Local History

The first settlers in the area were Calvin Marvin and his three grown sons, in 1835.  Calvin (better known as Deacon) Marvin became the first supervisor of the township, then called Watertown, after Watertown, New York, in 1837.  In that year, the Waterloo Joint Stock Company was organized to plat the village, which they named Watertown after its township, and to sell the lots therein.  The venture failed and the land was sold at auction.

Messrs. Hunter and Silsbee bought the mill property in 1839 and with them the village began.  It was given a post office as Wacousta on May 13, 1839, with Charles Hubbell as the first postmaster appointed, but he declined and Walter Hubbell accepted the post on July 16, 1839.  The office was closed on November 12, 1856, but was restored from December 1, 1856 to March 31, 1903 and from July 29, 1903 to September 30, 1937.

It is said to have been named for the Indian maiden who, in the Conspiracy of Pontiac 1763, had warned Major Henry Gladwin, a commander of the fort at Detroit, of the intended surprise attach on the fort, and thus thwarted the plot.

Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.

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