to the post office inspector," he said. "I got drunk about three weeks ago, took all the money in the office, and left. I suppose they are after me and I might as well surrender now." [DFP-1913-0921]

1914. Smallpox at Kaleva has resulted in the closing of two schools and the quarantining of 10 square miles of territory. [SEB-1914-1029]

1920. Tuesday morning's train is stuck in the snow near Kaleva. There have been no trains over the Pere Marquette for two days. [BCE-1920-0114]

1923. The Farm Bureau received a carload of sodatol, an explosive purchased by Manistee County farmers, to remove large boulders and pine stumps. The entire shipment was sold before delivery and there is said to be a demand for another large quantity. [UVC-1923-1116]

1924. A Pere Marquette train with forty passengers aboard is reported snowbound at Kaleva. [BCE-1924-0126]

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 last summer spent considerable money repairing this road and the railroad bridge over the AuSable. [DFP-1925-0811]

1926. Two section men employed on the Petoskey division of the PM railroad each lost the great toe of their right feet when 1,170 pounds of rails rolled down on them as they were unloading rails near Kaleva. A slip in the tackle caused the accident. The rails were being taken from a flat car for the new line which is to run from Brethren to Thompsonville. [BCE-1926-0428]

1926. December. Two children, ages 4 and 18 months were fatally burned by a fire which destroyed their two room cottage at Kaleva. The mother heaped a handful of coal on the kitchen fire and left to mail a letter. She instructed the four year old to watch the baby. The home burned down despite the efforts of the Pere Marquette railroad chemical fire department. [SJHP-1926-1204]

1933. January. More than 200 armed men threw a huge cordon about three counties near here in an attempt to surround four bank bandits who earlier had killed the cashier of the Kaleva State bank and fled with at least $3,000. The cashier, Ellsworth Billman, was president of the Kaleva board of education. He made no attempt to resist the holdup.

The holdup men were arrested after a few says of searching. Nearby residents listened in on state police radio and on party line telephones. Near Shelby, someone saw them go into the woods and called the sheriff. Someone else listened in on that party line phone call, got his gun and went into the woods after them. One of the bandits was shot by a farmer. Three confessed and within 48 hours they were sentenced by a Manistee judge to life in Marquette branch prison. The fourth robber received life in prison after he recovered from his bullet wound. [LDN-1933-0109]

1933. The M&NE today asked the ICC for authority to abandon 39 miles of line between Kaleva and Solon after experiencing $25,000 in annual deficits. Continuity will be maintained over operating on the PM Kaleva to Traverse City branch. [LDN-1933-0804]

1934. June. The abandonment from Kaleva to Solon was authorized by the ICC. [SJHP-1934-0619]

1941. The crossing at Kaleva was protected by a movable gate, operated by trainmen. [MNE ETT-1941]