1071 N. Holbrook

5 Sep

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1071 N Holbrook. Built in 1898. This home is one of just a handful of houses in Plymouth’s Old Village that was built of all brick. This home was built by one of the very first successful business owners in this part of town. Andrew Jackson Lapham owned a substantial portion of the block bordered by Holbrook, Wilcox, Pearl and N Mill Streets and at one time had two store structures and two homes on his land. This home had replaced the wooden house that Andrew built in 1873. Lapham’s General store was very popular in the late 1800’s because of its close proximity to the Plymouth Mill, the Phoenix Mill and Gunsolly Mill. Growers would trade in their raw materials at the mills and head to Lapham’s to purchase all types of needed goods. Lapham’s also had an Ice house on the property where they would store ice that formed in Wilcox Lake in the winter and sell it through the year. In 1929 this home was deeded to Andrew’s Daughter Helen Shackleton and was kept in the family for many years.  Although it’s showing signs of its age being well over a century old, this home still stands strong and maintains a great deal of history within the walls of this structure. Today the old stores no longer stand on this property but other homes built by the Lapham & Shackleton family still exist in this part of town and descendants of Andrew still live here in town and surrounding areas.

Historic photo of this home, Lapham’s General Store and of Andrew Lapham provided by the Andrew’s Great Grand Daughter: Janet Millross Renwick. Photo below is Lapham’s General Store that was located on Holbrook right next to Andrew’s home. Look closely at the historic photo of the house and you can see the brick wall of the store. LaphamGenStoreHolbrookSt

Holbrook brick house (Lapham)

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412 Starkweather St

8 Aug

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412 Starkweather St. Built Circa 1880. This home was built by George Starkweather and was then deeded to his Mother-In-Law Mary Davis. In earlier years, Mary was active in the underground railroad and was one of the founding members of the Plymouth WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union). Mary was the Foster Mother of Amelia Heywood who married George Starkweather in 1865. After the passing of Mary Davis, the home was deeded to Amelia Starkweather. In 1973 this home was purchased by Robert (Bob) Puckett who kept this home well preserved and was used as the home of Puckett Plumbing, Heating & Cooling. Bob Puckett sadly passed in November of 2015. As of May of 2017 the home is being renovated by its new owners and will be used for both commercial and residential purposes. We are glad to see that this home will continue to be a great part of our Plymouth history for years to come.

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Historic Photo of Mary Davis from the Daniel Sabo Collection

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905 Penniman Ave

2 Aug

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905 Penniman. Built Circa 1886. This home stands at the South West corner of Penniman and Harvey Street. This place once served as the home of Nettie Dibble who lived here for several years from the 1920s up until her passing in 1944. Nettie was quite active in the community and also Authored “History of the Presbyterian Church in Plymouth” and “Historical Data of Plymouth Twp”. At one time this home was completely covered in siding which covered the brick work. In 1991 this home was remodeled and the siding was removed to reveal the hidden bricks by the current owners Dubois-Cooper Associates who now use this as a commercial office.

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498 Farmer Street

1 Aug

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498 Farmer St. Built in 1914. Originally the Alter Motor Car Company.Built right along train tracks, this factory sits right across the street from the Plymouth Cultural Center. Alter Motors built over 1000 cars from 1914-1916. At one time the factory employed 100 workers and produced 25 cars per day. This building was wonderfully restored inside and out by the current owners: the C.D. Sparling Company. To see the last known Alter Car, be sure to stop by the Plymouth Historical Museum where they have one of these great cars on display. For additional historical information about the Alter Motor Car Company, be sure to check out www.AlterMotorCar.com

Click the photos below to view a larger image: AlterCar2MenAlterCardAd

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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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Tibbitts Barn at 46225 N. Terriorial

29 Jun

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Where Plymouth “began”. This is a photo of the historic Tibbitts Barn located at 46255 N. Territorial Rd behind the home that was built by John Tibbitts circa 1826. This is “where it began”. Plymouth was first settled in 1824 and in 1827 the Town’s people met at the farmstead of John Tibbitts, they gathered in the barn and voted in the first town council and chose the name PLYMOUTH! It’s amazing to see that the current owner has put lots of work in preserving this wonderful piece of Plymouth’s history. Although difficult to see from North Territorial Rd, this photo was taken from the back of the property.

49970 W. Ann Arbor Rd

29 Jun

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49970 W. Ann Arbor Rd. Built in 1875 by Henry Root who grew up on this property. Henry’s father Roswell Root was one of Plymouth’s first Pioneers & played a significant role in Plymouth’s history by holding public office in Plymouth and having helped many of Plymouth’s earliest settlers thrive in our community.

311 Hamilton Street

11 Apr

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311 Hamilton Street. Built in 1878. Originally the home of Clarence Hamilton. Hamilton is known for building the first all metal air rifle and was one of the people who greatly influenced the history of Plymouth. Mr. Hamilton was an Inventor, an Engineer and businessman. Hamilton was the co-founder of the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company which became the Daisy Air Rifle Company by his urging and convinced the leadership to get into making BB Guns and the rest was history! Hamilton was the co-founder of Daisy, the Plymouth Air Rifle Company and the Hamilton Rifle Company. This street was once called Depot Street and was later renamed Hamilton Street in his honor.

Historic photo of Clarence Hamilton: ClarenceHamilton

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821 Penniman Ave

16 Mar

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821 Penniman Ave. Built in 1893. It’s hard to mistake this building when driving through downtown Plymouth considering that it’s one of the only historic 3 story brick buildings in town. The upper 2 floors once served as a hotel in the early years and the 1st floor originally was a General store then served as a number of different retail stores. For years the first floor served as Huston Hardware. In more recent history this building was home to the Community Crier newspaper. Today the top two floors are apartments but this structure is most known for being home to Sean O’Callahan’s Public House, a traditional style Irish Pub. It’s worth visiting this pub to take a step back into Plymouth’s past and though it may seem to be a strange recommendation, I would advise paying a visit to the restrooms on the lower level to see more of the original building materials such as the field stone foundation. When looking at historic photos this building once had a three sided brick facade (similar to a bay window effect) but was remodeled in the early 1900’s to a straight brick facade as we know it today. Check out O’Callahan’s web page at:  http://seanocallaghanspub.com/

Historic photo (below) of Penniman Ave taken circa 1923. If it wasn’t for the historic cars in the photo, this would almost seem to be a recent photo of Penniman Ave. The 3rd building from the left is the same building discussed in this post.Click on the photo to enlarge.

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1338 Penniman Ave

6 Mar

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1338 Penniman Ave at the intersection of Evergreen Street. Built in 1860 by Isaac M. Hoag. Isaac purchased the property that this home sits on from E.J. Penniman in 1858 and built this home for his family 2 years later. Mr. Hoag farmed this land and was a nurseryman. He actually operated a nursery from this home. If you look closely at the back of this residence, it appears to have a small house attached to the back side. It is believed that a small home was moved and added to the overall residence although it is unclear as to when this occurred or where the smaller structure was moved from. In the early 1900s more of the home’s property was slowly subdivided and additional homes were built around it. It was recorded that at one time this home had a number of large apple trees on the property.  In 1936 this home had been significantly remodeled by architect Thomas Moss. Although this Civil War era home has seen a number of occupants through the years, today it’s hard to miss this place when taking a cruise down Penniman and it’s easy to appreciate how well it’s survived.

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9101 McClumpha Road

27 Feb

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9101 McClumpha Road. Built circa 1851 by Ashley Harlow. This home has a unique history compared to most other Plymouth homes because of the fact that it was owned by descendants of the original builder for about 160 years and the property for even longer. In 1834 the property this house sits on was purchased by Ebenezer Harlow who farmed this land. Ebenezer’s Son Ashley purchased additional property and built this home circa 1851. Ashley’s Daughter married into the Tyler family and continued living here. The Tyler’s also had a Daughter (Mrs. Leon Scharmen) was born, raised and even got married in this house. The cycle continued up until 2012 when members of the Tyler family sold this home to the current owners. Although this home has been renovated through the years and has seen some current updates, this home still retains much of its original appearance from the outside as it did in the 1800s with the exception of the bay window. Old records state that the original posts and beams used to build this home are made of solid oak, so we hope to see this house still stand for another 160 plus years.

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865 Penniman Ave

27 Jan

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865 Penniman. Built circa 1879, This was once home to the Harry Robinson Family. Mr Robinson once served as a past President of the Village of Plymouth. Harry was a local business man and an auctioneer. The home now serves as commercial property.

Historic photo taken circa 1900

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340-380 South Main Street

18 Jan

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340-380 South Main Street. Built in 1951. Out of all the homes and structures we’ve posted, this building is the “youngest” of our Plymouth Discoveries but considering the historic significance of this piece of prime real estate in the heart of downtown Plymouth, we felt it only appropriate to do this post. Located directly across the street from Kellogg Park, this piece of property has seen its share of structures standing on this parcel of land. Throughout the 1800’s and into the early 1900’s there had been a number of businesses that stood here and were a big part of the Plymouth community. At one time there was even a Kroger that stood here. In 1951 the S.S. Kresge Company purchased the 4 buildings that had been standing in this spot and leveled them to build their department store. Kresge (the precursor to K-Mart) served post-war Plymouth for a number of years and left a number of memories for several members of this community. Today this building now serves as 3 restaurants owned by the Yaquinto family. Fiamma Grille, Comparis, and the Sardine Room. These restaurants have earned accolades from local food critics and were also featured on the show “Under the Radar Michigan”. When visiting Plymouth, check out these eateries for a distinctive dining experience.

Below we’ve included 2 photos of this same parcel of land on Main Street between Ann Arbor Trail & Penniman Ave

Below: Left – Photo of Kresge on S. Main Street circa 1953  Right– Photo of S. Main Street circa 1950

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11685 Haggerty Rd

16 Jan

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11685 Haggerty Rd. Built in 1911 was originally located on Main Street. This home served as the Manse (Parsonage) for the historic First Presbyterian Church located appropriately on Church Street. In 1937 this home was relocated to Church Street (on the Church’s property). By 1982 this home was no longer occupied, was in disrepair and was nearly considered for demolition until it was saved by Greg and Mary Ash who purchased it for $1.00 and had it moved to its current location. Of course Mr. & Mrs. Ash did a complete renovation of this home and it still stands as an attractive part of the Plymouth community. Special thanks to Bryce Ford who read about this one in Sam Hudson’s book “150th Anniversary History First Presbyterian Church” and brought it to our attention.

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860 Penniman Ave

2 Jan

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Construction of this Post Office began in 1935. On April 1st 1936 this branch known as the Pursell Station Post Office opened it’s doors to the public. This branch was closed in the Spring of 2014 and we are happy to announce this brief post about the future of this historic building. This Post Office was purchased by Plymouth Residents, Mark & Patty Malcolm who happen to also own other historic structures in Plymouth and are actively involved in the Plymouth Preservation Network … Meaning that we can only expect good things to happen with this piece of history. The Malcolms have signed a long-term lease with the Westborn Market to take residence here. There are also plans to restore the building and preserve much of it’s historical substance including a painted mural inside the building titled “Plymouth Trail” by Carlos Lopez who was commissioned to paint the mural by the U.S. Government in 1938.

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107 S. Main Street

2 Jan

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107 S. Main Street. Built in 1900. This property was purchased by William Hoyt in 1883, 7 years later he built this home (built in the eclectic prarie style) where his family lived until 1943. Today this home is used for commercial purposes.

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306 S. Main Street

21 Dec

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306 S. Main Street. Built in 1920. This Iconic Plymouth structure was originally built as the Plymouth United Savings Bank. There’s no missing this building when you’re in downtown Plymouth as it stands guard at the corner of Main and Penniman overlooking Kellogg Park. This bank was once run by some the most well known names in Plymouth’s history like: Bennett, Geer, Hough, Shearer, Starkweather, & Wilcox. This structure was built using solid materials like Limestone. This bank was built on the same spot where the old Coleman building once stood. This building operated as a bank until 1994 when it was sold. It has since seen a couple of different occupants and is currently home to the Greek Islands Restaurant.

Below is a photo from 1920 right after the construction of the bank, notice that the clock on the front hadn’t been installed yet.

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448 N. Sheldon Road

21 Dec

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Built in 1844. This historic farm house once belonged to the Durfee family as in the same Durfee kin that also owned the farm house that stands at the corner of Sheldon and Penniman (within a short walking distance) When looking at a late 1800’s map it appears that this house stood at the South West corner of a farm property that once extended North to Junction St and as far East as Harvey St. At one time this house even served as a Bed & Breakfast and the estate was even named Auburn.

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149 W. Liberty Street

5 Nov
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The structure on the left is 149 W. Liberty Street built Circa 1887. In 1885 this property belonged to William Markham who was famous in the Air Rifle Industry, that year he sold it to Peter Gayde who was a Plymouth business owner who happened to own a store just a few doors down. Peter Gayde purchased this property to build the structure you see today for his Son William. This building was originally the Butcher Shop of William Gayde which operated for several years. Peter passed away in 1901 and the deed was transferred into William’s name in 1909. This structure has seen a number of occupants through the years but today it’s now the home of Liberty Street Brewing and is well worth checking out. Even if you’re not a drinker, it’s a great piece of Plymouth History worth stopping in to see.Liberty Street Brewing Web Page: http://libertystreetbeer.com/about-us/

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