State Parks and Camping in Michigan

Au Train Lake Campground

Local History

The river carried so much sand into the lake here as to form a shoal over which the voyageurs would drag (trainerant, in French) their canoes to make a short cut.  Old maps call it Train River, the Au coming later.  William Cameron engaged in hunting and trapping here, 1856-58.  

Mr. Whittley operated a sawmill here, 1859-61, followed by Mr. Parmenter who took out Norway piling, from 1869, and C. Doucette, Sr., from 1876.  Then logging began in earnest and it became a thriving village.  

Given a station on the Detroit, Mackinaw & Marquette Railroad by 1882 and a post office on March 22, 1883, with Edward L. Small as its first postmaster.  It was in Schoolcraft County until Alger was organized in 1885.  Largely destroyed by fire and only partly rebuilt, it is now mainly a resort village. 

Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.

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