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Penn Township, Michigan

Populated places on the Underground RailroadSouth Bend – Mishawaka metropolitan areaTownships in Cass County, MichiganTownships in MichiganUse mdy dates from July 2023
Penn Township, MI location
Penn Township, MI location

Penn Township is a civil township of Cass County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,774 at the 2010 census.Penn Township is the location of the Bonine House, a lookout post on the Underground Railroad, on the corner of M-60 and Penn Road. Vandalia, located within Penn Township, also was affiliated with the Underground Railroad.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Penn Township, Michigan (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Penn Township, Michigan
Penn Township

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Wikipedia: Penn Township, MichiganContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 41.938055555556 ° E -85.925277777778 °
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Penn


Penn Township
Michigan, United States
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Penn Township, MI location
Penn Township, MI location
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Cassopolis, Michigan
Cassopolis, Michigan

Cassopolis ( kə-SAH-pə-liss) is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Cass County. It is located mostly in LaGrange Township with a small portion extending east into Penn Township. The village and county are named after statesman Lewis Cass, a New Hampshire native and a prominent U.S. senator from Michigan prior to the American Civil War. Diamond Lake, one of the 100 largest inland lakes in Michigan, is located in Cassopolis. Cassopolis is part of the South Bend–Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area sometimes referred to as Michiana. The population was 1,774 at the 2010 census. Cassopolis was platted by European Americans in 1831. It had already been designated the county seat by that point. It was incorporated as a village in 1863. The county developed farming and some industry. Cassopolis was a transit point on the Underground Railroad, by which sympathizers aided refugee slaves from the South to gain freedom in the North and in Canada. Some refugees continued through Michigan to settle in Canada in order to avoid risk under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, which increased incentives for capture. However the 1850s also saw the settlement of many African-Americans and people of mixed African-American and Sapponi and Pumenkey ancestry in Cass County. In the 1960s, a group of African Americans connected to the Nation of Islam acquired some 1,000 acres of farmland in the area. Work on this acquisition was overseen by a man who had graduated from Cassopolis High.

Pioneer Log Cabin Museum

The Pioneer Log Cabin Museum is a historical log cabin located in Cassopolis, Michigan, built in 1923. It was originally conceived as a temporary structure for the Pioneer Day Picnic by Charles Harmon, then Secretary of the Cass County Pioneer Society. 146 logs of various species were hauled on April 4, 1923, and construction began on May 23. Children were given the day off of school, and the Cassopolis Military band led a parade down South Broadway Street to Stone Lake, where the cabin was to be sited. A crew of forty six built the cabin. Each log had a serial number painted on the end which corresponded to the donor list. The cabin was dedicated on Pioneer Day: June 20, 1923. Members of the community made furniture and donated relics and memorabilia to furnish the log cabin. Andirons, crane and lug hooks were donated for the fireplace. A museum collection located in the lobby of the court house was moved to the log cabin and incorporated into the display there. The museum opened on June 18, 1924. The cabin consists of two stories 18 ft × 26 ft (5.5 m × 7.9 m) with a 1+1⁄2-story wing of the same dimensions. It has a cement floor downstairs. The front porch is 18 ft × 22 ft (5.5 m × 6.7 m) and has a second story wood floor. When built, the cabin had a back porch 8 ft × 42 ft (2.4 m × 12.8 m) overlooking Stone Lake. In June 1924 to pay off the debt for the museum, Charles Harmon arranged to sell "lots" on the cabin grounds for $1.00 each. This is equivalent to $17.00 in present-day terms. Each "souvenir lot" was 1 ft × 3 ft (30 cm × 91 cm), and donated back to the Pioneer Society. During 1972–1973, a 20 ft × 40 ft (6.1 m × 12.2 m) room was built on the rear of cabin, replacing the porch. The addition was used to provide more display area for the memorabilia and artifacts. Today, support is provided by donations from visitors, the museum gift shop, the Cassopolis, Michigan Chamber of Commerce and local government.(1)