ABOUT JUSTUS GAGE

Justus Gage Elementary was built in 1953, but who was Justus Gage? Justus Gage, Dowagiac’s first village president in 1858 and a Universalist minister, had his hand in everything, from organizing the first school district to building Dowagiac’s oldest public building, which is now St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. He was supervisor of Wayne and Silver Creek townships, Wayne Township postmaster, and Justice of the Peace, founded an early newspaper, farmed, and sold insurance. It was Gage who introduced the resolution that brought what is now Michigan State University into being.