The first schoolhouse in Brighton was built in the Grand River Trail in 1837, east of Hope Street. The small log cabin was built prior to the organization of a school district, which seems to have not caused any problem to the residents, altho it seems to put the cart before the horse. (Another source […]
Valet parking has been around for a long time. Leo J. McQuade was doing it around the turn of the century. In an article written for The Good Old Days (Brighton Argus?) in 1975, he reminisced about his Saturday job as a youngster in Brighton. He worked at the Eastern House, N. E. corner Grand […]
The history of St. Pauls Episcopal Church dates from the 1830s when the Rev. Wm. A. Clark, D.D., rector of All Saints Church of New York City journeyed to the West and visited this part of the territory of Michigan. Being pleased with the area, he took up land in Brighton Township and moved his […]
Stephen Lee arrived in Green Oak Township from New York State in the fall of 1830. Benjamin Curtis and his family also arrived about the same time. In June, 1831, the Curtis family joined with the Lees at the Lee home (just south of town) and were led in a worship service by Rev. Moses […]
One of this countrys earliest ski jumping meets was held at Ishpeming, MI in 1892; the origin of the National Ski Association, 1904. A Norwegian immigrant, Mikkel Hall was living in Ishpeming when the first of six sons was born; Henry, February 27, 1893. At a very early age, on home-made barrel staves, he and […]
The first settlers in this area lived in a primitive manner. Any tools they used were brought with them. When axes became dull, plows would break or a horse had thrown a shoe, the need for a blacksmith was acutely obvious.
The 1880 census is the first that records the John Duckering family in Livingston County. By then they are well settled into their home on Pleasant Valley Rd., south of Hyne Road. The household includes John (38), his wife Emily (or Erma, 33) and four children, two boys and two girls ages 2-10. (Two more […]
Truman B. Worden is recorded as a First Land Owner in Genoa Township, Section 25, in the spring of 1835. The Genoa Township parcel included most of the lake, which now bears his name. He also purchased property in Brighton Township, Section 31. (However, he didnt live on that property; he apparently lived in a […]
The settlers who came to Michigan Territory in the early 1830s must all be considered entrepreneurs. They came with the intention of staying (in the wilderness), developing a livelihood and assuming all the risks, management, capital and labor. Many came because there was no future for them in the east. The most for which they […]
1787 saw the enactment of legislation by the new U. S. government, which formed the Northwest Territory. (States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.) By 1805 the Territory of Michigan was separated from the Northwest Territory as Ohio, Indiana and Illinois had been at earlier dates. When General Lewis Cass became governor of the Michigan […]
