What's left of the village of Coats Grove sits at the intersection of Coats Grove Rd. and Durkee Road, in Barry County.

What township someone may ask?

That intersection is made up of four corners...each corner is in a different township: Carlton (NW corner), Woodland (NE corner), Hastings (SW corner), and Castleton (SE corner). So the village takes up space in four townships, but it can only be listed in one: State info says the official township for Coats Grove is Castleton.

The community was named after George Washington Coats, who settled in the area in the 1850s after leaving his home of Springwater, New York. Only in his 20s, George built his farmhouse just east of the intersection and it still stands today, owned by the same family. In fact, there's a Historic Marker out in the front lawn that reads, "Michigan Centennial Farm - owned by the same family over one hundred years. The Historical Society of Michigan."

Coats Grove soon became a railroad stop along the Chicago, Kalamazoo, and Saginaw Railway. Even so, the little village hardly grew. Along with a depot it had a store, school, grain elevator, and church. Once the railroad tracks were torn up, hopes were dashed for any more town growth.

Coats Grove remains a quiet little hamlet tucked away in the Michigan countryside, with a fair amount of residents enjoying the peace and serenity of country living. If you take a roadtrip over, you'll have some good photo ops, but you won't find any stores for gas or road munchies, so plan ahead.

On December 20, 1897, Coats Grove founder George Washington Coats passed away at the young age of 59 and was buried in Hastings.

PHOTOS OF COATS GROVE

MORE UNIQUE MICHIGAN TOWNS:

The Ghost Town & Cemetery of Shackhuddle

Vintage Idlewild

Vintage Nashville, Michigan

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