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The Southern Links Trailway began as a rail system for the Detroit & Bay City Railway Company in 1872. It's primary role was to transport lumber from
these small communities. The railroad was then sold to the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad.

As train travel by passengers became a popular mode of transportation, train depots were constructed in the villages of Columbiaville, Otter Lake, and Millington. The depots in Columbiaville and Millington still stand today. In 1879, trains running through Columbiaville carried more than 200,000 passengers a year from Detroit to Bay City. The average cost for this trip was about 2.5 cents per mile!

The 1900's saw a steady decline in railroad transportation as the automobile became the preferred mode of travel. In October of 1952, citizens gathered to welcome one of the last presidential campaigns to be carried out on the train. General Dwight Eisenhower rode the Eisenhower Special from Saginaw to Lapeer. The train moved slowly through the small towns to allow Gen. Eisenhower a chance to wave to onlookers from the back of his private observation car.

(Information gathered from michiganrailroads.com)