Office and Archives Hours: Tuesday - Friday, 9 am-1pm
(Note: Phones are not working.)
THE NORTHVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
More than 50 Years of Preserving Northville's History
The Buildings of
Mill Race Village
Barr Sculpture
Designed in 1992 by renowned local sculptor David Barr, this sculpture representing a Victorian era boy at play welcomes visitors to the Village.
Cady Inn
Believed to be an early coach stop, the saltbox style building was moved to the Village in 1987 from the north side of Cady Street, two blocks east of Center Street. It currently houses the Northville Historical Society Offices and Archives. It is available for rentals.
Built between 1830 and 1850, the original structure was the last timber-framed building standing in downtown Northville. Taken apart board by board and reconstructed using some of the original materials, the reconstructed store was completed in 2010. The main floor houses the J. M. Mead General Store.
New School Church
Built in 1845 by a splinter group of the Presbyterian Church of Northville, it served as a church for only four years. Later, it was used as a school, a township hall, a Salvation Army barracks and as Northville’s library for 70 years. The Northville Historical Society was formed in 1964 to save this building from demolition and it was moved to the Village in 1972. It is available to rent for weddings, parties, and meetings.
Yerkes House
This house was built in 1873 by Sarah (Cady) Yerkes and William Purdy Yerkes, children of early Northville settlers. The home originally stood on the south side of Cady Street between Church and Center streets. The nine-room house features traditional Carpenter Gothic style.
Hunter House
This classic Greek Revival home, with half-gabled wings, was built by Stephen and Mary Hunter in 1851 and moved to the Village in 1972 from it's original location on the south side of Main Street at Griswold. The house serves as a house museum, furnished with items typical of the period.
Weavers Cottage
Built circa 1889 in the Victorian Cottage style on the east side of Center Street between Lake and Rayson, this cottage was home to the Sessions family in the 1920s and later housed Morse Dairy hired hands. Moved to the Village in 1976, it is used as a weaver’s studio.
Hirsch Blacksmith Shop
The original building, which stood on the corner of Main and Hutton streets, was in use from the mid-1800’s until its demolition in 1930. Completed in 1985, this replica now houses a working “smithy” on one side and a rotating exhibit space on the other side.
Gazebo
Modeled after late Victorian-era style gazebos, it was added to the Village in 1979 and is available to rent as part of our wedding package.
Wash Oak School
Moved to the Village in 1975, this building served Washtenaw and Oakland counties as a one-room school from 1873 to 1966. It was originally located on the west side of Currie Road, between Seven and Eight Mile roads. Today it is still used as a classroom in the Village for visiting elementary classes. Please add contact the office if you are a teacher and you're interested in having your students spend a day in the one room school house!
Interurban Station
Built in the late 1800s at Newburgh and Eight Mile roads, it was moved to the Village in 1990. This small building served as the waiting room for the Farmington Line’s high-speed electric transit system that ran through Northville from 1898 to the late 1920s and was part of a much larger transit system.
The Bridge
Added to the Village in 1975, the bridge was modeled after the Old North Bridge in Concord, MA, the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War in 1775.
The Bell Pier
Built in 2008, the pier supports a 24” bell manufactured by the American Bell Foundry of Northville. In operation from the 1890s through the 1930s, the company was known world-wide for its dinner bells and bells for churches, schools, farms, and factories.