Farmington Historic District

Farmington Historic District was the core of the settlement of Farmington, a Quaker community in the state. Three Indian trails met in Farmington, and when the white settlers came, their own main roads, the north-south Orchard Lake Trail and the east-west Shiawassee and Grand River Trails, followed these trails. By the 1820s settlers migrated into the Michigan Territory along these trails, while the Indians ceded vast areas to the government. The government made the land available on attractive financial terms to those who would settle. To persons living in the settled eastern seaboard states, the opportunities to acquire more extensive holdings in the west had a special appeal. Such circumstances aroused the intense interest of Arthur Power. Power, a successful farmer living in Farmington, New York, had a large family who shared his interest in the western country. Power came here in 1823 to look over the territory. He purchased a large tract extending from what is presently Eleven Mile and Power roads to about Nine Mile Road. This acreage was in quarter section parcels in Sections, 22, 27 and 28. He returned to New York and prepared to move his permanent residence here. The members of the Society of Friends played a key role in the settlement of several Michigan communities. The Friends opened a school in Farmington in 1828. In 1832, Power gave the land for the meeting house and the Quaker Cemetery, located west on Gill Road. This industrious group provided the nucleus around which the present city and township developed. Between 1824 and 1826 the village grew. There were at least three churches, a school and two taverns. There were also several merchants, an undertaker, a small foundry and a potash plant for making soap. There were several dairies and cheese factories, the latter remained in existence until after World War II. There were at least four lumber and grist mills along the creek, two owned by Power. Remains of these mill sites can still be seen today. By 1826, the location of the village was definitely established. It ran along Shiawassee and centered at the intersection of Farmington Road. It extended east approximately to the present day Farmington Junior High School, and west to Oakwood Cemetery on Grand River Avenue.

The Farmington Historic District is triangular in shape. Eighty percent of the district is comprised of domestic buildings; twenty percent is comprised of commercial buildings. Dating from the 1840s, the structures are the core area of the settlement of Farmington. The architecture of the district is varied with a preponderance of farm houses and modest Greek Revivals. The Michigan farmhouse style was fairly typical in this area of the Northwest Territory. The style is generally characterized by a main upright and an abutting wing, perhaps added when the family's needs dictated and its money permitted. The roofline of the wing usually directly opposed the roofline of the main upright. An example is the house at 23609 Warner Street, dating from 1869. This modest farmhouse has changed only slightly. The porch may be part of the original but was probably added later. Farmington's many examples of Greek Revival architecture are modest. The small house at 33436 Shiawassee was built in 1844 by Dr. Alanson Hudson, a noted early physician in Farmington. The one-and-one-half story house is in its original state except for a small addition to the rear. The gable end facing the street received a typical Greek Revival door treatment of pilasters, entablature and sidelights. The house at 33601 Shiawassee, built about 1860, combines Greek Revival design with Victorian influences. Side panes, corbels and pilasters flank the doorway; elaborate window hoods and a round window in the gable decorate the facade. At the opposite west end of the main business section, one of the more prominent properties is the Governor's Mansion. The symmetrically arranged block shaped house topped by a low hipped roof, coupled eave brackets and cupola, was built in 1867. Large-paned windows with leaded upper sashes and the porch were added about 1900. The original owner was Mr. P. Dean Warner, prominent citizen of early Farmington and father of Honorable Fred M. Warner, Governor of Michigan, 1900-1906. This home was occupied by Governor Warner and his family during his years as Governor, a public figure, and a leading Farmington businessman and industrialist. The only remaining Mansard house in the city is at 33306 Oakland. Altered considerably after a move in the late 1940s, the house exhibits the unmistakable Mansard roof with the dormer windows arranged neatly around the building. Certainly most imposing is the Old Town Hall, now officially the Masonic Temple. The building, completed in 1876, was reportedly designed and built by Johnson S. Prall, a Pontiac builder. This two-story building, 30 x 60' in plan, was completed for a sum of $4,300. The building was modified in 1915 with an addition to the south side of the building. In 1966 it received a new entrance and general renovations to reinforce the structure and adapt it for use by the Farmington Mason Lodge. The towers, corbels, arched doorways and dormers reflect the Victorian influence with the mansard roof in patterned slate, and high windows in French Renaissance style, all still intact. Older but far less auspicious, is the building across the street from the Town Hall. For the casual viewer, the upper story is all that remains intact. Gladys' Beauty Shop, immediately adjacent, is part of what was once a very old structure, most of which was lost in the renovation of the adjacent Shoe Shop. A portion of Farmington's architecture of the late nineteenth century includes simple two story frame residences, picturesque in appearance, with minimal classic detail. Early twentieth century houses are interspersed throughout the district. The district's residential section remained most stable, unlike the business district and houses in the downtown area along Grand River east of Farmington Road. Heeney Sundquist Funeral Home illustrates this problem, being a major visual intrusion to the district. The property had its beginnings in the mid-1800s. Although many additions and changes have been made throughout the years, remnants of the original one-story design may be detected through the rough rock foundation and the mortised hand-hewn beams. In 1886 the property was sold to the first in a continuing line of funeral directors who have since owned the property. In the early 1900s the second story was added, and in 1936, 1945, 1955 further additions were made to the building. Colonial and Greek Revival details have been added throughout the years. Farmington appears much as it did in the nineteenth century with the majority of the houses occupied by single families. Under the State enabling legislation, a local historic district has been established.