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252 E Ann Arbor Trail

15 Apr

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252 E Ann Arbor Trail was built in 1926. This was the home of very well respected teacher here in Plymouth that had a school name after her. This was once the home of Helen L. Farrand. Helen was born here in Plymouth on November 20, 1892 to William and Anna (Rocker) Farrand. Her father William ordered this “Kit Home” from Montgomery Ward. This Wardway home was built by William Farrand, he built this and other adjacent homes on E Ann Arbor Trail.

Helen was a graduate of Plymouth High School in 1911 and received her teaching certification from the Ypsilanti Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University).  Helen was a teacher in local communities. During WWI she actually worked in the Detroit Post office and returned to teaching in 1923. In 1927 Farrand came to work for Plymouth Canton Community Schools (PCCS). She taught at Central Grade School, Starweather, & Edna Allen School. Helen retired from teaching in 1958, that same year the PCCS School Board voted to name a “new elementary school” after her. 1958 the new school built at 41400 Greenbriar Lane in Plymouth was dedicated and named after Helen L. Farrard. Go Farrand Foxes!

Helen Farrand passed away in April of 1977 and was laid to rest in Plymouth’s Riverside cemetery. Helen was well respected by the community and loved by many students. Her legacy continues to live on today as hundreds of students are educated each year in the Elementary school named in her honor.

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Helen Farrand

 

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1477 W. Ann Arbor Trail

30 Jul

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1477 W. Ann Arbor Trail was built in 1938 by Cass & Margaret Hough. Their first home was actually the first home built in the Hough Park neighborhood (located at 1395 Park Place). When this Georgian Colonial was built, it was constructed to the satisfaction of wife Margaret who loved many homes in New England and this home shares many attributes of some of her favorite houses. At the time of construction, Cass was the President of the Daisy Air Rifle factory and was a third generation Hough family member to serve as an executive for the company. An interesting note about the stone wall that sits at the perimeter of the property is the fact that Cass built the wall in 1920 well before the home was built.

In 1941 the Detroit News (newspaper) featured this home in an article touting its elegance and beauty. In 1955 Cass and Margaret had split up. Margaret continued to live here for another ten years. In 1965 a couple happen to be driving through town and came to a stop and got out of their vehicle to admire this home. A woman by the name of Janet Warrick insisted to her husband Chip that they get out and speak to the owner. The couple met with Margaret and stated that if she would consider selling her home to please contact them. Margaret contacted them not long after their meeting and agreed to sell her home to the eager couple. In 1965 this 3700 SQFT, 5 Bedroom, 4.5 bath home was sold to the Warricks. They loved everything about this home so much that it was virtually left “untouched” until 2010 when the home was sold to new owners.

Cass Hough not only served as the President of Daisy but was also a war hero that served as a pilot during WWII and is featured in the Aviation Hall of Fame. Cass passed away at his Florida home in 1990 and was laid to rest here in Plymouth at the Riverside Cemetery.

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Cass Hough 1949 presenting awards

 

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“It’s a Daisy!” is the most complete published book about the history of Daisy written by Cass Hough in 1976.

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1477 W. Ann Arbor Trail in the winter.

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1411 W. Ann Arbor Trail

29 Jul

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1411 W. Ann Arbor Trail was built in 1918 by Edward C. Hough. This was the home of Ed & Louise (Sheffield) Hough from 1918-1959. They had given their estate the name of “The Elms”. Edward Hough was the son of Lewis C. Hough who was an original founder of the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company which eventually became the Daisy Air Rifle Company. Ed joined the business in 1893 as the Treasurer for the company.  In later years, Ed’s Son Cass Hough would go on to become the President of Daisy. Both Edward & Louise Hough have been laid to rest at the Riverside Cemetery.  The Hough family played a significant role in the history of Plymouth and their legacy will continue to live on for many years to come.

This home still retains all of its original elements including the original carriage port on the West side of the home and the 2-story carriage house located behind the home. This home still has an unpaved driveway which makes it easy to look at the home and picture yourself stepping back into time and looking at the grandeur of this home as if it were still the early 1900s.

Below is a photo of the executive team that operated the Daisy Air Rifle Company in 1895. The Team included Lewis C. Hough, Edward Hough, Charles H. Bennett, George W. Hunter, and Alfred W. Chaffee

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View of Ann Arbor Trail in 1930. The Hough home sits on the right of the photo:

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46000 W Ann Arbor Trail

7 Nov

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46000 W Ann Arbor Trail. Built in 1847 by Moses Allen. Mr. Allen purchased this property in 1829 from John Tibbitts and built a home just West of this house which he sold to his son John Allen (now re-located to 46645 W. Ann Arbor Trail). This home sits on a field stone foundation and has an addition that was also built in the 1800s. In the mid to late 1860s this home was purchased by John S. Kellogg who was the Son of John Kellogg one of Plymouth’s first pioneers. Census records of 1880 show that John S. Kellogg was a widower and lived here with his 3 kids (Henry, Nettie, & Minnie). In 1916 this became the home of Frank Rambo who was a Realtor and had an office located on Penniman Ave. Today this home is in great condition and we are proud to have this home stand the test of time and continue to be a great historical part of the Plymouth community. An interesting note is the fact that home records show this house to have been built in 1925… What a big surprise to discover otherwise!

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47420 Ann Arbor Trail

26 Feb

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47420 Ann Arbor Trail built in 1928 by Hal Wilson. This storybook looking house that stands at the North West corner of Ann Arbor Trail and Beck Rd is a Cotswold style home with an organic looking cedar shake roof. This home at a quick glance appears to be a humble home but in fact is a 2700 square foot, 5 bedroom residence.  After Mr. Wilson lost this home during the Great Depression, the next owner of this home was Norman Ruehr who used to own Heide’s flowers which at one time was the longest running business in Plymouth. Norman’s parents Reinhold & Louise Ruehr purchased Heide’s flowers in Old Village Plymouth from Carl Heide shortly after they immigrated from Germany. This home was given a couple of names by the locals, most popular were the “Casa Llama” and the “Peacock House”.  This property used to be inhabited by the Ruehr’s pet llamas and they also had peacocks. The front of the home is also decorated with a large peacock, thus the names it was known as. Inside you could find the presence of an Armor suit and a number of interesting items that were brought from places around the world that they had traveled to. One could overlook these items while standing from the second floor balcony inside. The current owner purchased this home from Emily Ruehr the widow of Norman who passed away in 1997. This is a very unique home that we hope to see will continue to be a part of Plymouth’s landscape for many years.

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45800 W. Ann Arbor Trail

20 Nov

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Home of America’s first official Sniper. 45800 W. Ann Arbor Trail was built by John Berdan circa 1833. John was a farmer that owned 160 acres and this home literally sat in the middle of his property right on the Native American trail (now known as Ann Arbor Trail) that ran through the center of his property. Now the most significant thing about this house is that this was the childhood home of John’s son: Hiram Berdan who played a significant role in American History. Hiram was born in New York in 1824 and lived there until his family moved to Plymouth in 1830. Hiram grew up practicing his rifle shooting skills here in Plymouth and eventually became America’s First Sharpshooter. In 1861 (during the Civil war) Hiram was given permission by President Lincoln to form the first regiment of sharpshooters or “sniper” regiment as we would call it today. General Berdan was a World renowned marksman. Hiram was also an inventor who actually developed the first gold amalgamation machine to separate gold from ore, he invented the Berdan rifle and much more. Although published information may vary and no one seems to discuss his time in Plymouth, we have verified through Census records and title research that YES Hiram did grow up here and yes this was his childhood home. Hiram Berdan was brevetted as Brigadier General by President Andrew Johnson. After he passed away he was buried with full honors at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.

Photos of Hiram Berdan:

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1107 W. Ann Arbor Trail

27 Jul

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1107 W. Ann Arbor Trail. Built 1861. Originally the home of Cassius Kellogg, Son of Plymouth Pioneer John Kellogg. Much of the land that now makes up the City of Plymouth was once owned by the Kellogg Family. The “Village Green” which we know as Kellogg Park in Downtown Plymouth was actually donated to the City by the Kellogg Family. The site which this home sits on was also said to have been a ceremonial site for local Native Americans.

UPDATE: As of 10/14/2016 We are sad to report that this home was lost to “progress”. Although this home was in great shape and well cared for, it was sold to a contractor and razed in order to built 2 new homes in its place.

If you would like to help prevent additional lose of historic homes in Plymouth, we encourage you to follow the Plymouth Preservation Network on facebook and be informed about other homes which may be threatened or things you may be able to do to help.

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Mayflower Hotel Site

16 Jul

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This post is quite different from any of our previous posts because of the fact that that it highlights a building that is not very historic yet is a corner that is rich in Plymouth’s history. It has been our discovery that this page receives many searches for the Historic Mayflower Hotel and we were quite surprised to find that there are many people who are still unaware that the Mayflower no longer stands. 827 W. Ann Arbor Trail was home to the Mayflower Hotel from 1927 through 1999. The Hotel was razed in 2000 and is now the home of Mayflower Centre which consists of both retail spaces and condominiums. This was the location where Plymouth’s first home was built by Plymouth Pioneers William and Kezia Starkweather in 1825. Although Plymouth’s first home was more of a primitive shelter, it was still a home and this South West corner of Main Street and Ann Arbor Trail is where it all began. Today there are still “remains” of the Mayflower. Directly across Main Street, the former Mayflower Meeting House still stands and is now home to a Banquet Facility and office spaces. The Mayflower’s later addition (Mayflower II) still stands at 471 S. Main Street and operates as the Mayflower Motor Inn.

Here is verbiage from an old post card dated 1986 of the Mayflower:

100 room historic, family-operated hotel featuring Bed and Breakfast Full complimentary breakfast for overnight guests, at Main Street and Ann Arbor Trail, off I-275 and M-14, 25 minutes from Metro Airport, Ann Arbor, Detroit and Greenfield Village – Five minutes to Northville Downs Within walking distance of 150 unique shops, tree lined Kellogg Park and a movie theater – Banquet facilities up to 400 – Six meeting rooms – The Mayflower II rooms feature direct-dial phones, color TV, refrigerators, queen-size or double beds, individually controlled heating and cooling, Sprinkler system and smoke alarms – Deluxe rooms feature Kohler whirlpool bathtubs and king-sized beds

Below are some old images of the Hotel:

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46645 W. Ann Arbor Trail

20 Jul

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46645 W. Ann Arbor Trail. Built by Moses Allen in 1842. The property where this home was originally built was purchased by Moses Allen in 1829. Today the property that Moses Allen purchased and built this house on is now the Plymouth Township Park. Moses originally built a smaller one story home but in 1847 he sold the property to his Son John Allen. John added onto this house and expanded it to a larger two story house. John Allen passed away in 1872 but his family continued to live in the house into the early 1900’s. By the early 1970’s this home had become a run-down condemned structure. The original plan was to tear this house down and make way for the park. Doug Cash, a local landscaper felt that this home had historical significance and couldn’t imagine seeing this house become a pile of rubble. Doug offered to purchase this house from the Township but officials refused to sell it to him and had hired a company to tear it down. Because the Township hired a company to demolish or remove this house, Mr. Cash offered the company money to not tear down the home and have it moved to property he purchased right across the street. Doug was met with several obstacles from the Township who wanted to see the home disappear. Mr. Cash went to Lansing and recruited the help of the State Historical Society to save the home. After fighting through several obstacles with local government, Doug finally prevailed and invested so much of his time and money to not only save this home but to also restore this house and make it into the wonderfully preserved house that it is today.

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711 Ann Arbor Trail

6 Dec

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711 Ann Arbor Trail. Built Circa 1889 by Charles Miller. This Tudor Revival style house is most known for serving as the home and office of Doctor Luther Peck. Doctor Peck was born in 1880 and moved to Plymouth in 1904. He originally lived in a home that once stood at the South East corner of Ann Arbor Trail and Deer Street. This home sits at the South West corner of that that same intersection. Doctor Peck purchased this home in 1920 and passed away here in his house in 1963. Luther was known for being a colorful physician and there are still members of our community that can claim that he brought them into this world. Although this house has seen many modern changes, it still retains the original structure that sits on a stone foundation. Today this home is used for commercial purposes.

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1279 W. Ann Arbor Trail

1 Jul

1279 W. AnnArbor Trail. Built by Timothy Moss in 1827. Although it’s seen some major modifications, this is one of Plymouth’s oldest homes. This house was renovated in the 60’s to it’s current appearance.

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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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