Wexford’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 2 old photos of Wexford. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The county was established by the Michigan Legislature in 1840 as Kautawaubet County, from gaa-dawaabide meaning "broken tooth" in the Anishinaabe language, which was the name of a local Potawatomi chief. In 1843, legislators renamed the county Wexford, after County Wexford in Ireland.
In 1851, Wexford County was attached to Grand Traverse County for administrative purposes. It was then attached to Manistee County in 1855, before being organized on its own in 1869.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Wexford’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wexford’s history is told.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewCadillac Big Wheels, c. 1908: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Wexford, decade by decade
1990s
Nothing in Wexford is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Wexford has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Makinen, John J., Bottle House in Maple Grove, 13.9 miles away.
Wexford and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Cadillac Big Wheels (c. 1908) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15From Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.