The Merson Store, Trowbridge Township’s Focal Point, Burned Down in 2025
The community of Merson - in Allegan County's Trowbridge Township - does not show up on current maps, or even Google Maps. Not even on old atlases.....except for one: the 1930 atlas.
Even though Merson was made an official postal stop in 1898, it was never acknowledged, seemingly, until 32 years later on the 1930 atlas.....the ONLY time it was recognized.
The post office permanently closed in 1908, but the community stayed put...it just wasn’t very big.
Aside from church services on Sundays, the Mersonites did have a favorite place to meet, hang out, and get a few goods – across the street from the church was the Merson Store, at the intersection of M-40 and 102nd Avenue. The store was believed to have been around as early as the 1920s and was a cool old building. I say “was” because in 2025 it burned down.
According to an Mlive article, “A fire early Wednesday, Nov. 5, has caused significant damage at The Merson Store, a local landmark where farmers shared free coffee outside every morning and kids stopped for candy.....The fire was reported around 6 a.m. at the store on South M-40 near 102nd Avenue, an intersection known as Merson Corners.”
If the Merson Store gets rebuilt, it will never be the same and the original charm will be gone.
According to one sad Mersonite on Facebook, it was a place “to stop in when we forgot something from the grocery store, to drive by and see all the farmers gathered outside solving the world’s problems, the ice for countless parties, (and) the sausages when you didn’t feel like cooking”.
