Klondike Gold Rush
Dateline: January 22, 2026.
The Village of Baroda, Michigan, has this history posted on their website: "The history of the community goes back to the 1830s when the first settlers arrived and began clearing the land, draining the swamps and building homes and farms. The founder of Baroda was Michael Houser, a man of exceptional generosity and civic-mindedness. Houser had always dreamed of building a town so he bargained with the railroad to put a station on his land. Houser then platted a town and sold lots on very generous terms. He offered a free lot to every person who would build a store or other building worth $500. Houser sold lots for homes for $35. He was not looking for personal glory and did not want the town named after him. Houser chose the name Baroda after a city in western India, 400 kilometers north of Bombay. In 1891 the Baroda post office opened. The Village of Baroda was incorporated in 1907 and the Township organized in 1923."
We have just come across an additional gem about significant improvements to the community made by a resident who struck it rich in the Klondike gold fields, published in The Klondike Nugget (Dawson, Yukon Territory) on March 22, 1899:
"Word has been received from Benton Harbor, Mich., that Frank Phiscator, a wealthy Klondiker who recently returned to his home at Baroda, Mich., has been married there and become a public benefactor. He has bought every corner in the village of his youth, erected an opera house, new stores and new residences, and this spring will put in a new electric light plant and a complete water system. He says he is going to make Baroda the central point in that county as a summer resort. It behooves Mr. Potato Pingree to look closely after his political fences in the future after this, or he may wake up some morning to find his pasture in the possession of the lucky Klondiker."
Is the Klondike story true? At this point, we don't know.
