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| A Brief History of Cedar | |||
![Cedar's Main Street [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/government/cedar.jpg', 'Cedar\'s Main Street',300,177));)
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The Polish community in the Cedar area, Centerville Township, originally consisted of three small settlements - Schomberg, Bodus, and Isadore. As in Poland, the towns were about one or two miles apart. Many of the Polish immigrants who eventually settled in the Isadore area had left their native land from just west of Gdansk or from Poznan (Posen). Upon arriving in America, they first settled in cities such as Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Toledo to earn money to purchase land through the Homestead Act. Around 1868 the first few families came to Leelanau County from Milwaukee. As the first generation retired from the farm and more Polish people moved to the area, many people settled in the largest community, then known as Cedar City, in Solon Township. Eventually, the town's name was shortened to Cedar. The main street of Cedar looks today much as it did a half century ago. The businesses change on occasion. Only a few of the names of the owners or operators presently reflect the Polish background of the early 1900s. Still today, people identify this place as being a Polish community. |
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This page last updated on 5/8/2006.