Tag Archives: Plymouth

Welcome to Plymouth MI Discoveries!

4 Jul
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Jim, Andrea, Ava, Alicia, & Aaron

This page is committed to sharing the history and facts of historical structures and homes in Plymouth, Michigan. This page is dedicated to the past and present residents of Plymouth. As a Plymouth resident, my family is Proud of the richness of history, the great schools, and the great people of this wonderful community. After a visit to the Plymouth Historical Museum, we became very interested in the homes and structures around town and the history behind them. In the spring of 2012 we started a facebook page documenting our discoveries. In partnership with the Plymouth Historical Museum, we evolved to the creation of this page. Our goal is to raise awareness of the rich history of Plymouth and to showcase to the world the great community we live in. Our posts only scratch the surface of the extensive stories behind each structure and we can only hope it will encourage the community to learn more and appreciate Plymouth history. We also hope that our page helps encourage the preservation of structures that hold much of the great history of Plymouth. We invite the public abroad to pay a visit to our wonderful community and to stop by the Plymouth Historical Museum located at 155 S. Main Street, Plymouth, MI 48170 Phone Number: (734) 455-8940.

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169 Adams Street – Historic Conner Hardware

4 Jul

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ConnerOnMain169 Adams Street. (modern photo shown) This home appears to be simply another older home that sits in a well-established neighborhood. Well, it’s a home with a “past” unlike most houses. Back in the 1850’s Plymouth did not have an actual hardware store. Michael Conner was the first proprietor of such an establishment. Conner hardware was located on Main Street near the corner of Sutton Street (now Penniman Ave). Conner’s became a popular place for folks to gather, sit on the porch and discuss the latest news and gossip. Mr. Conner loved to discuss political matters with the townspeople and had even served as the Village President. In 1884 Michael Conner built a new store. In 1896 Michael had passed away and his son William Conner (who had served as the store manager) was now running the establishment. In 1898 William built the now iconic Conner building that sits at the North West corner of Main & Penniman (where Kilwin’s resides today). As for the old wooden structured store, the assumption was that it was razed and had become history. After doing some research at the Plymouth Historical Museum, I stumbled across some documentation showing that the hardware store was actually moved to 169 Adams Street and originally became the home of Mr & Mrs Farwell. Since the move, this structure has seen some significant changes but upon further inspection, its past becomes very apparent. So we are pleased to re-discover this great piece of Plymouth history!

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318-336 S. Main Street

1 Jul

318-336 S. Main Street was built in late 1893 after the “great fire” of 1893 eliminated most of the block. This is the Penniman Building, one of the most recognized structures in town which was built by Kate Penniman-Allen who was a very prominent figure in Plymouth. She was the Daughter of Ebenezer Penniman who was Plymouth’s first Congressman. Some of the most notable businesses in this building are Wiltse’s community pharmacy which has provided some of the best hometown service to this community for most of the 20th Century, 336 Main is a popular Martini Bar ( www.336Main.com ) and there are some great confections cooking at the Cupcake Station.

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1142 S. Main Street

1 Jul

1142 S. Main Street. Built in 1921. This is actually a “kit house” that was constructed by the Lewis Manufacturing Co. in Bay City. Originally the home of William Sutherland who was a Horticulturist also owned a large parcel of Plymouth land which was developed into the Sunshine Acres neighborhood. Sutherland Street was named in his honor. This home is listed on the registy of historical sites. http://detroit1701.org/Sutherland%20Bungalow.html

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1103 Penniman Ave

1 Jul

1103 Penniman. Built in 1895 by Michael Conner who was the owner of Conner Hardware. Michael also served as the Plymouth Village President. The Conner hardware building is located on the NW corner of Main & Penniman. Unfortunately Mr. Conner passed away in 1896 but his family continued to lived here for many years.

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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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280 S. Main Street

1 Jul

280 S. Main Street. Built in 1910 by Dr. Albert Patterson. This home was purchased in 1917 by Fred Schrader the Brother in-law of Dr. Patterson & was made into the Schrader Funeral Home. Schrader’s was one of the earliest funeral homes in Michigan and has had its doors open for business in Plymouth longer than any other business in town. This funeral home was ran by 3 generations of Schraders. This funeral home has served as the parlor to many well known names in Plymouth’s history.  http://www.schrader-howell.com/?page=ourhistory

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298 S. Main Street

1 Jul

298 S. Main Street. Built in 1898. The Conner Building was originally built as Conner’s Hardware Store. Additions were made in 1904 and in 1926. Michael Conner established Plymouth’s first harware store in the 1850’s. Today this Iconic building houses multiple shops & offices such as Kilwin’s, a great place to treat yourself!  https://www.kilwins.com/plymouth

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Below is a photo of Penniman Ave and Main Street where you can see how Conner Hardware appeared in the 1940s.

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233 S. Main Street

1 Jul

233 S. Main Street. Built in 1875. This home was built by Henry W. Baker who once served as President of Daisy Air Rifle. This home is on the National Register of Historic Places is used today for commercial purposes.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_W._Baker_House

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48760 North Territorial

1 Jul

48760 N. Territorial Rd. Built in the 1840’s. This home was originally located on South Main Street but was relocated in 1971 by Marion Sober. This was also the residence of the Robert Birch Family that lived in this home until 1932.Image

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134 N Main Street

1 Jul

134 N. Main, originally the home of James & Mary Park. Built in 1882. This later became home to Charlie Bennett, president of Daisy Manufacturing Co (1920-56) This home is now used for commercial purposes

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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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