Crossroads Village is a

living history museum A living museum, also known as a living history museum, is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, providing visitors with an experiential interpretation of history. It is a type of museum that recre ...

Genesee County, Michigan Genesee County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 406,211, making it the fifth-most populous county in Michigan. The county seat and population center is Flint (birthplace of General Motors) ...

, near

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

. It is operated by the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission alongside the Huckleberry Railroad. Initially proposed as a

Flint River The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from the u ...

recreational area A recreation area is a type of protected area designated in some jurisdictions. By country Canada In the province of British Columbia, recreation areas are lands set aside for recreational use. These lands are also being evaluated to determine w ...

and a farm museum, it was opened as a historical village in 1976. Crossroads Village is home to 34 buildings, many which are restored 19th-century buildings, as well as

amusement rides Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

, a

narrow-gauge railroad A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

, and a replica

paddlewheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

. It also hosts numerous events and festivals throughout the year. The village is located at 6140 Bray Road in Genesee Township.

History

The City of Flint drew up a master plan in 1950 that included an upstream

. In 1965, the

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is a private foundation founded in 1926 by Charles Stewart Mott of Flint, Michigan. Mott was a leading industrialist in Flint through his association with General Motors. The foundation administers funds thr ...

offered land-purchasing financial assistance with conditions, including establishing a commission. Thus, Genesee County formed its Parks and Recreation Commission the following year. A farm museum was proposed for the area. Additionally, residents concerned about the loss of historical buildings as the county developed met to discuss the issue. The result was that the farm museum would have a historical village adjacent to it with donated buildings moved there. Crossroads Village and the Huckleberry Railroad opened on July 4, 1976. Starting in 2018, the Sloan Auto Fair was moved from the

Flint Cultural Center The Flint Cultural Center (FCC) is a campus of cultural, scientific, and artistic institutes located in Flint, Michigan, United States. The institutions located on the grounds of the FCC are the Flint Institute of Arts, Flint Institute of Music, S ...

to the village as a result of the

Flint Institute of Arts The Flint Institute of Arts, also called FIA, is located in the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Michigan. The second largest art museum in Michigan, it offers exhibitions, interpretive programs, film screenings, concerts, lectures, family events ...

' expansion. On April 23, 2020, Genesee County Parks Director Barry June announced that Crossroads Village and the Huckleberry Railroad would not open for the 2020 summer season due to the ongoing

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. A late opening was planned in October 2020. It was the first time that the park had been forced to delay opening since it was first opened in 1976.

Attractions

Crossroads Village is home to 34 buildings, many which are restored 19th-century buildings: it includes the oldest operating

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

in Michigan as well as a barbershop,

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop,

cider mill A cider mill, also known as a cidery, is the location and equipment used to crush apples into apple juice for use in making apple cider, hard cider, applejack, apple wine, pectin and other products derived from apples. More specifically, it refe ...

, and general store. The T.N. North and Son Bank was moved from Vassar and the town hall was moved from Clayton Township. Crossroads Village is also home to

, the

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

Huckleberry Railroad, and replica

''Genesee Bell'', the latter of which both operate along Mott Lake. Amusement rides at Crossroads Village include a CW Parker Superior Wheel (a

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...

) built in 1910, a Charles W. Parker Carousel built in 1912, Venetian swings, and pony carts. The carousel was built in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

, installed in California for 30 years, and purchased by a private collector in Michigan before it was acquired by Crossroads Village with a $175,000 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in 1983. In 2010, ''Michigan History'' magazine named the carousel the "happiest place in Genesee County".

Huckleberry Railroad

The Huckleberry Railroad is a narrow-gauge railroad that runs from Crossroads Village alongside Mott Lake on former

Pere Marquette Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Igna ...

track. The railroad has 11 wooden coaches, a caboose, and two steam locomotives: former

Alaska Railroad Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Baldwin

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...

#152 and former

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...

K-27 class #464.

Events

Major events held at Crossroads Village include 19th-century "school days"

field trips A field trip or excursion is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment. When done for students, as it happens in several school systems, it is also known as school trip in the United Kingdom, UK, Australia, ...

for students and teachers at Stanley Schoolhouse (which dates to 1883), an annual

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

picnic and parade, a Railfans Weekend,

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

festivities in the village, and Day out with Thomas train excursions (since 2006). Since 2018, Crossroads Village is also the location of the Sloan Museum Auto Fair, which was previously held at the

Sloan Museum The Sloan Museum of Discovery is a nonprofit, public hands-on and interactive discovery museum located within the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Michigan. The museum has four interactive primary galleries, including a hands-on earth scienc ...

in the

In media

In 2009, Crossroads Village was the set for the feature film ''Alleged'', which is based on the 1925 Scopes Trial. It starred

Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in ...

as defense attorney

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...

and

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...

as prosecutor

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

References

External links

* * {{Official website, geneseecountyparks.org/crossroads-village/ Living museums in Michigan Museums in Genesee County, Michigan