Brighton, Rix, Walker, & Eassom

Long Lost Stops on “The Fruit Belt Line”

The Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago Railway (KLS&C) was a short-lived railroad known as “The Fruit Belt Line” that ran between Kalamazoo and South Haven during the first decades of the 20^th century. The KLS&C followed a southerly route through the communities of Oshtemo, Mattawan, Lawton, Paw Paw, Lawrence, and Hartford. But the train also stopped in places along the way that are perhaps not so familiar, places like Brighton, Rix, Walker, and Eassom. Those locales have long since vanished from today’s maps but a little over a century ago, they were rural stopping places alive with activity and important hubs of agricultural commerce in southwestern Kalamazoo County.

Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago Railway

In 1906, Kalamazoo based fruit and produce magnate Samuel J. Dunkley purchased an abandoned section of the Michigan Central Railroad line between Kalamazoo and Mattawan with plans to establish an electric interurban line between Kalamazoo and his company’s boat docks in South Haven. Dunkley’s electric line never materialized, but he did manage to get a small steam road up and running between Kalamazoo and Paw Paw by May 1906. With a used locomotive and a couple of secondhand passenger cars, the Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago Railroad was born. Within a year’s time Dunkley had his passenger line with expanded freight service open through to South Haven.

From its passenger and freight depot near downtown Kalamazoo, the KLS&C traveled west to Oshtemo and on through small but important stopping places on the road toward South Haven. Brighton (or Brighton Crossing), Rix (also known as Rix Station), Walker (Walker’s Crossing), and Eassom (or Eassom Station) were all places where mail bags were exchanged, commuters waited for the next train into town, and farmers loaded baskets filled with potatoes, melons, apples, tomatoes, peaches, and berries onto freight cars bound for Dunkley’s canning factory or the open produce markets.

Brighton (Brighton Crossing)

After departing Oshtemo, the train made its next stop two miles down the line at a place called Brighton. Not to be confused with the city by the same name on the east side of the state, Brighton (also called Brighton Crossing) was located southwest of Oshtemo where the KLS&C crossed South 6^th Street near West ‘N’ Avenue at the Texas Township line.

David R. Bright

Brighton was evidently named for David R. Bright, a Civil War veteran and award-winning local farmer who hosted the aptly named rail stop on his property along the north side of the KLS&C tracks east of South 6th Street. D.R. Bright was an active political figure in the Dakota Territory after the war before moving to Kalamazoo in the late 1870s. Six years later, Bright and his wife relocated to Oshtemo where he became a successful farmer and served as justice of the peace. Bright’s flower gardens were said to be “magnificent” and were “visited each summer by many from the city” (Gazette).

As the train approached Brighton Station from the east the line curved southward and crossed 6^th Street at a rather steep angle below the crest of a hill. This created a dangerous blind intersection often referred to as a “death crossing.” In May 1919, the sandy intersection at Brighton Crossing did indeed prove deadly for a rural mail carrier from Oshtemo when he failed to see the oncoming KLS&C locomotive before it struck his vehicle.

An active member of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), David Bright was among Kalamazoo’s thirty-nine remaining Civil War veterans who took part in the 1923 Memorial Day services. Bright passed away later that year in October at the age of 89, one year before the KLS&C line was discontinued.

Rix (Rix Station)

Continuing southwest from Brighton, the train made its next stop where the railroad crossed a portion of the Rix family farm in Texas Township. Known commonly as Rix Station, the rail stop was located where the KLS&C tracks crossed South 4^th Street, a half-mile north of West ‘O’ Avenue. Tiny as it was, Rix had all the makings of a small village with a post office, a grocer, a school, and a railroad depot.

Ira, Johnson, and George Rix

Rix was named for brothers Ira, Johnson, and George Rix who were among the earliest white settlers to arrive in Texas Township. During the 1830s George became a township assessor, supervisor and justice of the peace. Johnson Rix was an early highway commissioner and director of the poor. Future generations followed as Thomas D. Rix later became a prominent Texas Township supervisor.

“There are many places that would be benefited by the placing of a mail car on the Fruit Belt road, and the residents along it hope that favorable action will be taken by postal authorities.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 12 September 1907

The main township post office was located in Texas Corners, but a second township post office called “Rix” was established in 1897 on the Rix family property along the Michigan Central line. Ernest E. Annabel was the first postmaster there, succeeded the following year by grocer Helen C. Gunn. The post office in Rix remained open on the Michigan Central line until 1901. Mail service between Kalamazoo and Lawton returned in 1907 when a regular mail car was added on the newly opened KLS&C line.

The community of Rix continued to grow and by 1870, area students were attending school at Fractional District No. 6 and District No. 12 schoolhouses, both of which were located on Rix family property. The District No. 12 schoolhouse–commonly known as Rix School–was located on the Thomas Rix property at the northwest corner of West ‘O’ Avenue and 4^th Street just south of the railroad line. Fractional District No. 6 was known as Oak Grove but in later years called Rix School for landowner Daniel Rix, Jr. The building still stands in Section 6 at the northwest corner of Stadium Drive and 1^st Street.

Through the years several members of the Rix family worked as teachers in the Rix schools and each year in the springtime, students, alumni, teachers, families, and friends gathered at the No. 6 schoolhouse for a school reunion picnic. Nearly 300 attended the 1910 reunion, which required a wagon with a four-horse team to transport attendees back to the train depot for the return trip to Kalamazoo. Both schoolhouses near Rix remained in service until the Second World War.

Walker (Walker’s Crossing, Walker Station)

After leaving Rix, the train traveled another mile past orchards and farmland on the way to its next stop at Walker. The Walker rail stop was located on West ‘O’ Avenue, a half-mile west of 4^th Street on the southern corner of Robert Walker’s farm.

Robert Walker

Born in 1829 in his native Scotland, Robert Walker was living in the village of Kalamazoo when he was called into service during the Civil War. After the war he moved his family to the former George Eller property in Texas Township, where they remained until Robert’s death in 1907. Years later when William Sanders acquired the former Walker farm, he discovered the old depot building, which had been used as a chicken coop. Sanders converted the building into a playhouse for his kids.

Eassom (Eassom Station)

A mile past Walker, the train made one additional stop before reaching the village of Mattawan. Eassom (or Eassom Station) was located on South 1^st Street, a third of a mile north of West ‘P’ Avenue near the farms of Robert and Edwin Eassom.

Robert, Edwin, and George Eassom

The Eassoms where well-known family farmers who emigrated from their native England and settled in Texas Township during the 1850s. Ed and Robert both registered to serve during the Civil War and both maintained productive farms in Texas Township until 1880 or after. Edwin Eassom died in 1903, Robert in 1905. Ed’s son George later served as a township constable and justice of the peace before his death in 1909.

After taking on passengers and freight at Eassom Station, the train continued into Van Buren County through Mattawan, Lawton, and eventually on to South Haven. By 1920, Eassom Station was no longer shown on the map and had presumably been discontinued as a stop on the KLS&C line.

Fruit Belt Trail

After years of declining ridership the Fruit Belt Line was closed down in November 1924 and the tracks were removed the following year. Today the portion of the old KLS&C railroad bed between Oshtemo and Mattawan is used for underground telecommunication lines and as an informal walking trail. As of early 2020, developers were proposing an improved walking path to be called the Fruit Belt Trail that would begin at Flesher Field off of 9^th Street and follow the old railroad bed to the southern Oshtemo Township line and perhaps beyond.

Written by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, April 2020.