Web Design in Durand, MI

Durand, Shiawassee County

Well-Known Places in Durand

Durand Union Station, Michigan Railroad History Museum, Veterans Memorial Park.

Durand Business Districts

• Saginaw Street Downtown
• Main Street

Major Employers in Durand

Durand Area Schools, Memorial Healthcare, Durand Union Station (tourism).

About Durand, Shiawassee County

Durand, in Shiawassee County, was once the largest railroad center in Michigan outside Detroit, earning the enduring nickname "Railroad City, USA." Its 1905 Grand Trunk and Ann Arbor union depot, rebuilt in six months after a fire, is one of the most photographed train stations in the country and anchors the town's long-running spring Railroad Days festival.

History of Durand

• Originally called Vernon Center and platted in 1836, taking its early name from its location in Vernon Township.
• Received its first rail service in 1856 from the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway.
• Renamed Durand when a post office was established in 1876, honoring Congressman George H. Durand of Flint (US Representative for Michigan's 6th district, 1875-1877), who lobbied for the post office.

Landmarks and Places in Durand

• Durand Union Station (1905), a 239-foot depot of Missouri granite brick and Bedford cut stone, home to the Michigan Railroad History Museum, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad Museum, and the Ann Arbor Railroad History Museum, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Durand Economy

• The economy was built almost entirely on the railroads, chiefly the Grand Trunk Western and the Ann Arbor lines, which made Durand the busiest railroad junction in the state.
• At its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s the depot handled roughly 35 passenger, nine local, and 100 freight trains daily; other accounts cite peaks of 42 passenger, 22 mail, and 78 freight trains serving nearly 3,000 passengers a day.
• Today Amtrak's Blue Water line still stops at Durand, and the restored depot operates as a museum and events venue.

Community Life in Durand

• The three-day Durand Railroad Days festival has been held every spring since May 1975 to honor the town's railroad heritage, marking about 50 years of the event.
• Early festivals featured a parade, a carnival, children's railroad art displays at the library, a model railroad flea market, and a ceremony naming a Railroad Person of the Year.

Local reference: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.durandstation.org