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this is Michigan Moments rediscovering
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the pioneering moments of the Great
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Lakes State in the early 1900s
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Colombiaville Michigan was a small but
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determined village stitched into the
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rail lines of Leier County the Flint
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River cut through its heart and along
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its banks the steam whistle of the train
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marked time with each stop new faces
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arrived and local industry thrived
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textile workers filed into the
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Columbiaville Woolen Mills one of the
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area's key employers rows of red brick
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windows watched over the rhythm of looms
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spinning threads that reached beyond the
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thumb company homes lined the streets
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nearby modest neat and close enough to
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hear the morning whistle without needing
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a clock downtown bustled with small town
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commerce water Street offered a steady
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hum the clink of cafe cups the shout of
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a shopkeeper the rustle of fabric behind
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windows at the corner stood the opera
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house block where towns people gathered
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not just for shows but for civic debates
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meetings and sometimes a little
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gossip across from the post office the
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Marathon House welcomed travelers off
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the train it was more than a hotel it
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was a social hub where guests mingled
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with locals shared meals and swapped
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stories over a wood burning stove the
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Detroit and Bay City Rail Line connected
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Colombia to the outside
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world each arrival brought goods letters
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and long-awaited guests young boys
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wheeled trunks while women in hats
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exchanged greetings it was the village's
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lifeline a constant comforting
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rhythm just outside the village Tao Beta
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Camp offered a quiet break from the
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clatter a summer retreat nestled in the
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woods it gave Detroit area youth fresh
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air and space to roam life here was
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practical proud and unhurried the
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village wasn't trying to grow fast it
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was trying to grow right with work in
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the mills walks along the river and
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shows at the opera house Colombiaville
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stood steady as Michigan itself changed
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this was Colombiaville in its stride
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when the train stopped and the mills ran
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and the stories still linger in brick
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rail this has been Michigan Moments
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offering bite-sized morsels of Michigan
