Living in Blissfield
Village History
Blissfield was founded in 1824 before Michigan was a state. Blissfield is located on the River Raisin, named after the French "Riviere des Raisin"-"River of Grapes." Founder Hervey Bliss was a native of Massachusetts who came west, first settling in northern Ohio, and then settling in present-day Monroe County, Michigan, before paddling a canoe up the River Raisin to found Blissfield. Hervey Bliss was Blissfield's first Justice of the Peace, Town Clerk, and Postmaster, and he was also a founder of one of the first anti-slavery societies in Michigan, the Blissfield Anti-Slavery Society.
Some interesting facts about Blissfield
| Two German Prisoners of War camps were located in Blissfield during World War II. |
| Ripley's Belive It-Or-Not once featured the three adjacent, identical Blissfield Bridges that used to cross the River Raisin; at the time believed to be the only "triple bridges" in the world. These were a vehicular, railroad, and interurban bridge. Although two of the original bridges were replaced, we still have "The Triple Bridges." |
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 | Blissfield's Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad was the first railroad west of the Allegheny Mountains |
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| At one time, Blissfield was likely the largest shipping port for fat livestock on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad between Toledo and Chicago. |
