Archive | June, 2013

676 Penniman Ave – Markham-Wilcox House

27 Jun

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676 Penniman Avenue. Built in 1901 by William (Phil) Markham, Owner of the Markham Air Rifle Factory which still stands at 340 N. Main St. Today this home still bares a Penniman address although the street no longer crosses the front of this home. This Iconic Queen Ann Style fixture of downtown Plymouth was originally built as a home for Markham’s young mistress, Blanche Shortman. Markham’s Wife Carrie refused to divorce because of her strong Christian beliefs. Carrie passed away in 1910 and Markham married his mistress Blanche. These actions were met with outrage by the locals that the newlyweds were shunned. Blanche could hardly bare the public persecution that the decision was made to leave town and move out West. In 1911 Markham placed an ad in the “Plymouth Mail” stating the sale of his home. The home was purchased by George Wilcox. This home was owned by the Wilcox family for nearly 90 years. Today this home is being used for commercial purposes.

Visit this page for more historical info:  http://www.wilcoxfoundation.org/history-of-the-wilcox-house.html

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873 N. Mill Street

27 Jun

 

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873 N. Mill St. Built in 1913, this home was ordered through Sears Roebuck & Co. by Frank Pierce. Frank was the manager of the Plymouth United Savings bank branch located on Liberty St. In 1918 Frank’s Grandson Russell Kirk was born here in his home. Russell Kirk was an Author, Historian, & Literary Critic who is known as the father of modern-day conservatism. In his book “The Sword of Imagination” Russel describes growing up in Plymouth and how it impacted his way of thinking.

Below is a photo of Russell Kirk with President Reagan.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Kirk

 

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41358 Ann Arbor Trail

27 Jun

41358 Ann Arbor Trail, once home to Ambrose Burr (one of Plymouth’s 1st Pioneers) was built around 1845. The home was remodeled in 1930 by Burt Tomlinson. The exterior bares little resemblance to it’s original clapboards & shutters appearance. *House under renovations at the time of photo

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587 West Ann Arbor Trail

27 Jun

587 W. Ann Arbor Trail. Built in 1928. This building was purchased by Dean Saxton about 1937 and has been a fixture in Plymouth since then. The addition was added in the late 40’s. Saxton’s sold commercial & residential lawn care equipment and tools. It is unfortunate to see the doors close 10/31/2012. Today this property is owned by the Plymouth Downtown Development Authority.

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39505 East Ann Arbor Trail

27 Jun

39505 East Ann Arbor Trail. Built in the 1860’s. Behind the shroud of trees there is a beautiful farm house begging to be noticed. This home was once owned by Harry Ayers who had raised Cattle and even had an Orchard. He named this “Hope Farm”.

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Haggerty Comfort Station

27 Jun

Built in 1937, Located on Hines Drive just West of Haggerty Rd, this comfort station can be found in Hines Park (Haggerty Park location). This comfort station was one of the early public comfort rest stops and it was a prototype for roadside development. When originally constructed, this station had a full-time attendant, an information booth and concession stand. Wayne county was one of the first county road agencies in the United States to promote the “Good Roads Movement” Setting procedures for design, construction, and maintenance of roadside developments.

https://www.waynecounty.com/departments/publicservices/parks/haggerty-park.aspx

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550 N. Holbrook – Starkweather School

27 Jun

550 N. Holbrook. Starkweather School built in 1927. Named after Plymouth’s first born settler child, George Anson Starkweather who once served as a Schoolteacher in addition to being a prominent figure in Plymouth’s history.

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331 N. Main Street

27 Jun

331 N. Main street. Built in 1910 was originally Bonafide Manufacturing and Garage. You could have your old Ford serviced here. This was also Bonafide Manufacturing where fishing lures and frog spears were made. For years this was most known as Allison Chevrolet (bottom photo). This used to be a single story building but was heavily modified. The historical photo is of the same building circa 1912. The angled structure of the current day photo is actually a covered ramp used to drive cars up to the second floor when this was a car dealership.
The current business is very welcoming to visitors, it’s currently Plymouth Furniture Refinishing  http://plymouthfurniturerefinishing.net/

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1496 Penniman Ave

27 Jun

1496 Penniman (@ Sheldon Rd) Built circa 1832. This home sat on the South West Corner of Gideon Durfee’s 80 Acre farm property. This historic Gothic Revival home is blended with modern technology, when viewing this home from Sheldon Rd you can’t miss the solar panels on the West facing roof.

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49000 North Territorial

27 Jun

49000 North Territorial Rd. Built prior to 1857. The Gates family had owned the farmland in 1832 and lived on this property for more than 50 years. This welcoming farmhouse had significant remodeling done in the 1940’s and 50’s.

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557 N. Mill Street

27 Jun

557 North Mill St. Originally the home of William & Keziah Starkweather. Starkweather was one of Plymouth’s first pioneers. His first home was built near the corner of Main St & Ann Arbor Trail. This Home was built circa 1835.

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186-192 N. Main Street

27 Jun

186-192 N. Main Street. Built 1905 in the Queen Anne style called Shingle. This double house was owned by Charles Bennett (President: Daisy Air Rifle Co.) but was actually home to his Father Lewis on one side and his Brother Fred on the other side. This home is now used for commercial purposes.

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DeHoCo Silos at the corner of Ridge and 5 Mile Roads

27 Jun

Corner of 5 Mile & Ridge Road. Built in 1920. This is one of the most visible landmarks that stands at the North West edge of Plymouth. It’s nickname is “DeHoCo” which stands for the Detroit House of Corrections. This was actually part of a working prison farm. A wood structure once adorned the front of these silos. This was used until 1931 when the prison was built down the street.

UPDATE: As of Friday, August 30th, 2019 this structure has been demolished and is no longer standing.

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291 Spring Street

27 Jun

291 Spring Street. Built circa 1840 by the Presbyterians and was originally located at the corner of Mill & Liberty Streets. In 1847 the church was purchased by the Baptists who then sold it to the German Lutheran Church who had it moved to its current location and then built the home next door as the parsonage. The old clapboards are hidden below the more modern siding but it still has wonderful stained glass windows.Today this Church is now the Church of Christ West.

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173 S. Union Street

27 Jun

173 S. Union St. Built in 1886. This is the old Presbyterian Parsonage. Today it’s now used for apartments.

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844 Penniman Ave

27 Jun

 

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884 Penniman Ave. Built in the mid 1890’s. Once the home of John Gale who used to own a drug store on the corner of Main & Penniman. This former residence is now home to the Plymouth Coffee Bean, a great place to enjoy a cup of Joe. http://www.plymouthcoffeebean.com/

Below is a historic photo of the home prior to the current modifications:

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760 Burroughs Street

27 Jun

 

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760 Burroughs Street. Originally the home of Bethuel Noyes, it was built circa 1850 and was originally located at 705 South Main St. Mr Noyes was the 1st President of the Village of Plymouth. This home was relocated & renovated by the Bake family some time around 1927.

Below is a photo of a 1928 post card with this home:

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41661 Plymouth Rd

27 Jun

 

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41661 Plymouth Rd. Part of this structure (Main Entrance) was originally a homestead built circa 1889 which was made into a restaurant in 1934 and was added on to through the years. It first started out as the Hillside Barbecue, then Hillside Inn for years before becoming Ernesto’s in the 80’s. It is currently the Courthouse Grill and still features Chef Ernesto’s Italian dishes.  This Plymouth landmark holds many great memories for thousands of people in and around Plymouth and has been enjoyed by generations.

Below are some historic photos that were shared by the descendants of the original owners/proprietors of the Hillside Inn.

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41661 Plymouth Rd circa 1900

 

HillsideRLorenz  Hillside001 Hillside002

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499 S. Main Street

26 Jun

499 S. Main St. Built in 1925 was originally built as the Tonquish Lodge #32 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and then later served as the Meeting house for the Mayflower Hotel. This fine establishment is now the Meeting House Grand Ballroom and is an elegant choice for Weddings and banquets. It’s located just steps from Kellogg Park   http://www.meetinghousegrandballroom.com/hosts.html

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Gunsolly Mill

26 Jun

Built in 1850 or 51 by John Gunsolly. The Plymouth Gunsolly Mill once sat riverside along Hines Drive South of Wilcox Road. Henry Ford would visit this carding mill with his Dad. In 1929 Mr Ford had the mill moved to Greenfield Village. There is now a comfort station in the same spot where the Mill once stood in the Gunsolly Recreation area in Hines Park.  http://gfv1929.blogspot.com/2008/08/plymouth-carding-mill-aka-gunsolly.html

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