Historic Old Village Plymouth Michigan

<body> <p> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title></title> <body background="/template_src/templates/cfy/green/classic/46/upperbg_temp_1.jpg" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%">  <tr height="37" valign="top"> <td width="128" height="37"><img name="nav2_lft_sp" src="/template_src/templates/cfy/green/classic/46/nav2_lft_sp.gif" width="138" height="37" border="0"></td> <td width="41" height="37"><img name="nav2_lft_sp" src="/template_src/templates/cfy/green/classic/46/nav2_lft_sp.gif" width="57" height="34" border="0"></td> <td height="37" width="100%" align="left" valign="top" nowrap> <div align="left"><BR>      <font size="4" color="#FFFFFF" face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia"><i><b><strong><FONT COLOR="tan"><FONT SIZE="5">The Historic Old Village Plymouth, Michigan</i></b></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top" height="30"> <td width="128" height="30"></td> <td height="30" colspan="2" valign="middle"> <table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2"> <tr> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" vlink="purple" link="blue" alink="red" text="#000000"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="500"> <tr> <td> </center> <font size="3" color="#006600" face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia"><b><P)</a><FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="darkGREEN">Hello and Welcome to The Old Village! We are pleased to introduce this very special area to you!</P><P> <P Align="justify"><font color="green"> Whether you're looking for a morning coffee and pastry or a quick lunchtime stop with handy parking, or an evening dining at one of our restaurants you'll find The Old Village a welcome destination.</P> <P>We're glad you stopped by our web site, and hope to welcome you in person to the wonderfully walkable Historic Old Village! <P>The Old Village is located on the North side of Plymouth, and borders Main Street to the South, and Wilcox Lake and Hines Park to the North. Be sure and click on the following link if you would like to see a map of the area, or need driving directions!<P> <center> <img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/mp/gr/mplogo.gif" width="99" height="13" border=0 align=middle alt="[ Yahoo! Maps ]"><br> <a href="http://rd.yahoo.com/maps/insert/extmap/*-http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?&country=us&uz=48170&addr=N+Mill+St+At+E+Liberty+St&city=Plymouth&state=MI&zip=48170&mag=9"> Map of The Old Village <br> </a></center> <P>The Historic Old Village is a city within a city...a mixture of homes and businesses with structures dating as far back as the 1830's. <P><FONT SIZE="4"><FONT COLOR="red"><P> <center>Be Sure and Check out this site for upcoming Summer Events in The Old Village!</b></font> </center> <p><img src='/_w3/oldvillage718022220/photo/photo2/templ/11/gallery/10001/gallery/10001/photo_name/10001/id/10001/the_id/10001/w3_/lib/get_photo' align="right"> <div align="left"> <p><font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"><P Align="justify"><fontcolor="green"><FONTSIZE="4"> The Old Village offers a wide variety of shops, restaurants and services to meet almost any need. From accountants and lawyers to plumbers and heating and cooling...cafes to jewelers as well as pastries, guitars antiques and entertainment, you're sure to find what you enjoy somewhere in The Old Village, even if it's just a stroll along the streets of this special part of Plymouth! <P> <FONTCOLOR="dark green"> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="blue"> <FONT SIZE="3"><P> <center><FONT COLOR="darkblue<br> </p> </div> <div align="left"> <br> <p><font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"><P><B> </A><Font color="purple"> We're glad you stopped by our online home! Please check out our links and come back again. <P><FONT COLOR="dark lavender"> <FONT SIZE="5"> Stop by in person and visit some of our featured local businesses:</p> <br> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="300"> <tr> <td> <ul> <font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"> <li type="disc"><font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"><Font color="purple">NEW STORE!:"The Trend" Designer inspired accessories, handbags & more - part of "Perfect Fit at Margaret's" on Starkweather <li type="disc"><font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"><Font color="green">"Old Village Market" and "Plymouth Fish Market" 584 Starkweather <li type="disc"><font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"><Font color="blue">NEW STORE!: "Good & Plenty Antiques" - in Railroad Plaza between Starkweather and Mill <li type="disc"><font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"><Font color="red">"Mill Street Gourmet Pastries" millstreetgp.com <li type="disc"><font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"><Font color="green">Liberty Street Brewing Company" www.libertystreetbeer.com </ul> <p></td> </tr> </table> <br> </div> <center> <p><font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"><P><a href="http://www.the350project.net" target="_blank"> <img src="http://www.the350project.net/supporter_graphics/350_project_web_panel.jpg" border="0"> </a></U></A></B> <P><FONT COLOR="Green"><FONT SIZE=4><P>________ <P> Community Links! <P><FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="orange"> If you would like to learn more about Plymouth History, please click <A HREF="http://www.plymouthhistory.org">here!</A> <P><FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="Purple"> If you would like to visit the online home of the Plymouth Community Arts Council, please click <A HREF="http://www.plymoutharts.com/">here!</A> <P><FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="darkgreen"> If you would like to visit the City of Plymouth Web Site, please click <A HREF="http://www.ci.plymouth.mi.us">here!</A>  <center> <FORM method=GET action="http://www.google.com/search"> <TABLE bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><tr><td> <A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?safe=vss"> <IMG SRC="http://www.google.com/logos/Google_Safe.gif" border="0" ALT="Google" width="115" height="45" align="absmiddle"></A> <INPUT TYPE=text name=q size=25 maxlength=255 value=""> <INPUT type=hidden name=safe value=vss> <INPUT type=submit name=sa value="Google Search"> </td></tr></TABLE> </FORM> </center>  <script src='http://voap.weather.com/weather/oap/USMI0678?template=LAWNH&par=1002886703&unit=0&key=0f333729c6404a52b35f4bd344137ca3'></script> <P>Counter Courtesy of www.digits.com <IMG SRC="http://counter.digits.com/wc/-d/4/OldVillageCounter" ALIGN=middle WIDTH=60 HEIGHT=20 BORDER=0 HSPACE=4 VSPACE=2> <FONT SIZE="2"><FONT COLOR="green"><B><P>If you have input or event infomation you would like to share, please feel free to click on the following e-mail link: <P> <A HREF="mailto:oldvillager@aol.com"> Contact Us! </A> <FONT SIZE="2"><FONT COLOR="green"><P>HISTORIC OVERVIEW OF THE OLD VILLAGE <P>In 1825 William Starkweather and his wife Keziah Benjamin Starkweather came from New York State to the area now known as Plymouth. William purchased eighty acres of land and they built a cabin on what is now the southwest corner of Main Street and Ann Arbor Trail in downtown Plymouth. Their son George Anson Starkweather born in 1826 was the first child born to settlers in the town of Plymouth. In 1830, William and Keziah sold their land in downtown Plymouth and moved their family to 80 acres of land William purchased in what was then called “North Village” and built a home there. He was the first residential owner in the Old Village area and lived there until his death in 1844 at the age of 48. His son, George Anson Starkweather briefly studied law at the University of Michigan in 1844 and in 1847 went to New York for six months to continue his law studies. When he returned home to the Old Village he farmed the north 80 acres, taught school, and continued to study law on his own. <P>After his marriage to Amelia Heywood in 1861, George Anson Starkweather and R.G. Hall were partners in a general store facing Kellogg Park. The partnership dissolved in 1870, and George built a dry goods store on the Southeast corner of Liberty Street and Oak Street (now Starkweather) which he operated until 1901. George felt that the railroad coming to North Village would give it a commercial advantage over the Kellogg Park area. He was responsible for cutting Oak Street North through his farm in order to reach his new store and the train station. After his death in 1907, Oak Street was renamed Starkweather in his honor. In addition to his other pursuits George Starkweather took an active civic role. He served as a member of the State Legislature in 1854, had several terms as Township Supervisor, 16 years as Justice of the Peace, and as Plymouth Village President in 1898. <P>As was true of downtown Plymouth, the North Village began to grow. By 1850 there was a grist mill for flour, an ashery for soap, a select school, a cemetery, a designated public square, church societies and a plank toll road. During the Civil War, some homes in the area may have served as stops on the Underground Railroad. By 1871 the commuter railroad arrived and brought with it travelers in need of restaurants, lodging and stores. A retail district sprang up on Liberty Street anchored by Starkweather’s Dry Goods and greenhouse, and hotels and boarding houses nearer to the depot. By 1901 many Victorian style homes including Italianate, Second Empire, and Queen Anne had been built in addition to the much earlier Greek Revival structures. The Phoenix Volunteer Hose Company was established, the local branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was formed, and the area had many businesses that served the needs of the local homeowners. <P>In the first half of the 20th century, various businesses continued to develop in Old Village. Such businesses included a toy company, coal and lumber supply, grocery store, bank, pickle company, cheese factory, cleaners, etc. In common with older land use policies in place before zoning laws, many of these businesses operated side by side with residential. The residential population of Old village continued to grow as well and craftsman style bungalows were built in Old Village through the 1940s. Starkweather Elementary School was built in 1927. Henry Ford purchased and tore down the Plymouth Mill and replaced it with a “Village Plant Concept” for manufacture of auto parts. He also moved a residential structure to Greenfield Village from the Old Village in 1929. <P>Many of the original historic residential and business structures tied to the history of Old Village are still present today. </p><br> <CENTER> <A HREF="http://www.buildawebpage.com/account.asp?page=build&source2=oldvillage718022220&source1=www.buildawebpage.com" TARGET="newwin"><IMG SRC="/lib/get_plv_image.asp?plv=www.buildawebpage.com&plv_key=banner1" BORDER="0"></A> <hr> <font face="Century School Book,Times New Roman,Georgia" size="2" color="#000000"> | | <a href="mailto:oldvillager@aol.com">oldvillager@aol.com</A><br> | | | <br> </FONT> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html> </p> </body>