Harve, MI
Monroe County, Michigan has had its share of lost towns and
villages. The Monroe News used to publish
a regular column with comments and history of towns like Grape, Grafton, Scofield
and others. One of the least known of these
was the Port of Harve.
Located one mile north of the Ohio state line, the Harve
Company, or Port Harve was envisioned as the next best port on Lake Erie. Earliest plans were to buy land north of
and on Halfway Creek. The land would be
developed from lot sales from the larger parcel. In 1836 the Harve Branch
Railroad was chartered as a private line to run a track about eleven miles long
to intersect with the Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad, near Ottawa Lake. According
to the Detroit Free Press “A railroad…will soon be constructed from Harve to
intersect that to Adrian…which will reap the harvest on which Toledo now prides
itself.” (Remember, this was the time of
the Michigan Ohio War!) In 1834 Daniel Miller purchased Indian Island off Harve’s
coast. He and General David White also owned the 260 acres of Harve’s coast.
Prices skyrocketed at Harve during 1836 and 1837. Investors bought
and sold interest in the properties at Harve. The east and northeast coast of
Harve began to sell rapidly, and Harve expanded to being a steamship stop. It was said to have a channel more than
eleven feet deep, and was a spacious, beautiful bay capable of hosting a variety
of vessels.
On August eleven, the Monroe Times claimed that Harve had
many advantages and could compete with any place on the Maumee River in Ohio.
Stock in Harve was selling at $200.00 a share. Soon there was a warehouse, law
offices, shops, a hotel, two inns and a hat maker. The town was laid out with streets of
gravel and had at least 36 blocks. In 1837 the town received a post office.
So why did this burgeoning town disappear? Timing and bad luck, the favored rail and
transit links that didn’t pan out and no sound economic backing. The expected canal wasn’t completed and then
Mother Nature stepped in.
Our lakes have always been capricious, and Lake Erie did her
part. Around June of 1838 the waters of Lake Erie began to rise. The town was
not very far from the banks of the creek, and the surrounding countryside was
low and marshy. Soon the water was
seeping into homes, and it continued to rise. The water rose over four feet and
the small stream was turned into a broad river. Residents and businesses had to
flee the rising flood. The residents had
to row out to the taverns and homes to try to salvage some belongings. Residents
camped out till the floods went down, but the remaining area stayed marshy and inhabitable.
The following winter was harsh, and the frozen lake water
allowed people to place some of the buildings on skids. A few pilings were all
that were left of the once promising harbor town. By 1839 Havre had vanished
into Lake Erie
Undated copy from several articles from Monroe News, John Sturm
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