Is Maybee the Best Small Town in Michigan?
It's easy to idealize a little village that feels like Mayberry, but it's a place looking for a way to grow
Maybee — Michigan has the best small town names: Gay, Hell, Bad Axe, Climax, and Colon may be the grandest of them. These are the sort of small towns we idealize.
We think that the small town life is the good life, and at the heart of Monroe County is the Mayberriest of all of them: Maybee.
This village markets itself as a pun. Driving into town is a small sign which reads “MAYBEE THE BEST LITTLE TOWN IN MICHIGAN.” As one leaves town, the back of that same sign says “Maybee you’ll come back again.”
After driving through town, another sign says, “You are now leaving Maybee.” The local Monroe Community Credit Union had a banner, which said, “Maybee It’s time to join MCCCU.”
Who thought this name was a good idea? Nothing against the village itself, but no gentleman should ever propose to his lady in Maybee.
Like most towns, Maybee is a name. Abram Maybee, originally from Medina, Ohio, received 60 acres of his father’s land, which became the beginnings of a village settlement.
Later, Joseph Klotz joined with Maybee, selling lots to incoming residents. The two men owned a sawmill together and helped build houses. Abram Maybee built the first homes and a hotel, which he ran, and he was a leader in the village's lumber and charcoal industry. When Maybee died, his funeral at the Congregational church was well attended—a testament to his influence as a town father.
The village grew and gained a grist mill and grain elevator, as well as factories, a mining quarry, and a sand pit. Today’s downtown has a fraction of the buildings it once had.
The Maybee station that served the railroad is gone. The old Maybee House hotel once served travelers who did business with the flour mills, charcoal kilns, and the nearby lime kilns.
Eventually, the old hotel became an apartment building, but burned down in 2010. That’s the most recent building. In 1910 some structures burned down on Main Street, and in 1917 or 1918 the flour and grist mill burned down.
The fire department was always busy.
Maybee is a place where everybody knows everybody. Everyone went to St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, or the Congregational Church.
There weren’t many cars, so people walked everywhere. In Maybee’s past, there was a creamery and confectioneries to serve as haunts for villagers.
In 1966, The Andy Griffith Show was big, and in that year Maybee tried to become Mayberry by getting its own cops, but the village council unanimously rejected a proposal for a four-man police force.
They were satisfied with the Monroe County Sheriff’s department and the state police. Apparently, the people of Maybee didn’t want policemen walking beats through a population of almost 500.
They didn’t want any scenes of Barney Fife and Andy Taylor heading down to the ice cream parlor only to apprehend a man for jaywalking.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon sent a letter to the people of Maybee congratulating them on 100 years. He lauded the residents for their history in the lumber and charcoal industry and spoke of his assurance that Maybeeans would “strive toward their new goals with renewed vigor and dedication.”
It isn’t Maybee’s fault that this hasn’t come to be, as of yet. All the neighboring towns are trying to find out what their purpose is.
Today, buildings sit vacant and the majority of the residents have to drive out of town to work. Maybee’s industry bears little significance in the modern service economy and is waiting for future definition.
Charlene’s Curbside Cafe and The Little Brown Jug are the cultural centers of town. When I visited Maybee, no one was in the cafe. But everyone in the region has heard of The Jug.
Jeth Ott, the owner, bought The Jug from Jim Stiffler after working there for 13 years. After taking ownership, he created the tagline, “The Friendliest Place in Town.”
In the middle of the day, the parking spots along the street are almost all available. But they fill up around dinner time.
This May, Maybee celebrates her 150th anniversary. The village is small. It’s no Mayberry. If it weren’t for The Little Brown Jug, it would be sleepy.
The best little town in Michigan may actually be the most normal place in the world, with its beautiful brick buildings and shady forests along the River Raisin.
