It would be my
guess that Manville was originally known as
The following information concerning Manville was taken from the 1898 Livingston County Business Directory:
“Manville is a
village of about 100 inhabitants, situated on the Streator branch of the Wabash
Railroad, fifteen miles northwest of
Manville is one of the oldest settlements in the county. Two town plats were laid out, one known as Collins and the other known as Newtown, while the original settlement was called New Michigan, about two miles distant. The first house in the village was moved from the farm of M. A. Newman, and the first storeroom was moved from New Michigan. In the fall of 1874 the Methodist Episcopal Church was also moved to the station. The church is still maintained at this point in connection with the Cornell charge. The village has a large local trade and is a shipping point for grain and stock. The shipments for 1897 were 100,000 bushels of corn and 75,000 bushels of oats.
1898 Manville Business Directory
Gillman & Burton, dry goods, groceries, shoes and shelf hardware
C. C. Leonard & Son, dry goods, groceries, shoes and shelf hardware
A. N. McCord, Drugs and Farming Implments
Middle Division Elevator Co., Grain, Gus Wenzelman, L. Goddard, Manager
C. C. Leonard, postmaster
Andrew Fout, Blacksmith
W. Hoobler, buggies
W. Hoobler, railroad and Express Agent
It would be my suggestion if
you are interested in the history of Manville, New Michigan or Collins, check out the
I couldn’t separate the history of the
township from the history of these villages.