What came first, the Dexter Chelsea Road or the Central Railroad tracks? Why does it matter? It doesn’t. Just curiosity; I think about odd things like this every time I drive to the Chelsea Wellness Center and slow as the road zigzags across the tracks.

The road is a favorite of the legions of bikers (for purists: cyclists) who doggedly pedal from Dexter and beyond to Zou Zou’s in Chelsea during the recent two-week summer; at least that's what we had this year, and the thaw-to-freeze months. For a cyclist, it is almost a rite of passage to make your way from Dexter to Chelsea along this bituminous pathway without shoulders of any sort and assorted road kill spread along the filled cracks and potholes.

From the road in either a car or bike, one does not notice that the road and track follow a natural ridge between the towns. Chelsea was hard to get to before trains and cars because the ridge ran between “swamps and wetlands” making the journey slow and difficult. Nor does one consider the founding differences between the two communities: Dexter was built as a mill town and Chelsea a farming community. Of course times changed, and Chelsea became a manufacturing “power house” during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Dexter was built on the edge of Mill Creek, which flowed into the Huron. Dexter sits near the Huron River and at the nexus or near nexus of several traditional Indian trails. Dexter was where water provided power for a mill, which would facilitate the building and settling of a Village with relatively easy access to Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.

Chelsea was actually the outgrowth of several communities built near the intersection of Old Route 12 and Manchester road. Pierceville was the launching point for Chelsea with people settling just north in Kedron, and then Congdons settled in the far northeast suburbs of the latter. They settled on the dry land, moving along a relatively north-south line surrounded by swamps to the east and west. The settlement did not have the makings of a village, lacking a flowing water supply. The land was for farming for better or worse. Crops and other goods primarily were moved from the Congdons' settlement to market over to Old Route 12 along the now M-52 and to either Jackson, Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti.

The importance of the Congdons’ farm changed with the coming of the Central Railroad. The railroad was originally designed to go from Ypsilanti to St. Joseph via Dexter and Jackson. Then a fire at a small servicing station along the line became a fortuitous event for the Congdons. There is some question of course as to who set the fire. The Congdons’ land along the right of way had increased in value and commercial viability. And, if the railroad station were on their land, the value would skyrocket and their property could be become a major hub for agricultural transport and processing. Offering the railroad free land clinched the deal and with it the birth of modern Chelsea. And so the development of the Village of Chelsea began in 1841. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, Chelsea became a manufacturing powerhouse because a rail line from Detroit to Chicago made access to raw materials and distribution of manufactured goods possible. “Jiffy Mix” carries on that tradition.

But what about the road vs. railroad question?

Dexter’s products seemed destined for the Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit markets. Indian trails were expanded to transport goods, people and mail between Dexter and Ann Arbor. There was no apparent reason for heavy transport of crops or goods between the Congdons’ farm and Dexter before the railroad came. It would seem then that any direct traffic between Congdons’ settlement and Dexter would be inconsequential.

Some people have suggested that a trail along the ridge between Dexter and Chelsea must have existed. Perhaps so, but it was not a major artery for either the Indians or the settlers. It is more likely the road was built to support the construction of the railroad as it moved west to Jackson. Proof? I’m looking and will report back later.

Contact Steve at sfeinman10@yahoo.com.