The Lowell Area Historical Museum is offering a weekly feature to explore local history. The ABCs of Lowell History continues with a look at Moseley, a little-known part of Lowell history. To learn more about Lowell history, visit the museum website to explore its collection of local artifacts and records.

1900 was a year of beginning for Moseley. The Village of Moseley’s beginning was also the demise of the Village of Alton. Alton at that time was a thriving village with a post office, general store, church, cemetery, grist mill, saw mill, rake factory and three blacksmiths. In March 1900 land had been secured along Lincoln Lake Ave. between Three and Four Mile Roads for a new railroad depot and the reciprocal for the mail bag drop was put up. By May however, rumors were printed in the newspaper that the depot would instead be put at Four Mile Road between Lincoln Lake and Ashley Avenue, a spot with no village. It was less than a mile from the expected Alton depot site.

Land was purchased from John O. Wingeier for the new depot. In August, the Moseley brothers of Grand Rapids also purchased land from John O. Wingeier and began building businesses. The depot was operating by September when the first load of peaches were shipped from Moseley and the first business telegram received. In October, the area was named Moseley and the road to the depot on Four Mile Road improved.

Some of the businesses that built up in Moseley included a grocery store operated by Fred Condon then George Whitten, a potato warehouse, Charles Jakeway had a warehouse and livestock stockyards built. There was also a hotel, fruit storage, apple storage run by Gordon Frost, a Gleaner Hall and saloon. In 1905, the newspaper reported that the bragging of a thief at the Moseley saloon resulted in his arrest by Deputy Jacobi when he returned to the Lowell station.

At some point the name of Moseley was shortened to Mosley. John O. Wingeier began platting lots for the growth of the village. One business that left many memories was the Creamery where cheese was made. Allen Wisner and Howard Kropf retold stories of the Creamery and its excess whey. Local farmers would come to get the whey for their hogs. The rest of the whey would flow in a stream to the small lake to the northeast. The stream of whey fed pike that grew much larger than normal. The neighbors enjoyed spear fishing.

As area people began frequenting Moseley for business, several Alton businesses including the Keech General Store and Ralph Ford’s Blacksmith Shop moved to Moseley. The school was originally called the Barto School. It burned in 1914 and was replaced with the current brick building named the Mosley School.

Mosley ended as it started, because of changes in transportation technology. The automobile came along and the popularity of passenger trains declined. Farmers turned to other crops and weren’t ‘t as dependent on trains. Some of the businesses moved out to the busier intersections of Lincoln Lake and Four Mile, including the store which added a gasoline pump. Today, all that can be seen of Mosley are a few houses that remain, a fruit storage warehouse, and foundation ruins. The railroad track bed has been made in a beautiful and popular walking path.