On Court Tower Boulevard 0.1 miles west of County Center Drive East, on the right when traveling west.
August “Gus” Scholle then president of the Michigan AFL-CIO, was troubled by the fact that his Oakland County State Senate District in 1958 held more than 12 times the number of persons than an outstate district — yet each district elected one . . . — — Map (db m205909) HM
On Woodward Avenue (State Highway 1) at Judson Street, on the right when traveling south on Woodward Avenue.
No location has been more vital to the development of modern highways
and the automobile. Built along the Native American Saginaw Trail, Woodward Avenue in the 1800s was the most important pathway of growth between Detroit and . . . — — Map (db m234986) HM
On Cesar E Chavez Avenue at Adelaide Street, on the right when traveling south on Cesar E Chavez Avenue.
This was the home of Moses Wisner and his wife, Angeolina Hascall. From 1859 to 1861 Wisner served Michigan as governor. He was born in New York, came to Michigan in 1837 and shortly established a successful law practice. In 1844 he purchased this . . . — — Map (db m174270) HM
On Nine Mile Road 0.2 miles east of Novi Road, on the right when traveling east.
In 1836, Benajah Aldrich set aside one half acre of his farm for burial purposes. His brother-in-law, Henry Knapp, was the first to be buried here. Most of the burials took place in the 19th century.
The Victorian symbol for grief, the . . . — — Map (db m165022) HM WM
On East Walled Lake Drive at Witherall Street, on the left when traveling west on East Walled Lake Drive.
What is a watershed?
A watershed is an area of land that drains into a common body of water such as a stream, river, lake, or groundwater—in this case, the Detroit River. Walled Lake drains 4 square miles and is situated in the . . . — — Map (db m164705) HM
On North Telegraph Road (U.S. 24) near County Center Drive East, on the right when traveling north.
On Tuesday morning, September 1 1, 2001 , as the nation watched the horror of three terrorist attacks upon our country, a sense of disbelief, vulnerability, and anger enveloped the American people. At the same time, an overwhelming desire to respond . . . — — Map (db m190361) WM
On Haven Road 1.2 miles south of Highland Road (Michigan Highway 59).
It was an expression of new wealth and mobility
created by the early automobile industry. Twenty years after his father founded Ford Motor Company in 1903, Edsel Ford began buying the hilly property that became his family's rural retreat . . . — — Map (db m99106) HM
The area known as Rochester was settled in 1817 by James Graham. It was the first permanent settlement in present-day Oakland County. The community was named in honor of Rochester, New York, where many of its pioneer settlers once lived. In 1819 . . . — — Map (db m137749) HM
On State Highway 25 0.5 miles south of State Highway 46, on the right when traveling south.
This Second Empire style mansion was built in the 1870s by Doctor Joseph Loop. A native of New York, Loop moved to Oakland County, Michigan, in 1843. He and his wife, Jane Gardner Loop pioneered this land in Sanilac County in 1854, and after . . . — — Map (db m88892) HM
On Letica Drive north of Romeo Street, on the right when traveling north.
Side 1
The first burial here occurred in 1825 for Michael Van Wagoner Sr. His grave remains unmarked; however, in 1978 a monument was erected in his honor. Some of the township's most illustrious residents are buried here: Stony Creek . . . — — Map (db m134443) HM
On West Lake Street (U.S. 23) 0.1 miles north of Whittemore Street, on the left when traveling north.
Erected 1923 by the citizens
of the county to commemorate
the organization in 1840
of Iosco County
and the establishing in 1856
of the first Post Office in the
county with Gideon O. Whittemore
as Postmaster.
“History . . . — — Map (db m121979) HM
On West Twelve Mile Road at Rudgate Boulevard, on the right when traveling west on West Twelve Mile Road.
Pennsylvania native Samuel Davis settled on this site in 1855. In 1886 Samuel and his wife, Susan Graft Davis, built this Italianate house on their 299-acre farm. The Davises engaged in general farming and raised stock, and were among Oakland . . . — — Map (db m160571) HM
Near Diversion Street south of First Street/Mill Street, on the right when traveling south.
In March 1879, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW)—Michigan Air Line Division made its way to Rochester. This rail line eventually extended from Jackson to Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Rochester, and on to Richmond for a total distance of 106 . . . — — Map (db m160442) HM
Main Street has always been the lifeblood of any town. Rochester's Main Street (also known as Rochester Road or M-150) has seen a number of different modes of transportation like horses and buggies, electric streetcars, automobiles, bicycles and . . . — — Map (db m179744) HM
On Oak Street west of Hazelwood Street, on the right when traveling west.
Side 1
The oldest section of Greenwood Cemetery comprises land purchased from the federal government by Dr. Ziba Swan of Albany, New York, in 1821. The first interments on the one-half-acre parcel set aside by Swan for a cemetery occurred . . . — — Map (db m140346) HM
On Court Tower Boulevard 0.1 miles west of County Center Drive East, on the right when traveling west.
The Courthouse
The first Oakland County courthouse, built about 1824, was located on the corner of Saginaw and Huron Streets on land given by the Pontiac Company. The log first story housed the jail, while the frame second story was occupied by . . . — — Map (db m174281) HM
On Crooks Road 1.1 miles east of Woodward Avenue (Michigan Highway 1), on the right when traveling south.
Saginaw Trail
The Saginaw Trail, running from Detroit to Saginaw through Pontiac and Flint, was originally an Indian trail. In 1816 Michigan territorial government authorized the building of a road from Detroit to Saginaw along the trail. . . . — — Map (db m33001) HM
On Eight Mile Road (State Highway 102) at Woodward Avenue (State Highway 1), on the right when traveling west on Eight Mile Road.
During the 1950s, as Oakland County's population soared, the corner of Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue became the most congested crossroad in Michigan. The solution, envisioned in a plan created by Detroit and its surrounding counties in the . . . — — Map (db m31894) HM
On Pontiac Drive 0.2 miles west of Orchard Lake Road, on the right when traveling west.
In 1817, Michigan surveyors left their mark, right nearby.
Before Michigan became a state, it was part of the Northwest Territory. To map this unknown terrain, our young federal government dispatched survey crews, to mark off township . . . — — Map (db m173662) HM
Few one-room schoolhouses have survived in Michigan.
This one was built in 1873 at a site several miles to the west of Northville, on Currie Road south of 8 Mile in Salem Township. It takes its name from serving students from both Washtenaw . . . — — Map (db m174554) HM
Andrew was born on July 25, 1830, in Oakland County, Michigan, one of seven children, and was reared on a farm. His father, William, had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Andrew attended the University of Michigan, and . . . — — Map (db m58201) HM
On West Circle Drive near Beal Street, on the left when traveling west.
Alfred (Al) H. Goldner (Class of 1941) an avid horticulturist, and
Jean Walsh, a student in related arts with a passion for color and
textures, met while both were attending Michigan State University.
They married in 1941. While attending . . . — — Map (db m264002) HM
On Elizabeth Street south of East 2nd Street, on the right when traveling south.
A flour mill was built on the other side of Paint Creek on Mill Street in 1823, and converted to a paper mill in 1857.
The mill was destroyed in 1875 by a fire started by a disgruntled employee. Owner William Barnes rebuilt the structure with a . . . — — Map (db m179655) HM
On Couurt Tower Boulevard at County Center Drive East, on the right when traveling west on Couurt Tower Boulevard.
Elizabeth is recognized as the first African American to purchase land in Oakland County.
Born around 1786 to an enslaved family in what would later become Macomb County, she was nicknamed "Lisette." At age twenty-one, she escaped to Canada . . . — — Map (db m256912) HM
Roy was born in a corner house on Woodward and Pine Street in Rochester to Frank and Martha Rewold. Raised on Ludlow Street, Avon Park became Roy's backyard; swimming in the creek in the summer and skating on the pond in the winter.
. . . — — Map (db m118610) HM
Near West Twelve Mile Road, on the right when traveling west.
This home, an outstanding example of cut-stone Greek Revival architecture, was constructed in 1837--the year Michigan achieved statehood--by John Dallas Harger, who came to Oakland County from Niagara, N. Y.
A son, Oscar Seeley Harger, . . . — — Map (db m160779) HM
On Grand River Avenue 0.2 miles west of Novi Road, on the left when traveling west.
This sign marks the location of the original Grand River Avenue Bridge traversing what was formerly the Pere Marquette Railway line. The bridge, built by the Michigan State Highway Department (now the Michigan Department of Transportation), took . . . — — Map (db m164920) HM
On East Pike Street at South Saginaw Street, on the left when traveling west on East Pike Street.
Pontiac was one of Michigan's first cities to develop outside of Detroit however fire consumed much of its core in 1840. The downtown was rebuilt and made more permanent with use of brick and limestone. The richness of building styles that . . . — — Map (db m174257) HM
On Court Tower Boulevard 0.1 miles west of County Center Drive East, on the right when traveling west.
Oakland County Equal Suffrage Assn. organized May 9, 1912 at former courthouse in Pontiac to actively campaign for Women’s right to vote. — — Map (db m205904) HM
On Woodward Avenue at Whittemore Street, on the right when traveling north on Woodward Avenue.
St. Vincent de Paul parish, established in 1851 by Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere, once included all of Oakland County and parts of Genesee, Lapeer and Macomb Counties. The parish’s first house of worship, the Academy Building, was first a private . . . — — Map (db m174290) HM
On East Main Street north of Adrian Street, on the left when traveling south.
The intersection of Main and Adrian Streets is considered the "heart" of downtown Manchester, and the first commercial buildings were constructed here in 1832-1833.
Why is Manchester Located . . . — — Map (db m206190) HM
On Cloverdale Avenue near Glen Lodge Road, on the right when traveling east.
Extensive population growth in Royal Oak Township spurred construction of the Ulysses S. Grant Elementary School in 1926. The Ferndale School District created mandatory attendance areas that relocated many of the Black students in the district to . . . — — Map (db m295506) HM
This 35-acre island in the center of Orchard Lake is a geological rarity: inland bodies of water as small as Orchard Lake seldom have islands as large as this. A variety of soils are found on the island and are different and more fertile than . . . — — Map (db m277512) HM
CIVIL WAR
Frederick Alber · Army · Germany
Frank Dwight Baldwin · Army · Manchester, MI
Frederick A. Ballen · Army · Germany
Charles L. Barrell · Army · Conquest, NY
Joseph E. Brandle · Army · Seneca Co. OH
James Isaac Christianey . . . — — Map (db m236267) WM
On West Maple Road east of Southfield Road, on the right when traveling west.
John West Hunter built this house in 1822 on Saginaw Street (Woodward). He was one of four original landowners in Birmingham. In 1819, Hunter's original crude log cabin was actually on Elijah Willits' property, this was his second house. The . . . — — Map (db m213083) HM
On North Commerce Road 0.2 miles south of East Commerce Road/West Wise Road.
Commerce United Methodist Congregation
A Methodist Episcopal class, which later became a church society, was organized in Commerce in 1838. For many years, it was part of the Farmington Circuit. The Reverend Daniel C. Jacokes was the . . . — — Map (db m99136) HM
It was a time of exciting change,
as the first automobiles tangled with horses and trolley cars in the streets and countryside. On June 23, 1902 a group of leading businessmen and industrialists came together at the Detroit . . . — — Map (db m105226) HM
On Waldon Road at Waldon Center Drive, on the right when traveling east on Waldon Road.
The landscape has created history
in Independence Township. For thousands of years, native tribal peoples
lived here, hunting and fishing among the dense forests and lakes. After the
township was formed in 1817, settlers first cleared the . . . — — Map (db m309726) HM
Near Waterloo-Pinckney Hiking Trail 0.2 miles north of North Territorial Road.
Did you know that all of Michigan was completely covered with ice 20,000 years ago? The glacial ice in our region was as much as one mile thick! As its enormous weight scraped across the ground, the glacier easily collected boulders, stone, . . . — — Map (db m243843) HM
Near Arrowhead Road 0.3 miles south of Pontiac Trail.
The lakes and landscape of Oakland County weren't ready
for the automobile in the early 1900s. Weekend visitors, in noisy "self-propelled" vehicles, churned up dust on unpaved roads and trespassed on private property. To . . . — — Map (db m105049) HM
Near Coolidge Highway at Rosemont Road, on the left when traveling south.
Leaders in the Berkley territory became keenly interested in becoming an incorporated village in the Spring of 1922, believing that more recognition could be received than if the district remained unincorporated. Officials advocated incorporation . . . — — Map (db m96229) HM
A former railroad corridor, the West Bloomfield Trail Network stretches 4.25 miles through West Bloomfield, Orchard Lake, Keego Harbor and Sylvan Lake.
The West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation Commission bought it from the Grand Trunk . . . — — Map (db m105288) HM
On Woodrow Wilson Boulevard 0.1 miles north of Depew Drive, on the right when traveling south.
The West Bloomfield Trail was once a railbed of the Grand Trunk Railroad, built through the region in the 1880s to serve far-flung agriculture and industry. The light rail electric trolley track that was built in 1899 is noticeable at Cass Lake . . . — — Map (db m174210) HM
On Bagley Street 0.1 miles south of Wessen Street, on the right when traveling north.
Horses did all the work in Pontiac's early days.
By 1850, several builders of "horse-drawn" vehicles — wagons and carriages — had workshops around Lawrence Street, using wood cut at lumbermills powered by the Clinton River. Carriage-makers . . . — — Map (db m174213) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.
