Rush, Michigan
Later West Haven

The village-to-be had lots plotted and streets named, a dam and school built and soon a factory was set up to make furniture. Estey Furniture Co. was turning out 1200 bed steads a month, along with a few chairs and other items, but by 1875, because of a good business, they decided to move the plant to Owosso.

By 1875, West Haven now boasted a coal mine, wagon shop, general store and several homes.

Circa 1901

Tarolli had invested $20,000 and soon the capitol investment was listed as $80,000.

In September of 1909, the newspaper reported that the raising of a new tipple or hoisting apparatus in Shaft #2 was witnessed by many citizens of West Haven.

The mining company built the roadbed and the railroad provided railroad ties and rail. The railroad would have purchased much of the coal produced, however it contained too much sulfur for the steam engines to operate properly.

The New Haven Coal Mining Co. prospered. Fifty teams of horses and wagons made two trips per day delivering the coal.

Nearly all homes, businesses and factories burned coal at this time.

Charles's brother, Paul, was a partner in the coal mine and was killed by a dynamite blast. He lived a short time, but there were no hospitals in the area.

There was a large house at the mine which Mrs. Tarolli ran as a boarding house for the workers. In 1909, Tarolli sold the mine to a man from the railroad. It was purchased with backing of capitalists from Pontiac and Detroit.

By 1910, the newspaper reported that the mine employed 80 men and producing 100 tons of coal per day. It was being operated by James Ricketta, superintendent and J.W. Edwards was the general manager.

Charles Tarolli purchased a lumber yard in Flint and later built and operated the Belmont Hotel in downtown Flint. It had 50 rooms with bowling alley and public baths.

Mr. Tarolli also worked for the Crapo Mines in Hazelton Township and in the 1930's at the Reading Strip Mine (Corunna Coal Mine) that operated on E. M-21, where the Shiawassee Dog and Gun Club is now located east of Corunna.

The New Haven Mine was worked by the Findly Coal Co. of Bay City in Oct. of 1914, but had a cave-in by Nov. 25th. In January of 1919, The Liberty Coal Co., as it was called, said they had a 'new blacksmith'. By March of 1919 the mine was sold to William Jones and Earl Gregg of Bay City and operated as the Jones Coal Co.

Eventually the mine closed due to poor supervision, labor problems and the constant pumping of water out of the mine. During the 1930's, oil furnaces were the 'new thing' and the old coal burners became a thing of the past.

As for the railroad spur, it was used to deliver coal to two greenhouses north of Main St. and fuel to a bulk plant, which was located just north of Main and Gould Streets. Also, area farmers used the spur to ship sugar beets.

Many old timers remember the trestle and the great swimming area at that location. They recall the 'Spiles' as the trestle was called and diving into the river, which was forbidden by the railroad. Also the railroad parked freight cars on the trestle during the spring thaw, in hopes that the extra weight would stabilize the bridge against possible ice jams.

By 1945, the spur was only used to store railcars and by the 1950's the trestle was removed. Today, all that remains of the trestle are two pilings just east of the Gould Street bridge, that sometimes can be seen in low water.

Today, the only remnents of the spur can be seen north of Gould St. where the electric company ran a power line to the Six Mile Creek area, having bought the right-of-way from the railroad.

Charles Tarolli's son, Paul, operated a hardware store on North M-52 for many years. Charles' son, Merle operated a hardware located on Corunna Ave. near Washington St. which later was operated by Carroll Tarolli.