The Throwback Town of Oak Grove, Livingston County

This is one of those cool little seldom-discussed Michigan towns that make Mayberry look like New York City. It’s Oak Grove in Livingston County.

The sparseness and quaintness Of Oak Grove gives one the feel of what it was like there in the late 1800s when the entire town was on dirt roads.

Its beginnings took place in 1833 when the township was named 'Tuscola' and settlers began arriving and buying land by 1849.

FAST FACTS:
1846: Grist mill and dam were built on Bo-bish-e-nung Creek, now known as Bogue Creek, flowing into Mill Pond. A general store and post office followed and more people traveled here to settle.
1849: The town was called “Bogue Mills”
1857: The township name was changed to 'Bristol'
1859: The village was named Chemungville, suggested by a settler from New York for one of that state's counties. The post office (moved into town from down the road) was called "Oak Grove Post Office" and soon the village dropped 'Chemungville', accepting 'Oak Grove' as its name.
1867: Township name changed for good to 'Cohoctah'
1875: The original post office was moved to downtown across from the general store on the south side of Faussett Road.
1982: Post office closed.

Oak Grove also had a blacksmith, cider mill, depot, doctor's office, grocery store, saloon, stave mill, and wagon shop.

Do not confuse this Oak Grove with a community of the same name in Otsego County.

Oak Grove is a blink – meaning if you blink, you’ll miss it while driving through. The downtown is super-quaint and a very cool historic throwback to how it once was in Michigan rural communities.