Vintage Photos of Stockbridge, Michigan: 1900-1950

To an outsider, the village of Stockbridge might seem like just another ordinary Michigan small town.....but for those of us who grew up there, we know Stockbridge is far from ordinary.

Sure, there were the usual things you'd find in a 1950s & 60s small town:
Sweet shop
Current rock 'n roll records
After-game dances
Homecoming parades & floats
Town drunks & bullies
An extraordinary variety of candy, gum, and chocolate bars
Riding bikes all over town
Campouts in the woods
Building tree houses and underground forts
Having a paper route
Working at the local grocery store
Backseat kisses
Passing notes in class
Wide assortment of comic books, monster mags and teen mags
Fishing in the creek

Yup, Stockbridge had all these and so much more.....but first:

Briefly, Stockbridge sits in the southeast corner of Ingham County, settled in 1835, and originally was to be named 'Pekin' by early settler Elijah Smith. But Silas Beebe bought him out for $25 an acre, added extra land, and was re-platted in 1843. When the railroad came through in 1883, Stockbridge's downtown business section grew quickly...the railroad was ripped up in the 70s.

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Okay, that's just a bush league, incomplete nutshell version of the genesis of Stockbridge...but its history is not what this article is about. So what else?

Did you know that Stockbridge had two other cemeteries that have been lost to time? You can find out about these two graveyards HERE.

How about the 1955 double murder that took place just north of town? That's a pretty morbid tale that you can read about HERE.

And who can talk about Stockbridge's past and not mention one of its most-famous urban legends? “The old hermit & the screaming bitch” that still haunt Worden Road near Gregory. Take a look at that infamous local legend HERE.

There are also a couple of other lesser-known Stockbridge hauntings that can be found HERE.

Yup, Stockbridge had everything I needed and wanted while growing up. Sure, there were people who ticked me off - and maybe one guy in particular who I'd like to see after all these decades and punch square in the eye, but aside from that, it was great.

The gallery below has photos that go way beyond my childhood (and probably yours) but it's an interesting look at what Stockbridge was like well over 100 years ago.