HISTORIC MICHIGAN: Millett, the Eaton Co. Town that Disappeared

The Eaton County community of Millett (originally called Milletts, according to the 1895 atlas) is located in Delta Township between Lansing Road and Old Lansing Road, east of Creyts Road and just north of the Grand River.

The village, then known as Milletts, was a farming community, plotted in 1874 with a post office being established in 1877 (discontinued in 1910) 5 miles southwest of downtown Lansing. Milletts had a saw mill, church, a couple of stores, oar factory and one-room schoolhouse. Since it was right on the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway, a depot was necessary by 1890.

By 1910 the "s" was dropped and the village became 'Millett'.

The railroad station handled local freight accounts, Western Union Telegraph, and the Railway Express Agency as well as passengers. Once Lansing's truck & automobile business began its boom, the competition was too strong, causing Millett's railroad station services to be taken care of in Lansing.

The old depot still stands, now housing the Lansing Model Railroad Club at 5309 Old Lansing Road.

These days, traveling down Old Lansing Road through the area-once-known-as Millett offers a nice handful of historic sites: the old schoolhouse, depot and a few other buildings and original dwellings.
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Check out the photos below to see where to visit and drive through!