Macomb Townships, Waldenburg

Last week in Linda’s Monday Morning Moaning’s, I talked about the ‘Cobbler of Waldenburg’ and felt that a further look into Waldenburg was of interest. I hope you agree.

Waldenburg, is a small town in Macomb Township, settled in 1831. The area was known as a German settlement of immigrants from mainly Prussia, in the north, from the Mecklenburg area. Waldenburg would get it’s name from the hometown of early settler August Posner. The immigrants liked the idea of settling where there was water available as in the middle branch of the Clinton River. This river was given the name of ‘the crick’ to the many town folk that lived there. The ground proved to be level and have a fertile sandy loam which would produce for them.

There would be post office set up at Macomb Corners, at 25 mile and Romeo Plank in 1830, but would later be moved to Waldenburg at 22 Mile road, because of the businesses that helped with the growing of the community. In Waldenburg began a school for the Germain immigrants and a church in Immanuel Evangelical Germain Lutheran. In the beginning German was the language used, because of where the people were most comfortable. The post office went by the wayside in the first part of the 1900’s as did the blacksmith with the coming of the automobiles.

A blacksmith shop, the post office, a feed store, later on becoming a hardware store, the Dopp building that would house many different business opportunities over the years. When the auto came there would be two gas stations. The Stiers were farmers and some were in the hardware business. The Stades eventually ran the grocery store and the feed store-gas station. Rohrbecks ran the 2nd gas station-grocery-butcher shop. By the 1950’s there came 2 beauty shops, a shoe repair.

Cemeteries were established in the same area as the church, which began its services in the Reh barn on Romeo Plank 1/2 mile south of 21 Mile. Names such as Klockow, Dopp, Schwark, Stark, Sahr, Kuechenmeister, Pringnitz, Gastmeier, Oehmke, Falkenhagen, Miller, Penzien and Schoof to name but a few, are families that would leave their mark on the growth of this community.

Waldenburg has always been known for it’s beer drinking and the playing of Euchre. Reunions were a yearly event for the many family members who moved on from Waldenburg in Macomb Township, when coming home to the farms of their grandparents made seeing long time friendship continue to last. The children played in the ‘crick’, swimming, fishing, ice skating and trapping. The cows drank in it and bathed in it, now its just a trickle, as progress has allowed its use is mainly watering the golf courses.

Now the Dopp building still stands, as does a gas station, the Waldenburg Tavern still meets the needs of the community, the Steir Hardware that stood for so many years is no more due to progress. Soon major work will be done to hopefully lessen the traffic congestion on that 22 Mile and Romeo Plank intersection where home building would have made the original settlers stand and scratch their heads in disbelief.

On that ‘wee note’ till next week.

A thank you to Shelley Steir Henshaw for her help when working on the ‘Macomb Township’ book and all her insights into the area of Waldenburg which sits so close to her heart.

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