Tales road FROM THE

Constantine, White Pigeon and Middlebury

By Steve Ellis

In early November, I decided to take a spur of the moment drive south on 131 though Constantine, White Pigeon and ended up in Middlebury, Indiana.

Constantine is no longer right along 131 because a five mile bypass around downtown Constantine was added after many years of discussion and planning. The purpose of the bypass was to alleviate the problem of large semi trucks driving through the tight downtown area and rattling the store windows of the historic buildings. The bypass alleviated that issue, but significantly reduced the amount of drive by traffic for the downtown businesses.

I took the exit for downtown Constantine, past the old dam and power plant, crossing the St Joseph River before parking on Water Street in front of the Meeks Mill Restaurant. This great little restaurant has been in the same family for over 30 years. I ordered the Farmers Omelette, which was delicious - I would highly recommend this restaurant and plan to visit them again in the future.

Many of the historic downtown buildings now stand empty, but one can only imagine what this town must have looked like a hundred years ago. It would make a great period piece for a movie set.

The village was platted in 1831. It was first named Meeks Mill after Johnathon Meeks, who built the first grain mill. Much later, when using names of classical figures for towns later came into vogue, the village was renamed for the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.

Five miles south of Constantine along 131 is White Pigeon, named after the local Potawatomi chief Wahbememe, which means White Pigeon.

According to legend, while Wahbememe was at the gathering of the chiefs in Detroit, he heard plans of an attack on the settlement which is now White Pigeon. The chief was a friend to the white settlers and did not want to see harm come to them, so he set out on foot and ran almost 150 miles to the settlement to warn the people. After running that long distance and giving his warning, he collapsed and soon died from exhaustion. He was buried in the town and there is a memorial stone marking his grave. The gravesite is now listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

White Pigeon was incorporated by European Ameri- cans in 1837. The United Stand Land Office located in downtown White Pigeon, is the oldest surviving U.S. Land office in the state of Michigan. After the land rights of Native American were given up by leaders of regional tribes, between 1831 and 1834, the U.S. government sold more than 250,000 acres of land in Michigan for $1.25 an acre to the settlers of Western Michigan. baked goods - my weakness is for donuts and I bought a few. The bakeries history began in 2001 in Shipshewana, Indiana. A young Amish couple began baking recipes handed down in the woman’s family for generations. They sold baked goods from their front porch. Over the years, they worked on perfecting the recipes. In 2004, they opened the first Rise’n Roll Bakery in Middlebury. The original bakery did not use any electricity, refrigeration, or modern technology. All of the mixing, sheeting, and prepping was done entirely by hand. In 2009, the Amish owner sold the company to a non-Amish family who modernized the business and set up a franchise - there are now over a dozen locations in Indiana and Illinois.

I walked around the small downtown area, which like Constantine, has many empty buildings. I had a nice visit with the folks at the White Pigeon Township Library. They shared their knowledge and photos of historic White Pigeon with me. I learned that White Pigeon is where the Kalamazoo Gazette originally began in 1833.

Das Dutchman Essenhaus is the areas biggest attraction. The Amish style restaurant began in 1971 at the site of an old truck stop on US-20. The restaurant has grown from 120 seats to over 1,100 and is considered the largest restaurant in Indiana. In addition to the worldfamous restaurant, Essenhaus also offers a home-style bakery with over 30 varieties of pies, six unique gift shops and stores, a large inn and conference center.

Middlebury, Indiana is 14 miles south of White Pigeon, and a few miles south of the Michigan/Indiana border. It is a busy town that gets even busier during the summer tourist season.

The downtown area has nice restaurants, bakeries, upscale clothing, furniture and home decor stores. The Middlebury area is home to over 23,000 Amish residents. The Amish buggies are everywhere and parked all over town, adding to its folksy charm.

Just east of Main Street is The Mill, which is a quaint shopping and gathering space featuring three boutique shops and a weekly farmer’s market (during the summer months), along with two large artisan markets each year. It is located within an old grain mill and surrounded by sixteen functioning grain bins.

If you like antiques, the Old Creamery Antiques is in a charming old house packed full of small antique items and has two vintage vehicles parked out in front.

A visit to Rise and Roll Bakery is a must for delicious

I was not ready for lunch but walked through the very large two floor restaurant and checked out the $16.99 lunch buffet which looked very appetizing. I was tempted by the large cases of pies, cookies and pastries in their bakery and ended up buying a small loaf of tasty pumpkin bread.

I visited the Krider Worlds Fair Garden, a park featuring display and botanic gardens originally conceived for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The Garden includes many exotic tree and plants, as well as several original sculptures for the Worlds Fair.

The garden was the brainchild of Vernon Krider, owner of a wholesale and mail-order nursery. Following the end of the Worlds Fair, Krider transported his display to Middlebury, where it has remained for the past 89 years. Krider’s mail order flower business once encompassed over 400 acres and was the largest business in Middlebury.

The popular paved Pumpkinvine Nature Trail runs through the park and covers over 18 miles between the towns of Goshen, Middlebury, and Shipshewana. I plan to bring my bike on the next trip to Middlebury. Near the Garden, I stumbled upon Old Hoosier Meats located in the original 1923 Middlebury High School gymnasium. The vine covered building, which opened as a cold storage and meat shop, caught my attention and I stopped in and was given a tour by the new owner, Glen Miller. He showed me the old freezer rooms where local residents rented large metal drawers to store their meat, before home refrigeration was invented. A large rack of drawer keys and matching brass name tags are still hanging in his office. I purchased a 1/2 pound of delicious pepper sausage that I nibbled on, along my way home.

If you love history, dining out, or you just enjoy exploring small towns, head south on 131 and experience Constantine, White Pigeon and Middlebury!