![The Village with Three Names: Henrietta, in Jackson County](http://townsquare.media/site/691/files/2021/03/HENRIETTA-2.jpg?w=980&q=75)
The Village with Three Names: Henrietta, in Jackson County
Henrietta...Layton's Corners...Pleasant Lake...this community seems to go by all three names.
The first settler was Jean Baptiste Berard in 1816. He established a trading post in 1831. His name 'Baptiste' was often misspelled as 'Battise' and a nearby lake was named after him and spelled as 'Batteese Lake'. Currently, there is a plaque on that site that commemorates the post. It's on the east side of Bunker Hill Road, surrounded by a white fence.
Also in 1831, a sawmill on Batteese Lake began operating, run by John & Robert Davidson. It was also a station on the Grand Trunk Western railroad.
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The township was organized in 1837 and named West Portage, west of the two Portage Lakes. The following year, a post office opened; and in 1839, another settler, Henry Hurd, renamed the town 'Henrietta' after his hometown in New York.
In 1859, working along a trail that is now M-106, workmen uncovered some Native American bones. The bones were gathered and given a proper burial on the roadside...this became Harrington Cemetery, the oldest one in the township.
Henrietta was also called “Layton's Corners”, named after L.J. Layton, who owned the hunk of land found at the downtown intersection's southeast & west corners. The intersection had a good little number of stores, including a blacksmith and the “Pleasant Lake House”.
Post office closed in December 1903.
Driving through there now, one still wonders about Henrietta's history. The village is now mainly referred to as “Pleasant Lake”.
HENRIETTA PHOTOS
MORE JACKSON STUFF:
More Jackson Memories
STILL MORE VINTAGE JACKSON
Jackson's Auto Industry
THANKS TO:
Henrietta Township
40 Michigan Towns With Names Even Life-Long Michiganders Can't Pronounce
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