Jackson History
Brian Deming columnist for the
Jackson Citizen Patriot, wrote an illustrated History of Jackson that was
published in 1984. Here is a brief excerpt.
On July 3, 1829, Horace Blackman, accompanied by Alexander Laverty, a land
surveyor, and an Indian guide forded the grand river and made camp for the
night at what is now Trail and S. Jackson Street.
They arrived in Jackson on a well-traveled Indian trail leading west from
Ann Arbor. Blackman hired Laverty and Pewytum to guide him west.
Blackman returned to Ann Arbor and then Monroe and registered his claim for
160 acres at two dollars an acre.
Blackman returned to Jackson in August, 1829, with his brother Russell.
Together they cleared land and built a cabin, built on the corner of what
would become Ingham and Trail streets.
The town was first called Jacksonburg, but in 1838 was changed to simply
Jackson.
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