Waterford Village, Michigan

Waterford Village, Michigan
Unincorporated Community
Waterford Village, Michigan

Location within the state of Michigan

Coordinates: 42°42′06.3″N 83°24′15.3″W / 42.701750°N 83.404250°W / 42.701750; -83.404250
Country United States
State Michigan
County Oakland
Township Waterford
Waterford Village Historic District
NRHP Reference # 79001167
Significant dates
Added to NRHP August 10, 1979[1]
Designated MSHS June 18, 1976 [2]

Waterford Village is an historic community in Waterford Township, Michigan. First settled in 1819, the village is located in the northernmost part of the township along Dixie Highway, on the southeast shore of Van Norman Lake.

History

In 1818, Alpheus Williams and his brother-in-law, Captain Archibald Phillips, entered the first land purchase for $2.00 an acre. Archibald Phillips and Alpheus Williams purchased 161.4 acres in what would become Waterford Village, Michigan.[3]

In 1819, Mr. And Mrs. Alpheus Williams, their four daughters and two sons, along with Captain Archibald Phillips and Major and Mrs. Oliver Williams, with their eight children, set out to settle Oakland County.

The Oliver Williams family established the first farm settlement in the county on the banks of Silver Lake.

Archibald Phillips and Alpheus Williams continued on northward about nine miles to where the Clinton River crossed the old Saginaw Trail. This area would become Waterford Village. Here the first house of the village was built by Alpheus Williams on the north bank of the river across from the south corner where Grand River Street met the Saginaw Trail. Williams and Phillips also built the first dam where the Clinton River crossed over the Saginaw Trail and erected the first saw mill there.

In 1844, Dr. George Williams (no relation to Alpheus or Oliver) built the first gristmill in Waterford on what later became Mill Street.[4]

Historic district

Waterford Village was designated a Michigan State Historic Site on June 18, 1976 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 10, 1979.[5]

Geographically, the historic district includes Dixie Highway, a block north and south of Andersonville Road, then Andersonville Road between Dixie Highway and Airport Road, then south on Airport Road to the railroad tracks.

Included in the historic district are the original houses and buildings on Dubay Street, Pontiff Street, and Steffens Street.

Main streets

Cemetery

In 1826, Waterford Village's first cemetery was deeded by Archibald Phillips to Governor Lewis Cass for burial purposes.

The first burial there was Olivere Williams (son of Alpheus Williams) who died at the age of 17 in 1820.

Alpheus Williams died July 9, 1828 at age 62 and his wife, Abigail, died September 5, 1826 at age 58. Both Alpheus and Abigail are buried there.[9]

Archibald Phillips died December 19, 1847, although his burial place is unknown.

The cemetery today is called the Waterford Village Cemetery. It is located at the end of Clipper Street off Dixie Highway.

There are forty-nine graves in the cemetery.[10] Buried in the Waterford Village Cemetery are:

Two graves are unknown and one gravestone is unreadable.

General store

The first store in the Village was the home of Alpheus Williams where he kept of few shelves of staples. After his death, the land exchanged hands many times. In 1837, Merrick and Bruce purchased it and built the first established store next to the original home of Alpheus Williams on the north bank of the Clinton River on Dixie Highway.[11] The store remained in operation for many years.

In 1857, Horace Huntoon and John Griffen built a general store in Waterford Village on the southwest corner of Andersonville Road and Dixie Highway (now 8799 Dixie Highway).

The general store had nine different proprietors between 1857 and 1927, including Horace Huntoon (b. 1831-d. 1897), John Griffen, Phineas Huntoon (b. 1827), John G. Owen (b. 1824-d. 1901), James R. Jones (b. 1858-d. 1933) and August V. Jacober (b. 1882-d. 1966), the last owner of the store.

The general store housed everything needed for the village and surrounding community. From dry goods and tools to certain foods, patent medicines, household utensils, fancy jewelry, material for clothing, shoes, hats, cracker barrels, and even hard candy and a small selection of toys.

The general store was the heart of the community. The store served as a meeting place for friends, who swapped stories and debated politics

The storekeeper knew the latest news and often served as the Justice of the Peace, and the Village Postmaster. In 1865, John G. Owen became the first postmaster in Waterford Village.[12] When zip codes were introduced in 1963, Waterford's zip code became 48095.


In 1927, Henry Ford purchased the store from August V. Jacober for $700. The store was moved and currently stands in Greenfield Village.[13][14]

Hotel

In 1841, Stephen Besley began construction on a hotel at 5805 Saginaw Trail (Dixie Highway). Besley sold the hotel to Daniel R. Lord who sold it to William Bradt, who named the hotel Bradt’s Exchange. The hotel was also named the Waterford Exchange, and the Waterford Hotel. It served as a stagecoach stop for over 60 years.

The hotel was demolished in 1970.[15]

Railroad

In 1850, the railroad was completed through Waterford. The original Waterford train depot was opened shortly after the railroad was completed. Built by the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway, a subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railroad, the depot stood on the northwest corner of the tracks on Depot Street (later called Airport Road).[16]

Because of the railroad, Waterford quickly became a summer resort community and drew large numbers of vacationers from Detroit and other cities along the railway line.[17]

The original depot was replaced with a new depot on the same location in the early 1900s. That depot burned down due to an electrical fire in November, 1979. It was never rebuilt.

Church

In 1869, a Methodist church[18] became the first church built in Waterford Village.[19] The church is still standing at 5860 Andersonville Road near Dixie Highway. It was renovated in 1976 after being purchased by Waterford Township.

Baseball

Michigan was one of the leading suppliers of men during the Civil War and many of those men went on to fight in battles in the East and South. While they were in service, they learned the east coast game of baseball (then spelled Base Ball) and brought it home with them.

Around 1887, Waterford Village started a baseball team. The team was named the Lah-De-Dahs.[20] They played other teams from Detroit, Dearborn, Mount Clemens and beyond. They would travel by the train to play their away games.[21]

The Lah-De-Dahs were reincarnated in the late 1900s as the Greenfield Village Lah-De-Dahs and play vintage base ball, wearing vintage uniforms, throughout the country today.[22]

School

In 1901, the first school was established in Waterford Village on Steffen Street and Andersonville Road. In 1910, the wooden school burned down but was rebuilt.[23]

In 1927, a two story brick building was built at 4241 Steffen Street.[24] The elementary school was renamed Waterford Village School.

In 2014, Waterford Village School, the oldest in Waterford Township, was closed. The Waterford School District has since turned the school into four preschool classrooms.

Tavern

In 1922, the Old Mill Tavern was built by Lois Dorman in Waterford Village.[25] It was located at 5828 Dixie Highway where the road crosses of the Clinton River. It was the most popular restaurant in Waterford Village for over a half century.

The tavern was destroyed by fire in 1982 and was never rebuilt.

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ http://focus.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/79001167
  2. ↑ http://www.michmarkers.com/
  3. ↑ http://waterfordhistoricalsociety.org/history/index.html
  4. ↑ http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/ARX1007.0001.001/37
  5. ↑ http://focus.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/79001167
  6. ↑ Dixie Highway Association (1922). Outline of the Dixie Highway (Map). Scale not given. Dixie Highway. Retrieved March 14, 2009
  7. ↑ Barnett, LeRoy (2004). A Drive Down Memory Lane: The Named State and Federal Highways of Michigan. Allegan Forest, MI: Priscilla Press. pp. 192–3. ISBN 1-886167-24-9.
  8. ↑ file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/waterfordvillage.pdf
  9. ↑ https://waterfordmi.gov/824/Waterford-Township-Historical-Timeline
  10. ↑ http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/tsphoto/oakland/waterfordvlg.htm
  11. ↑ http://www.waterfordhistoricalsociety.org/history/index.html
  12. ↑ http://www.waterfordhistoricalsociety.org/
  13. ↑ http://www.playle.com/listing.php?i=HOMERBOB26724
  14. ↑ http://waterfordhistoricalsociety.org/history/index.html
  15. ↑ http://waterfordhistoricalsociety.org/
  16. ↑ file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/waterfordvillage.pdf
  17. ↑ https://waterfordmi.gov/824/Waterford-Township-Historical-Timeline
  18. ↑ https://waterfordmi.gov/824/Waterford-Township-Historical-Timeline
  19. ↑ http://waterfordhistoricalsociety.org/
  20. ↑ http://patch.com/michigan/dearborn/greenfield-villages-vintage-baseball-team-prepares-for-20th-season
  21. ↑ http://www.grandhotel.com/grand-hotel-to-host-the-michigan-central-series/
  22. ↑ https://www.thehenryford.org/current-events/calendar/historic-base-ball-games/
  23. ↑ http://www.theoaklandpress.com/social-affairs/20140321/waterford-board-of-education-oks-closing-4-elementary-schools
  24. ↑ http://waterfordhistoricalsociety.org/history/index.html
  25. ↑ https://waterfordmi.gov/824/Waterford-Township-Historical-Timeline
  26. ↑ https://rockhall.com/inductees/bob-seger/
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