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Agnew
Located in Ottawa County |
Local History
First named Johnsville for John Behm who, with his family, first settled here in Grand Haven Township in the early 1860s. John C. A. Bishop became its first postmaster, November 8, 1870. The office was closed on January 18, 1875, restored on January 24, 1848, renamed Agnew on December 23, 1887 and closed permanently on June 15, 1911.
It was renamed for an executive of the Chicago & Western Michigan Railroad which gave it a station named Agnew, but the successor road, the Pere Marquette, later closed the station.
In 1952, the State Highway Department deemed it easier to move the 12 remaining buildings of the the town than to run a road around it.
Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.