Sheldon Inn

Built circa 1825 the Sheldon Inn is of outstanding historical importance as one of the earliest inns established on the state's pre-eminent early highway. When it was built, there was virtually nothing west of it all the way to the Indiana line and Chicago. Situated on Michigan Avenue just to the east of the junction of that highway with Sheldon Road and Geddes Road, the former South Territorial Road, it became the focal building of Sheldon Corners, a crossroads hamlet which grew up around it. The inn was originally the home of Timothy and Rachel Sheldon, immigrants from New York State. They chose to settle near their overnight campsite along the Chicago Road, on land which was apparently to their liking. The original land patent sold to Timothy Sheldon, dated June 6, 1825, was for 160 acres (the W 1/2 of the NE 1/4 and the E 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of section 34). The Sheldons built their home on this parcel. Almost immediately it became an inn serving the rapidly growing number of travelers on this important early road at what soon became an important intersection. Six years later Rachel Sheldon purchased an additional 50 acres (the E 1/2 of the NE 1/4). The inn became the accustomed stopping place for immigrants the second night out of Detroit. Major Abraham Edwards, first president of the Territorial Legislative Council and register of the White Pigeon federal land office, mentions it in his account of a journey along The Chicago Road. 'In the month of August, 1828, I left Detroit with my wife and ten children ... prepared to camp out every night. The first night we slept at Van Eyck's tavern, at Dearborn; the second night at Sheldon's and the third night two miles west of Ypsilanti, where for the first time we used our tent and cooked our own meals' (Michigan Pioneer Collection vol. 3. pages 148-151). Early mention of the settlement is noted on Bela Hubbard's 1838 Michigan Survey map. An 1829 Michigan Territorial Act designates the inn as the starting point of the South Territorial Road, a road which was designed to connect the settlement of Ann Arbor with Detroit by way of the Chicago Road. In 1848 plans for the Michigan Central Railroad called for it to follow the Chicago Road as far as Ypsilanti and Sheldon's became a stop on this important new transportation route. In 1898 what had become a scheduled stagecoach stop and a railroad stop became a stop on the Detroit to Ypsilanti interurban route. Eventually the settlement, known as Sheldon's Corners, had a brick school, two churches, a weigh station for milk, three blacksmith shops, two general stores, and a cobbler shop. The earliest post office in the township was located here, with Timothy Sheldon as postmaster. He also served on the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church and was township clerk in 1838. The property passed from the Sheldons to their nephew, Charles Sines, who appears as owner on the 1893 atlas. He was a son of Philip Sines who with Timothy Sheldon was involved in several financial and real estate transactions, which contributed to the growth of the early settlement. Their properties were subdivided to be used for several of Sheldon's Corners' institutions, the Sheldon School, the Canton Methodist-Episcopal Church, and the Presbyterian Church (Wilson, p.526-530). The date of the building's return to residential use is uncertain; however there is record that Charles Morton was renting it in 1875. In 1894 he purchased the property and his family made their home there until 1942. Andrew G. and Louise Marie Smith purchased the property from the Morton family in 1942 and converted it to multiple family use. In 1929 Michigan Avenue (Chicago Road) was widened and the historic inn was moved back (north) a few feet onto a new foundation to accommodate the widening of the road. The inn subsequently passed through several owners, returning to a dwelling as the land was divided and subdivided. On June 3, 1985, the Michigan Historical Commission named Sheldon's Corners a State Historical Site.

Today what was once the Sheldon Inn, a settlers inn and stagecoach stop on the old Chicago Road, is a two-family apartment building. A two-story, side-gable Greek Revival structure, it sits on a %acre site a few feet back from its original location. Several old trees on the property help to give a feel of the former site. It is located in a commercially zoned area between a modern church on the west and two small businesses on the east. The building, though altered through time, still exhibits its Greek Revival architecture. It is a two-story side-gable building with return cornice detail. A full width front porch with slightly splayed piers on wooden supports was added in the 1930's. On the east end of the facade is a one-story wing, built in the 1830's, for the owner's unmarried sister. The wing is also in the Greek Revival style with return cornice detail and a modern porch covered with a metal awning. To the rear is a one-story wing with roofline perpendicular to the core block. On the east elevation of the rear wing is a shed roof addition. Of post and beam construction, the building is covered in wooden clapboard siding overlaid with asbestos siding. The roof is covered in modern asphalt shingles and the foundation is of formed concrete block. The inn was moved onto this foundation in 1929 when it was set back to accommodate the widening of Michigan Avenue. The original building's facade consisted of six, symmetrically placed openings on a six bay main block. There were six evenly spaced six-over-six windows on the upper level and on the lower level were two six-over-six windows centered below the central upper windows. Six-over-six windows were located under the upper windows on either end of the facade. Entry doors were placed below the remaining windows. This gave a symmetrical configuration to the facade, typical of Greek Revival buildings and also provided both a private entry for the family and an entry for the inn's guests. The facade presently has been altered. The two central windows on the upper story are original. The two windows on either side of these are wider replacement sashes, which eliminate two full bays on the upper level. The two entry doors remain on the lower level but windows are replacement sashes located in such a manner as to break the original symmetry.