Skills, quality and leadership came naturally
to the Fisher brothers. By the time they formed Fisher Body Company in Detroit in 1908, they had adapted their carriage-making to the needs of automobile bodies and were ready for early . . . — — Map (db m174262) HM
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 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
Pontiac was ready to become a "motor city."
By the early 1900s, the city was a leading carriage manufacturing center and its low wages, skilled workforce and many production facilities attracted early automotive manufacturing companies. In . . . — — Map (db m174280) HM
Inventive and competitive people were drawn to Pontiac, or inspired here, by the city's industrial culture in the late 1800s and early 1900s. And in patent drawings they left a record of their ideas and contributions. In the galloping world of . . . — — Map (db m174253) HM
Before loan money was available,
the early market for automobiles was limited in Pontiac and elsewhere. Car dealers couldn't afford inventories of more than a few vehicles and many people couldn't afford to buy cars at all. By offering . . . — — Map (db m175272) HM
He went from strength to strength when the need for vehicle bodies grew to an industrial scale. Oliver Joseph Beaudette learned woodcraft as a young apprentice in Michigan's logging frontier of Bay City before starting his carriage business in . . . — — Map (db m174288) HM
They stood together through good times and bad, and the members of United Automobile Workers (UAW) Local 594 in Pontiac built GMC Truck's reputation for fine trucks, coaches and military vehicles. Born in 1938 from worker discontent, Local 594 . . . — — Map (db m174276) HM
In 1825 Elizabeth Denison, “a woman of colour,” purchased 48.5 acres of land from Pontiac’s founder, Stephen Mack, agent of the Pontiac Company. She became Pontiac’s first black property owner, but never lived on the property. In 1827 she and her . . . — — Map (db m174223) HM
This Church, Michigan’s oldest Baptist Church, was begun in 1821 by a small band of pioneers who came to Pontiac through the forest and swamp from Mount Clemens. In 1824 the Reverend Elkanah Comstock became the church’s first pastor. The . . . — — Map (db m174228) HM
As early as 1820 itinerant Methodist preachers came to Pontiac, and in 1828 a society was organized by the Reverend William T. Snow in the home of Ira Donelson. The small group later met in a school and the courthouse until it was able in 1842 to . . . — — Map (db m174222) HM
Organized February 26, 1824, by four men and nine women under the leadership of Missionary Eldad Goodman at John Voorheis’ home in Bloomfield Township, the congregation met during its early years in Pontiac and for a time in Auburn. In 1844, a brick . . . — — Map (db m174268) HM
Built between 1845 and 1930, this neighborhood of 93 structures retains a turn-of-the-century appearance with its mix of Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Stick style and Colonial Revival architecture. During Michigan’s early period of . . . — — Map (db m174286) HM
Pontiac began as one of Michigan's first inland settlements, and the first road cut through the wilderness to connect Detroit with Pontiac was completed in 1822. In 1831, French traveler Alexis de Tocqueville took this road all day from Detroit, . . . — — Map (db m174278) HM
They built this city.
An exodus of people left southern America for the north in the early 20th Century, attracted by the explosive growth in the automobile industry. Many cam to Pontiac for jobs in the auto plants, and many others brought . . . — — Map (db m175586) HM
This planting is dedicated to the memory of Helena Sexauer known affectionately as “The Tree Lady”. She worked for the beautification of her community and the improvement of the environment. During the 1970's Helena was responsible for saving and . . . — — Map (db m240323) HM
Our roads are more than bold lines on a map. They are stories of human experience that inspire some of the most creative minds of our time. Telegraph Road, Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road have become characters in popular culture, . . . — — Map (db m174279) HM
How do you explain what happened in Pontiac?
Around 1900, its carriage industry was thriving, so people already knew how to make wheeled vehicles. But when things became motorized, Pontiac grew into a sparking engine of ideas and . . . — — Map (db m174215) HM
It has been a force in America for the last hundred years, still accounting for a fifth of all American manufacturing. Where there once were hundreds of automobile manufacturers in the United States by 1913 almost 80 percent of all cars were . . . — — Map (db m174283) HM
Workers in Pontiac handled the fires of furnacesto cast parts for the dynamic automobile industry. In the mid-1920's, the Wilson Foundry & Machine Company on the south side of Pontiac was the largest automotive foundry in the world. To meet . . . — — Map (db m174265) HM
In 1861 the Reverend Augustus Green organized Oakland County’s first African American church. Services were held in homes, in a church basement and in a schoolhouse. In 1868 they incorporated as Newman African Methodist Episcopal Church, named for . . . — — Map (db m174220) HM
It was a mark of achievement to build a home on or near Franklin boulevard in the late 1800s. Lawyers, bankers, doctors and publishers lived along this beautiful "Boulevard of Roses." Here also were leaders in Pontiac's thriving carriage-making . . . — — Map (db m174284) HM
Pontiac has no shortage of talented folks
and they are honored at their time of rest. The highest point of land in Pontiac was selected as the village cemetery in 1822 and from 1840 a long line of accomplished individuals have been buried at . . . — — Map (db m174236) HM
(Front): On June 1, 1822, the Pontiac Company gave the citizens of Pontiac the first land for a village cemetery. It was "to be occupied and used forever as a burying ground." In 1839, when Captain Hervey Parke was employed by the village to . . . — — Map (db m174237) HM
In Honor of All From
Oakland County
Who Have Served In
The War On Terror
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom
Never Forget Those Who Have Made
The Ultimate Sacrifice — — Map (db m174209) WM
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
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
It's the "hub of the wheel."
Pontiac was named for the venerable Native American Chief Pontiac of the Odawas and always has been in the center of things. It became Oakland County's seat in 1820, was a carriage-making powerhouse later that . . . — — Map (db m174263) HM
In loving memory
of Union Veterans
of The Civil War
1861 * 1865
* * *
Erected by
Frances C. Butterfield
Tent No. 9 Daughters of Union Veterans
1927 Loyalty — — Map (db m26703) HM
This plaque is issued by the
Historical Society of Michigan
In Recognition Of
Pontiac
Public Library
Founded in 1882
For more than 100 years of Providing continuous service to the people of Michigan
And for contributing to the . . . — — Map (db m174238) HM
Good fortune multiplied in Pontiac
with vehicle manufacturing beginning in the early 20th Century. The automotive sector is especially known for creating many other jobs too. Assembly operations naturally led to companies that provided parts . . . — — Map (db m174216) HM
Pontiac was the world's capital of coach manufacturing and United Automobile Workers (UAW) Local 594 was the largest truck and coach union local in the world. General Motors (GM) began building coaches in Pontiac as early as 1928 and Local 594 . . . — — Map (db m174277) HM
Remarkable changes were on the horizon Albert North and Harry Hamilton relocated their Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works to larger premises in 1899 to boost their output of carriages, wagons and springs. Within a few years they were also assembling . . . — — Map (db m174285) HM
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
At the start, everything has to be right.
Rigorous testing and refinement of design, engineering and build processes is needed before going to full production since difficulty in making changes multiplies as mass production increases. Testing . . . — — Map (db m174214) HM
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
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
"The Corner" was an intersection of people
who came for jobs offered by the explosive growth of Pontiac's automobile industry. In the early 1900s, large numbers of mostly-rural Southerners settled near factories on the southwest side of the . . . — — Map (db m175369) HM
This memorial is
dedicated to the
men and women Of Pontiac who
served their country in this war
and in grateful memory of those
who made the supreme gift — — Map (db m180064) WM
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
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
The Chimes That Sound
From The Organ And Tower
Of This Church Were Installed
By The Members Of This Parish
In Memory Of The Following Sons
And Daughters Of The Parish Who
Died in World War II 1941-1945.
Robert T. Archambeau · Cletus . . . — — Map (db m184110) WM
