From Paris to Pellston

I seemed to remember that there was a Paris, Michigan and, when I looked it up, I found that we actually have two Parises in Michigan, neither of which seems to have anything to do with French people. One is an unincorporated community in Mecosta county, down by Grand Rapids. It was founded in 1865 by John Parish, who named it after himself. At some point, people started calling it "Paris" instead of "Parish", but Wiki didn't say why. The other one is Paris Township in Huron County, which is in the "Thumb" area. It seems to have been originally settled by Polish people, and I don't know how it came to be called "Paris Township".

Then there's Pellston in nearby Emmet County. Wiki didn't say this, but I remember reading something by one of our local historians that described how Pellston was founded by a guy named Pell or Pells, who named it after himself. He was some kind of real estate developer who persuaded people to invest in his project by billing it as "The Chicago of the North". Current population is 822. Pellston might might have had more people back in the day, but it never approached the size of the original Chicago. Part of the reason was that the anticipated railroad connection didn't materialize, although a different railroad eventually did come through the town.

What Wiki did talk about was Pellston's reputation as being "The Icebox of the Nation". That reputation was founded in 1933 when Pellston reported the coldest temperature ever recorded in Michigan, minus 53 F. It may have been colder than that sometime and somewhere else, but Pellston has been the home of a regional airport for as long as anybody can remember. The nearest airport of comparable size is in Traverse city today, and I doubt that there was a closer one back in 1933. Most official weather reports come from airports, you know. I don't think that Pellston, on average, is substantially colder than other communities in the area, but they have their reputation and are damn proud of it.