Parkville, Michigan
Encyclopedia
Parkville is an unincorporated community in St. Joseph County
in the U.S. state
of Michigan
. It is in Park Township
on the banks of the Portage River at 42°00′57"N 85°32′52"W.
The dedication of the Seventh-day Adventist meeting house in Parkville was on January 12, 1861, and was attended by Ellen G. White
. She reportedly had a vision at that time of a "terrible war", this was three months before the firing on Ft. Sumter that began the US Civil War. (Reported in the book "Divine Predictions", by F.C.Gilbert, pages 214-222.) The Adventist church was later purchased for the Parkville Grange Hall, and the Presbyterian Church became the town hall. The Parkville Adventist church was moved in the 1990s to Battle Creek, MI, where it was restored to become a part of the Adventist Historical Village. The brick Methodist church still stands, although it is no longer a church.
Frank Dentler of Parkville invented the Dentler Bagger, one of the first automated pieces of farm equipment, for weighing and measuring the output of a threshing machine. He also operated a paddle wheel steamboat which carried goods from the factory and mills of Parkville to railroad stations on the Portage River.
St. Joseph County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 62,422 people, 23,381 households, and 16,600 families residing in the county. The population density was 124 people per square mile . There were 26,503 housing units at an average density of 53 per square mile...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. It is in Park Township
Park Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan
Park Township is a civil township of St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,699 at the 2000 census.The township was originally part of Flowerfield Township and was set off as a separate township in 1838.-Geography:...
on the banks of the Portage River at 42°00′57"N 85°32′52"W.
History
Park Township was organized in 1838, and Parkville was laid out in 1851 by Luther Carlton and surveyed by James Hutchinson. The first lot was purchased by Mary King for ten dollars. A mill pond and races on the Portage River provided power for a woolen factory built in 1851, a saw mill, and a grist mill built in 1853. In 1877 it had the mills and factory, three churches, two blacksmiths, a tavern, and a school. The churches were Seventh-day Adventist, Presbyterian, and Methodist Episcopal.The dedication of the Seventh-day Adventist meeting house in Parkville was on January 12, 1861, and was attended by Ellen G. White
Ellen G. White
Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
. She reportedly had a vision at that time of a "terrible war", this was three months before the firing on Ft. Sumter that began the US Civil War. (Reported in the book "Divine Predictions", by F.C.Gilbert, pages 214-222.) The Adventist church was later purchased for the Parkville Grange Hall, and the Presbyterian Church became the town hall. The Parkville Adventist church was moved in the 1990s to Battle Creek, MI, where it was restored to become a part of the Adventist Historical Village. The brick Methodist church still stands, although it is no longer a church.
Frank Dentler of Parkville invented the Dentler Bagger, one of the first automated pieces of farm equipment, for weighing and measuring the output of a threshing machine. He also operated a paddle wheel steamboat which carried goods from the factory and mills of Parkville to railroad stations on the Portage River.