Another Michigan ‘Town’ That Failed to Grow: Milnes, Hillsdale County

Very little is known about this no-town that sits in Hillsdale County. More is known about the man it was supposedly named after.

The community of Milnes in the county’s Scipio Township was never much more than a rural postal station. When the post office opened in 1896, Wilson Houseknecht became the first postmaster. Many times, a postal station is named after the original postmaster, but in this case, it was neither named “Wilson” nor “Houseknecht”...instead, the name “Milnes” was chosen, allegedly named after Alfred Milnes.

Who was this guy? Alfred was born May 28, 1844 in Yorkshire, England. His family left England in 1854 and after arriving in America that same year, they moved from state to state until they ended up in Coldwater, Michigan in 1861.

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Alfred was only 17 at the time of the move, and the following year he joined the Michigan Volunteer Infantry and saw action in the Civil War. After being in a good handful of battles, Alfred was 21 years old when the Civil War ended and he returned to Coldwater.

He worked in his father's local store, became a member of the board of aldermen of Coldwater in 1876 and 1877, was elected mayor of Coldwater in 1885 and 1886 was a member of the Michigan Senate, and elected the 28th lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1894.

In 1896, Alfred was chosen as a member of Congress and served until March 3, 1897. It was during this time the post office was implemented in that little junction in Scipio Township in Hillsdale County. Evidently, someone thought enough of him to name this little out-of-the-way post office after him. And so it was.

After his stint in Congress, he was appointed postmaster of Coldwater from 1898-1902. The Milnes post office closed a year earlier, ending any future growth of a hopeful town.

Alfred Milnes passed away in Coldwater in 1916 and is buried there in Oak Grove Cemetery. Scroll down a little way to see images of the community of Milnes that failed to grow...