Mill Race Historical Village
Inscription
In 1827 John Miller built a gristmill on this site. The structure was replaced by the Northville Mills in 1847. In 1919 mill owner Donald P. Yerkes sold the site to Henry Ford who razed the structure and built a valve factory across Griswold Street one year later. The factory was one of Ford’s village industries, a group of rural plants that manufactured small automobile parts. The Ford Motor Company donated the land to the city of Northville in 1972 for use as a historical village.
[Back]: The Mill Race Historical Village was established in 1972 as a site for relocating buildings faced with demolition. That year the city of Northville donated the New School Church to the Northville Historical Society and it was the first structure moved to this site. The society’s focus has been the preservation and display of architectural styles and furnishings of the nineteenth century. The Gazebo and Hirsch Blacksmith Shop are reproduction buildings.
Location
Sources
More markers in Wayne
David Dunbar Buick
Detroit, MI
David Dunbar Buick, for whom the Buick automobile is named, came to Detroit from Scotland with his parents in 1856 at age two.
The Landing of Cadillac
Detroit, MI
After departing Montreal June 5, 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and his convoy of twenty-five canoes sailed down this river, and on...
Henry Ford Birthplace
Dearborn, MI
At this intersection stood the home in which Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863.
Johnson's Tavern
Wayne, MI
In 1824 George M. Johnson purchased eight acres of land from the government and erected a log tavern at this location, a day’s journey...
First Jewish Religious Services
Detroit, MI
Near this site in 1850, a small group of German-Jewish immigrants gathered at the home of Isaac and Sarah Cozens and formed the Beth El...