Michigan, Saint Joseph County, Colon
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(side 1)
Colon
Known as the “Magic Capital of the World,” this small town has gained widespread recognition for the invention and manufacture of magic tricks. Colon's reputation as a magic mecca began after Australian Percy Abbott visited the famous American magician Harry Blackstone who lived in this area. Abbott subsequently returned to Colon and started the Abbott Magic Novelty Company in 1933. Mainly a mail-order operation, the company continues to devise tricks which baffle the human eye and mind. In 1934 Abbott sponsored the first “Magic Get-Together,” now an annual event attracting thousands of professional and amateur devotees. Blackstone himself as well as other famous conjurers have performed at these festivals.
(side 2)
Harry Blackstone
One of America's most notable magicians, Harry Blackstone (1885-1965), lived in Colon. Born Harry Bouton, he began his professional wizardry career at the age of sixteen in his native city of Chicago. Blackstone's fame grew in the first three decades of the twentieth century when magic shows were a staple of vaudeville and Broadway. During World War II millions of servicemen watched him perform at gatherings of the USO (United Service Organizations). His shows often included the “dancing” handkerchief trick and rabbits which were given to young spectators. Blackstone utilized split-second timing and “misdirection” of the audience to create illusions. His colorful personality enhanced the drama of magic and endeared him to Colon which in the early 1960s renamed Main Street in his honor.
(Entertainment • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
(side 1)
Colon
Known as the “Magic Capital of the World,” this small town has gained widespread recognition for the invention and manufacture of magic tricks. Colon's reputation as a magic mecca began after Australian Percy Abbott visited the famous American magician Harry Blackstone who lived in this area. Abbott subsequently returned to Colon and started the Abbott Magic Novelty Company in 1933. Mainly a mail-order operation, the company continues to devise tricks which baffle the human eye and mind. In 1934 Abbott sponsored the first “Magic Get-Together,” now an annual event attracting thousands of professional and amateur devotees. Blackstone himself as well as other famous conjurers have performed at these festivals.
(side 2)
Harry Blackstone
One of America's most notable magicians, Harry Blackstone (1885-1965), lived in Colon. Born Harry Bouton, he began his professional wizardry career at the age of sixteen in his native city of Chicago. Blackstone's fame grew in the first three decades of the twentieth century when magic shows were a staple of vaudeville and Broadway. During World War II millions of servicemen watched him perform at gatherings of the USO (United Service Organizations). His shows often included the “dancing” handkerchief trick and rabbits which were given to young spectators. Blackstone utilized split-second timing and “misdirection” of the audience to create illusions. His colorful personality enhanced the drama of magic and endeared him to Colon which in the early 1960s renamed Main Street in his honor.
(Entertainment • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Methodism began in Meek's Mill (Constantine) in 1829 when the Reverend Erastus Felton came from the Ohio Methodist Episcopal Conference as a circuit rider to the St. Joseph Mission. This congregation, the earliest in Constantine, was organized in 1831 under the ministry of the Reverend Leonard Gurley. In 1848, the congregation erected a small brick church, which served until the present Gothic style structure was built. Dedicated on December 1, 1878, the church was remodeled in 1955.
[Text on Front Side]:
Named for William Vaughn, who opened a store and tavern at the corners around 1800. Until the late 1830's a Post Office was located here. A masonic Lodge was held at the corners, starting in 1820, in the home of Salmasius Bardwell.
Named for Ezekiel Smith, c. 1825. He and his brother Israel operated a store and tavern in the hamlet. At one time there were several hotels, stores, a school, Post Office, a church and railroad station in the neighborhood. There was a canal boat basin here, where lime was loaded for shipment to New York City.
Near here was located the first permanent Masonic Lodge in Queensbury warrented 1804. Named for Alexander Hamilton.
Named for Tom Hammond a half breed Oneida Indian. A thriving settlement doing a large lumbering business at close of Revolution.
Erected 1832 on the Site of
This park occupies seven parcels of land in Montgomery county used by the U. S. Army for the air defense of Washington D.C. from the mid-1950's to the mid-1970's
In the early days of the Cold War, the Soviet Union produced high-speed high-altitude bombers, similar to the U.S. B-29, capable of delivering nuclear weapons on targets in the United States. These advanced planes flew too high and fast to be stopped by the Army's anti-aircraft artillery of the day.
Signed on August 29, 1821, the Treaty of Chicago resulted in the Potawatomi and other tribes in southwestern Michigan Territory turning over their lands to the federal government. In 1831, after the land was surveyed, the government opened this office in White Pigeon, one of the largest towns in the western Michigan Territory. Between 1831 and 1834, some 260,000 acres of land were sold from this office at $1.25 per acre. This is the oldest land office remaining in Michigan, and one of only a few left in what was the Northwest Territory. The building was restored by the St. Joseph County Historical Society. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Standing on this site since Andrew Jackson was president of the United States, the building where the White Pigeon Land Office conducted business from 1831 to 1834 is one of the historic treasures of Michigan. From this building, title to much of the land in southwest Michigan was conveyed, made available for settlement by the 1821 Treaty of Chicago with the Pottawatomis and other tribes. Before it closed in 1834, the White Pigeon Land Office conveyed title to nearly 260,000 acres of land in southwest Michigan, including the land where Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek now stand.
In early 1819, Alfred Balch, Felix Grundy, James Irwin, Randal McGavock, and James Trimble developed Hincheyville, Franklin's first subdivision. The ninety acres, extending from Fair to Eleventh Avenues, including 26 lots on Fair Street, 25 lots on Main Street, and 8 lots on Bridge Street. The subdivision was named for Hinchea Petway, a wealthy merchant who had owned the land and whose fine brick home, built across Main Street approximately 90 yards west, had to be razed. Hincheyville was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Founded in 1871 as Franklin's first Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the cornerstone was laid on June 3, 1876. Designed by H.C. Thompson, architect of Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the church was dedicated on April 16, 1877, with the Rev. Thomas Dale serving as first minister. This Gothic revival church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Hincheyville Historic District in 1982.
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Dick's Brigade.
In the spring of 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act providing the President with means to exchange the lands of the five civilized Indian nations of the Southeast for lands west of the Mississippi. On August 20, 1830 Andrew Jackson met in Franklin with the Chiefs of the Chickasaw nation to begin a series of treaties which removed the tribe to Oklahoma. “Sharpe Knife“ as the chiefs called Jackson, was the only U.S. President ever to attend an Indian removal council.
