Oakland

Pontiac, MI

This was the home of Moses Wisner and his wife, Angeolina Hascall.

Farmington Hills, MI

Royal Aldrich, a native of Farmington, New York, built this two-story Greek Revival farmhouse around 1840.

Oakland Twp, MI

This complex of buildings began as the farmstead of John Axford, who built the Greek Revival house during the 1840s.

Bloomfield Hills, MI

This frame structure, completed in 1833, is the second home of Bagley’s Tavern.

Holly, MI

This historic district was once the scene of frequent brawls.

Berkley, MI

Designed by the Detroit architectural firm Pollmar and Ropes in the Colonial Revival style, the face-brick and limestone-trimmed Berkley...

Rochester Hills, MI

On October 13, 1922, Howard Bloomer and his wife, Amy, donated 211 acres of land to the State of Michigan to be used as state parks.

Farmington Hills, MI

This historic structure was built as a home in 1836 by Orrin Weston and converted into a tavern by Stephen Jennings in 1841.

Franklin, MI

Architectural evidence, including bark-covered logs used for framing, indicates that the Greek Revival center portion of this house dates...

Commerce Township, MI

Two generations of the Byers family have resided at this site, said to be the home of the first white settler in Commerce Township.

Orion Township, MI

Joseph Jackson built one of the first sawmills in Orion Township on this site in 1825.

Ferndale, MI

During the early twentieth century, many African Americans migrated north to work in Detroit’s automobile factories.

Orchard Lake, MI

A pleasant tradition, unsupported by history, says that Pontiac once lived on Apple Island here in Orchard Lake.

Pontiac, MI

The Clinton Valley Center has served southeastern Michigan for one hundred years and is the second oldest hospital for the mentally ill...

Rochester, MI

This canal, conceived at the peak of the era of canal-building, was part of Michigan’s internal improvements program which was announced...

Commerce Township, MI

The Commerce Roller Mill, built in 1837 by Amasa Andrews and Joseph and Asa Farr, harnessed the water power of the Huron River.

Commerce Charter Township, MI

A Methodist Episcopal class, which later became a church society, was organized in Commerce in 1838.

Franklin, MI

Commerce Township’s first burial ground was laid out on the Bela Armstrong farm (then owned by his widow) in 1834.

Bloomfield Hills, MI

In 1850 twelve German immigrant families founded Michigan’s oldest Jewish organization, the Beth El Society, at the Detroit home of Isaac...

Southfield, MI

In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, seventeen followers of Traditional Judaism withdrew from the Beth El Society in Detroit to...

Holly, MI

Henry Howland Crapo (1804-1869)—wealthy lumberman, Republican, state senator (1863-1864) and governor of Michigan (1865-1868)—owned...

Farmington Hills, MI

A native of Ontario County, New York, David Simmons moved to this area around 1827.

Lake Orion, Orion Township, MI

The remnants of a millpond dam and the pioneer graves in nearby Bigler Cemetery are the only evidence of the settlement that once...

Wixom, MI

On June 21, 1925, Detroit-area people of Finnish descent purchased this land and built a summer camp where they could share the...

Royal Oak, MI

When it opened on August 1, 1928, the Detroit Zoological Park was unique and progressive in its design.

Farmington Hills, MI

This attractive Greek Revival house was built in 1845 by Stephen Jennings, an early owner of the Sixteen Mile House (now the Botsford Inn).

Pontiac, MI

In 1825 Elizabeth Denison, “a woman of colour,” purchased 48.5 acres of land from Pontiac’s founder, Stephen Mack, agent of the Pontiac...

Orchard Lake, MI

William Gilmour began building this house in the 1830s.

Pontiac, MI

This church, Michigan’s oldest Baptist church, was begun in 1821 by a small band of pioneers who came to Pontiac through the forest and...

Royal Oak, MI

Several members of this church were significant to its early development.

Pontiac, MI

As early as 1820 itinerant Methodist preachers came to Pontiac, and in 1828 a society was organized by the Reverend William T. Snow in...

Pontiac, MI

Organized February 26, 1824, by nine men and four women under the leadership of missionary Eldad Goodman at John Voorheis’ home in...

Farmington, MI

In the 1820s members of the Society of Friends played a key role in the settlement of several Michigan communities.

Pontiac, MI

Built between 1845 and 1930, this neighborhood of ninety-three structures retains a turn-of-the-century appearance with its mix of Greek...

Franklin, MI

In 1827 Elijah Bullock, one of the founders of the Stoughton Bullock Settlement (renamed Franklin in 1828), set aside land for a burial...

Franklin, MI

Founded in 1824-25, Franklin received its present name in 1828.

Franklin, MI

Michigan’s Territorial Council passed a law in 1827 requiring every township with fifty or more inhabitants to establish a school.

Huntington Woods, MI

In 1890 Fred A. Baker, an attorney and former state legislator, purchased 320 acres of land in Royal Oak Township.

Rochester, MI

New York native George Vandeventer, who came to Avon Township as a child in 1834, became a successful businessman and civic leader in...

Farmington Hills, MI

This graceful English-style stone clubhouse, completed in 1925, was designed by Butterfield and Butterfield of Farmington.

Farmington, MI

This large white Civil War-era house in the center of Farmington’s historic district has been the residence of the Warner family for many...

Oakland Township, MI

These stone walls and steps, as well as the old tennis courts, are all that remain of Green Hill Farm, the seasonal home of Elizabeth and...

Birmingham, MI

The oldest section of Greenwood Cemetery comprises land purchased from the federal government by Dr. Ziba Swan of Albany, New York, in 1821.

Milford, MI

Aaron Phelps, pioneer settler and first postmaster of Milford, built this Greek Revival residence between 1836 and 1838.

Troy, MI

The city of Troy has set aside this area for historic structures.

Holly, MI

Holly’s Town Hall has been a center of community activity since it was built in 1892.

Holly, MI

In 1854 when “the last rail was laid and the last spike driven in the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway between Detroit and Holly” the...

Novi, MI

In 1827 Gamaliel Simmons of New York purchased 160 acres of land from the federal government in what was then Farmington Township.

Royal Oak, MI

John Almon Starr (1828-1895) and his wife, Nancy Quick (1831-1895), built this house in 1868 from bricks fired in Almon’s tile factory.

Royal Oak, MI

John Almon Starr (1828-1895) and his wife, Nancy Quick (1831-1895), built this house in 1868 from bricks fired in Almon’s tile factory.

White Lake Township, MI

Asa Loren Kelley (1813-1887) migrated from New York as a child around 1820.

Lake Orion, MI

Methodist missionaries preached here in the 1820s, and in 1833 a class was organized.

Leonard, MI

In 1843 Addison Township settler Ernest Mann donated one acre of land to the local community for use as a cemetery.

Southfield, MI

Lawrence Tech was chartered in 1932 by the Lawrence brothers, Russell E. and E. George.

Farmington Hills, MI

Lemuel and Lucy Botsford were Quakers.

Southfield, MI

Educator Mary E. Thompson (1871-1967) grew up in this house, which was built sometime between 1842 and 1864.

Rochester, MI

Built in 1899-1900, the Masonic Block was designed by Edward R. Prall.

Farmington, MI

Sixteen pioneers organized the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1829.

Ferndale, MI

During the 1950s, as Oakland County's population soared, the corner of Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue became the most congested...

Rochester, MI

In 1826, Mount Avon became the first officially platted cemetery in Oakland County.

Farmington Hills, MI

In 1927 the Nardin Park Methodist Episcopal Church was formed by a merger of two Detroit churches: the Ninde Church, organized in 1886,...

Milford, MI

Oak Grove Cemetery, established in May 1845, was formally named in May 1871.

Pontiac, MI

On June 1, 1822, the Pontiac Company gave the citizens of Pontiac the first land for a village cemetery.

West Bloomfield Township, MI

Orchard Lake School Historic District comprises eleven buildings constructed between 1858 and 1924.

Royal Oak, MI

Orson Starr (1803-1873) and his wife, Rhoda Gibbs Starr (1806-1853), built this home in 1845.

Ortonville, MI

In June 1850 an eleven-member Methodist class was organized here as the Hadley Circuit of the Detroit District.

Oakland Township, MI

The first burial here dates from 1832.

Oakland Township, MI

Needham Hemingway built the first mill at this site in 1835, harnessing water power from the Paint Creek millrace.

Goodison, MI

Paint Creek begins in a Brandon Township wetland and flows southeast to Rochester where it empties into the Clinton River.

Southfield, MI

Upon the death of his daughter in 1832, John Thomas donated part of his farm to the township to form a public burying ground.

Lake Orion, MI

This Carpenter Gothic style house was built in 1879 for Joshua C. Predmore (1837-1912).

Milford, MI

Frederic and Priscilla Prior and four of their seven children were among Milford Township’s earliest settlers.

Huntington Woods, MI

In 1923 philanthropists Horace and Mary Rackham acquired 150 acres of land from the Baker Land Company, which was developing subdivisions...

Rochester, MI

The area known as Rochester was settled in 1817 by James Graham.

Rochester, MI

Built in 1890, the Opera House Block opened with the First National Bank and Norton Pharmacy on its ground floor.

Rochester, MI

The “Old Stone Store” is the oldest commercial building in Rochester.

Holly, MI

Rose Township was created by legislative act on March 11, 1837.

Milford, MI

Squire and Dolly Rowe, who settled here in 1835, built this elegant, cut fieldstone house in 1855.

Royal Oak, MI

On May 3, 1918, the Royal Oak Tribune boasted that, “architecturally and artistically,” the new Methodist Episcopal Church was “the...

Royal Oak, MI

Saint Mary Catholic Cemetery was established in 1875 and consecrated by Bishop Caspar Henry Borgess that year.

Royal Oak, MI

In 1826 Daniel Burrows donated land for use as a cemetery.

Royal Oak, MI

Erected in 1839, this building was originally a small frame Baptist church.

Troy, MI

Sebastian Spering Kresge founded the firm in 1899 in Detroit.

Farmington Hills, MI

Pennsylvania native Samuel Davis settled on this site in 1855.

Novi, MI

This Greek Revival farmhouse, built by Samuel White, shows the influence of the people from Upstate New York who first settled this area.

Clarkston, MI

Although burials were made here as early as 1836, it was 1849 before residents of Sashabaw Plains formed Sashabaw Burial Association for...

Clarkston, MI

This church structure, one of the oldest in the Detroit Presbytery, was erected by a church building society which was organized on...

Seymour Lake, MI

The local Methodist society, organized in 1837 at the house of Joseph Shurter, met in residences and schoolhouses for nearly four decades.

Southfield, MI

Thaddeus Griswold sold several parcels of his farm to settlers who used the land for burial grounds.

Southfield, MI

The Territorial Road (present-day 10 ½ Mile Road) east of the Rouge River was Southfield Township’s economic hub during the...

Union Lake, MI

This white clapboard edifice was built by Irish immigrants in 1840.

Royal Oak, MI

On March 31, 1873, St. Paul Lutheran Church began as a Lutheran orphanage located at University Avenue and Main Street.

Pontiac, MI

St. Vincent de Paul parish, established in 1851 by Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere, once included all of Oakland County and parts of Genesee,...

Northville, MI

Stephen Yerkes Rodgers built this Greek Revival-style house in 1834.

Walled Lake, MI

This land served as the local schoolhouse site from 1836 to 1895.

Rochester Hills, MI

Lemuel Taylor and his family became Stoney Creek’s first settlers in 1823.

Rochester Hills, MI

Stony Creek Cemetery contains the graves of some of Avon Township´s most important pioneers.

Rochester, MI

Around 1825 William A. Burt led members of the Stony Creek Masonic Lodge in petitioning the Grand Lodge of Michigan for a charter.

Bloomfield Hills, MI

Responding to a request from the Antoine Beaubien family, five religious of the French order of the Sacred Heart came from New York to...

Farmington Hills, MI

Wells D. Butterfield and his daughter Emily (the state’s first licensed woman architect) designed this house for Edward and Evelyn Chene.

Pontiac, MI

The first Oakland County courthouse, built about 1824, was located on the corner of Saginaw and Huron Streets on land given by the...

Troy, MI

Sebastian Spering Kresge established this foundation in 1924 on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the company he had organized in Detroit.

Troy, MI

In the summer of 1918, President Woodrow Wilson, at the urging of Britain and France, sent an infantry regiment to north Russia to fight...

Rochester, MI

Avon Township, the site of the first settlement in Oakland County, was organized in 1835.

Troy, MI

The city of Troy was an unclaimed wilderness when Johnson Niles moved here with his family from New York in 1821.

Ferndale, MI

Extensive population growth in Royal Oak Township spurred construction of the Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School in 1926.

West Bloomfield Twp, MI

During his career, automotive pioneer Walter Flanders was considered a genius of production and management.

Highland, MI

The need for a burying ground arose soon after Highland’s first settlers arrived in the 1830s.

Rochester, MI

Paint Creek and the Clinton River provided power for the first woolen mill on this site in 1844.

White Lake Township, MI

This cemetery was established by Robert Garner when his nine-month-old child, Mary, died in 1837.

Lake Orion, MI

As the son of James E. Scripps, founder of the Detroit [Evening] News, William E. Scripps (1882-1952) was heir to a publishing fortune.

Rochester Hills, MI

A sawmill, dam, and gristmill were built here in 1825 by John Hersey, one of the first settlers in the county and a founder of the...

Wixom, MI

The Wixom Cemetery has been in continuous use since 1838, when it was established as the South Commerce Burial Ground.

Wixom, MI

This house was built in the early 1850s by Lucy Wixom, widow of Ahijah Wixom, one of the town’s founders.

Rochester Hills, MI

In 1863, William (1820-1911) and Caroline (1833-1892) Yates moved from New York to Michigan and purchased 80 acres of land.