Located at the intersections of I-94 and US-127, Jackson, Michigan is a hard-working, vibrant city with the charm and warmth of a quaint town. From the historic Downtown to the beautiful acres of open parkland that stretch across the city limits, Jackson earns its recognition as one of Michigan’s “Cool Cities”, giving these opportunities to its visitors, and offering even more to its residents.
History
Jackson was founded in 1829 and named after President Andrew Jackson. On July 3, 1829, Horace Blackman, accompanied by Alexander Laverty, a land surveyor, and an Indian guide forded the Grand River and made camp for the night at what is now Trail and N. Jackson Street. They arrived in Jackson on a well-traveled Indian trail leading west from Ann Arbor. Blackman hired Laverty and Pewytum to guide him west. Blackman returned to Ann Arbor and then Monroe and registered his claim for 160 acres (65 ha) at two dollars an acre. Blackman returned to Jackson in August 1829, with his brother Russell. Together they cleared land and built a cabin, built on the corner of what would become Ingham and Trail streets. The town was first called Jacksonopolis. Later, it was renamed Jacksonburgh. Finally, in 1838 the town's name was changed to simply Jackson.
Jackson is one of the birthplaces of the Republican Party. Undisputed is the fact that the first official meeting of the group that actually called itself "Republican" was held in Jackson under the Oaks on July 6, 1854. A Michigan Historical Marker at what is now the northwest corner of Second and Franklin streets in Jackson commemorates an anti-slavery county convention on July 6, 1854. Meeting outside to avoid a hot, over-crowded hall, the group ultimately selected a slate of candidates for state elections. The marker identifies this as the birth of the Republican Party. The site, an oak grove on "Morgan's Forty", then on the outskirts of town, became known as "Under the Oaks".
Jackson was an early home to the automobile parts industry. Even before Detroit began building cars on assembly lines in 1910, Jackson was busy making parts for cars and putting them together. By 1910, the auto industry became Jackson's main industry. Over twenty different cars were once made in Jackson. Including: Reeves, Jaxon, Jackson, CarterCar, Orlo, Whiting, Butcher and Gage, Buick, Janney, Globe, Steel Swallow, C.V.I., Imperial, Ames-Dean, Cutting, Standard Electric, Duck, Briscoe, Argo, Hollier, Hackett, Marion-Handly, Gem, Earl, Wolverine, and Kaiser-Darrin. Today the auto parts industry remains one of the largest employers of skilled machine operators in Jackson County.
In 1914 George Todoroff founded the first Coney Island restaurant and created his famous coney island hot dog topping. His coney island restaurant was located directly in front of the railroad station located on East Michigan Ave and was open 24 hours. The restaurant proved to be a popular dining option for rail passengers, and over the course of 31 years George sold over 17 million coney dogs. Today two coney island restaurants unaffiliated with Todoroffs sit in a building near the train station on East Michigan Avenue. In addition to this several area restaurants throughout the Jackson area offer their own version of the coney island hot dog, or just "coney" as referred to by local residents. Jackson's version of the coney dog is distinctly different from what one will find at Detroit area Coney Island restaurants as well as other Coney Island restaurants throughout Michigan and the midwest. In 2014, Todoroff's Coney Island celebrates its centenary.
Michigan's first state prison was approved by the legislature in 1838. A temporary wooden prison, enclosed by a fence of tamarack poles, was built on sixty acres donated for that purpose inside the city limits of Jackson. In 1839 the first thirty-five prisoners were received. A permanent prison was built three years later. Beginning in the 1850s under Warden H.F. Hatch a greater emphasis was placed on the education and rehabilitation of prisoners. After 1934 the inmates were housed in the new prison just north of Jackson's city limit in Blackman township. Tours are available today of the original prison site on Cooper St. inside the city limits as well as at the portion of the facility that is no longer actively used to house prisoners just north of town.
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