Highlighting Marshall County History. 1  Locks in Henry. 2  Henry Waterfront and Dock. 3  First National Bank of Lacon $50 Bill.  Wooden Bridge in 1  Henry. Bohm Hardware in Lacon.  Lacon Grain 1  Elevators. Loy's in 2  Lacon. Moonlight on the Illinois  River.
The town was founded in 1881 by businessmen from the Michigan Central Railroad. They were planning to extend their railroad from Gaylord, MI, approximately 35 miles south of Topinabee, to Mackinaw City, about 30 miles north of the town. They wanted a resort built on Mullett Lake for lodging during the lumber era. H.H. Pike built a hotel in 1881, it opened in 1882. The village grew from there.
Josephine Bowser Lillie was among Native Americans granted an 80-acre (320,000 m2) allotment of land within the Yakama Reservation. Of mixed Native American/European ancestry and Yakama identification, she is known as The Mother of Toppenish.. She platted the north 40 acres (160,000 m2) of her land. These tracts became the first deeded land to be sold on the Yakama Nation Reservation. The town is generally called TáºÃ¡pniÅ¡ in the Sahaptin language of the Yakama. This is the likely source of the name Toppenish. The word means âprotruded, stuck outâ and recalls a landslide that occurred on the ridge south of White Swan, Washington.