Why make the perilous 6-9 week journey over the Atlantic to an unfamiliar country, to a remote farm in Livingston County in the early 1800? Military conscription, political unrest and the hope of owning ones own land prompted many from Germany to begin anew in America; even to the extent of leaving family ties behind.How […]
“Arent you two ready yet? Ive got old Brownie hitched to the cutter. If we dont hurry itll be dark before we get back. I dont want to have to be on he lookout for wolves,” Papa teased. “Papa, Bonnies putting on her mittens and Im tying Elmers scarf so itll cover his ears. Dont […]
Today one is accustomed to paying several hundred dollars a year for automobile insurance. Today one recognizes the need for liability limits of $100,00 or more. Today one is aware the purchase of a new and more expensive auto will mean an increase in ones insurance costs and to top it off there is the […]
The 1915 map of Brighton village indicates an A.C. Stewart elevator on the west side of the railroad tracks, across from the depot. Why would one find an elevator in such a location? In 2008 parlance an elevator moves between floors of a multi-story building. In 1915, an elevator also moved items between floors; beans […]
The Brighton Argus, August 28, 1907, reported: ” The 1907 Homecoming was the biggest time we ever had” and “Friends who had not seen each other for years were brought together to laugh and weep for joy”. Visitors arrived each day by railroad, by horse and buggy and by horse and wagon. Many had not […]
A walk north on the east side of Grand River, in 1870, brought one past the Brighton Hotel (lots 47-48), noting the large barn to the east along East Fitch Street. The M.L. Case store (lot 49) is adjacent, bordering the Martin Wickes store (lot 50) and DuBois blacksmith shop (lot 51). After crossing Mill Street […]
The history of Crooked Lake, along with that of all the SE section of Michigan, properly begins about 30,000 years ago when the last glacier slowly retreated, leaving in huge heaps the enormous amount of material it had scoured off the Laurentian Range in Canada. These heaps left hit or miss over this area, penned […]
Ben Cushing built the Brighton Hotel on the NE corner of Grand River and Main Street, in 1850, at the time of the completion of the planked toll road connecting Detroit with the newly built capital at Lansing. A continual procession of teams and vehicles traversed the road in both directions. Brighton at the half […]
THE DATE: May 30, 1884 – THE PLACE: The Brighton Village Cemetery alive with the flutter of small American flags placed at each veterans grave. THE PEOPLE: School children standing quietly, dressed in their finest; soldiers and veterans, hats in hand, heads bowed and other residents of the area, all in reverent attention as the […]
To commemorate the recent progress in the restoration of the old building, it was felt that a summary of the work of the Society’s Old Town Hall Restoration Committee and a short review of the building’s history was appropriate. The Society has been conducting fund raising projects to restore the Hall for future use as […]
