Dansville 50 Years Ago had 35 fewer homes within the village, but the population was about the same. We played outside year-round creating our own version of the major sports with makeshift equipment. Consensus without direct supervision worked quite well. One of the additional highlights of summer for the 125 or so kids in town was the Wednesday night "free show" that took place in the lot, now being utilized by Ream,s Barber Shop and other businesses. Many homes in the village housed four or more children . . . in 1950 I was one of seven. Six of my brothers and sisters had since married and lived about the county. The "free show lot" as it was called for years, was also the area where we gathered for softball, kick the can, chestnut fights, etc. Kids brought blankets and pillows; adults brought folding chairs and grocery sacks full of homemade popcorn. I don’t remember rain canceling the show more than a couple times.
Dan Jennings was president of the village. He owned and operated a shoe repair shop and rented the front half of the small wood building with bay-front windows for the town’s first library. It sat just south of Davis Dry Goods Store and just north of Mr. Braman’s Barber Shop. The dry goods store was housed in what now is the Wooden Nickel Restaurant. The free show lot is where one of the hotels stood years before.
The town was without television in 1950, save for a set at Anderson’s Hardware . . . the current home of the Youth Center. After school, kids gathered to watch Gabby Hayes in an old-fashioned western movie on a 17 inch screen Admiral.
F.C. Anderson also owned the grocery store on the southwest corner downtown. At that time the entrance was facing M-36. Another grocery store was located in the brick building still standing next to the current Post Office. Both stores had a soda fountain with a counter and stools. We took delight in ordering 5 cent fountain drinks like "green river," or "chocolate cherry coke" adding a scoop of ice cream when we had an extra nickel. But when we wanted a huge ice cream cone we would try to find our way to the Millville Grocery Store that was located across from the church on M-52. We would plunk down 5 cents for a single dip or a dime for a double, either of which were gigantic!
Hoppy Merindorf owned the garage between the two stores . . . now a parking lot. He took care of the school buses and a good portion of the automobiles in town. He also pumped Mobile gasoline to customers. There were four other places where gas was available in Dansville. Anderson’s Grocery and Hardware both had a gas pump. Lloyd Murdock owned and operated Leonard’s Gas Station, where the vacated Action Auto building now stands. Ed Shurzer operated a farm machinery garage and also sold gasoline. It was located where the tanning salon now stands. Rosco Arnold’s Sinclair Station sat diagonally on the northeast corner of M-36 and Williamston Road, next to the vacated two story hotel building, that soon would be torn down. Since 1950 that corner has seen a good deal of change. The old Sinclair station was replaced by a new building operated and soon
owned by Bonnie Bohnet. It later was torn down and replaced by a bank that became an insurance company, then a seed company office, and now soon to be a library. Though the current grocery store has been modified over the 50-year period, the building has always remained a grocery store. Tom’s Tavern as it was called then also has remained a bar. In 1950 Dale Erter was owner of the other grocery store and was also Dansville’s first fire chief. One of the many destructive fires in our town took out the store a couple of years later. There was a beauty shop run by Mrs. Mayville just east of the current grocery that nearly burned down when the old town hall was razed by fire in the late 40’s. Williams’ Sawmill occupied the area where Darrell Braman now lives. Watching the large belt driven saw served as entertainment on occasion. The sound and smell of wood being made into planks could be experienced in the center of town. We had a funeral home in our town owned by Geroge Vogt, located where David Shellenbarger now lives. Quinlen Dairy delivered milk to our home two or three times a week in returnable glass bottles. Matter of fact if no one was home he would place the milk in the refrigerator . . . not only were doors never locked, we didn’t have them.
In 1950 the 490 K-12 student population of Ingham Township Agricultural School (ITAS) was housed in the three-story building now serving the 200 6, 7 & 8th graders. The gymnasium was less than half the size. A driveway went all the way around the building and buses loaded and unloaded on the east side. At that time the property owned by the school didn’t include the major portion of the current athletic fields, nor the land on which a good portion of the elementary school now sets. The bell tower was in operation then . . . a rope from the bell to the second floor landing was pulled twice for one minute as an awareness that school was about to begin. It rang before school and at the end of the lunch period. At that time elementary students ate lunch in their room while 7-12 girls ate in the study hall and boys in the lower corridor. A tardy bell rang five minutes from the first bell. Searl Briggs was superintendent and also taught Economics, Civics and coached J. V. & Varsity Basketball, Football, and Baseball. The entire K-12 staff, administration, teachers, and coaches, totaled 17 that year. There was one secretary in the district, Helen Young, who also helped with the bookkeeping, supervised the library that was located in the study hall, and substituted for teachers. In 1950 there were 32 seniors, 39 juniors, 51 sophomores, 63 freshmen and 81 in 7th & 8th grades. The 205 elementary school kids lived in or close to the village. Country one-room schools were very much alive & well around the county during this period in history. Some junior high and most of those high school youngsters were bused from the larger area. There were 59 FHA members. Geneva Carter (Chelf) was president. 41 boys were in FFA. Athletic competition was held with teams from schools of approximately the same size as Dansville . . . Stockbridge, Leslie, Holt, Okemos, Williamston, Fowlerville, and Haslett. That year we lost all seven football games.
Fifty years later . . . February, 2000 . . . well, we haven’t grown at the rate of those around us, but the heart of the people who live here just may have grown more.