Jackson - Michigan - History

July of 1829. Settlers continued to arrive, and a post office was opened in 1830. The name of Jacksonburgh was given to the settlement in honor of Andrew Jackson, but was changed to Jacksonopolis and then shortened to Jackson in 1833.

Jackson Michigan, Birth place of the Republican Party. On July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Mich., the Republican Party formally organized itself by holding its first convention, adopting a platform and nominating a full slate of candidates for state offices. Other states soon followed, and the first Republican candidate for president, John C. Fremont, ran in 1856 with the slogan "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont."

Sparks moved to Jackson from Burrington, England in 1882 at the age of nine. He graduated from Jackson High School and attended Delvin Business College. At fourteen he started working in a grocery store, putting in long fourteen hour days with an ambitious determination to advance his business career. At twenty he married Matilda Peters and they had two sons.

Sparks joined Phillip and Winthrop Withington in the formation of the Sparks-Withington Company in 1900. The company made buggy parts, and began with only a dozen employees. Sparks-Withington soon became involved in the manufacturing of parts for the fledgling automobile industry. By 1929, the company employed over 7000 people, marketing a variety of products, including the "Spartan Radio and Horn."

Shortly after William Sparks' death in 1943, the entire 465 acre foundation park and the Cascades was given to Jackson County.

With time the Cascades fell into a state of disrepair, and by 1969 the entire landmark was threatened with permanent closure. Vandals had destroyed many of the concrete posts, the fountain, and boulevard lights. The massive reinforced concrete structure was scarred with graffiti, and began crumbling. In order to reverse the destruction of this landmark a "Save the Cascades" program was created with the goal of restoring the Cascades to its original grandeur. The community response was overwhelming, and within a year the Cascades was re-opened.