Marion Cornett loves Fowlerville.
Since moving there in 1998, she’s become an active community member, business owner, blogger and — most recently — chronicler of the village’s colorful history.
On her blog, The Fowlerville Observer, Cornett posts what she calls “squint shots,” photos of scenes taken throughout Fowlerville.
While photographing around the area, Cornett began wondering about things connected to her subjects, and she began posting questions on her website, www.fowlerville.blogspot.com.
From there, she began researching things she found interesting and intriguing for the blog. Then, after the historical collection housed at the library was moved to the village offices, and Cornett began poring through it, looking for information she could use on her blog.
“I went through everything,” Cornett said.
But when her work reached 100 pages in length, Cornett began to think that what she had was bigger than a blog, that perhaps she had a book in the works.
That’s how “The Fowlerville Chronicles” was born.
The self-published book of 175 years of Fowlerville history, compiled and edited by Cornett, features 425 pages and close to 600 images, including pictures, maps, signage and aerial photographs. It is the story of how a settlement of only 14 settlers grew to be the current-day Fowlerville.
To purchase a copy, you can go to Cornett’s blog (http://www.fowlerville.blogspot.com) and order yours. The price is $38 per copy, and you can pay using PayPal.
Up next for Cornett is a book on G.L. Adams, editor and publisher of the Fowlerville Review from 1874-1929. Cornett discovered Adams as she pored through the archives.
“I fell in love with him,” she said.
A non-drinker, Adams celebrated in his paper the closing of saloons. He told the village council what it should do, and he watched over the comings and goings of the kids in town, chronicling their transgressions.
Like “The Fowlerville Chronicles,” this book will be a year-by-year look at each of Adams’ 55 years at his newspaper.
