Waterford Village Historic District

About this property

Waterford Village is an historic community in Waterford Township, Michigan. First settled in 1819, the village is located in the northernmost part of the township along Dixie Highway, on the southeast shore of Van Norman Lake. In 1818, Alpheus Williams and his brother-in-law, Captain Archibald Phillips, entered the first land purchase for $2.00 an acre. Archibald Phillips and Alpheus Williams purchased 161.4 acres in what would become Waterford Village, Michigan. In 1818, Mr. and Mrs. Alpheus Williams, their four daughters and two sons, along with Captain Archibald Phillips and Major and Mrs. Oliver Williams, with their eight children, set out to settle Oakland County. In 1818, the Oliver Williams family established the first farm settlement in the county on the banks of Silver Lake. Archibald Phillips and Alpheus Williams continued on northward about nine miles to where the Clinton River crossed the old Saginaw Trail. This area would become Waterford Village. Here the first house of the village was built by Alpheus Williams on the north bank of the river across from the south corner where Grand River Street met the Saginaw Trail. Williams and Phillips also built the first dam where the Clinton River crossed over the Saginaw Trail and erected the first saw mill there. In 1844, Dr. George W. Williams (b.1793-d.1845) built the first gristmill in Waterford on what later became Mill Street. George was no relation to Alpheus or Oliver. William Bradt (b.1827-d.1888), proprietor of Waterford Exchange Hotel Richard Brownson, merchant, post master, dealer in drugs, patent medicines and groceries Frank W. Fifield & Son, merchant and dealer in general merchandise Graham Brothers, merchants and dealers in drugs, medicines, paints, oils, groceries Gustin & Johns, Elias K. Gustin (b.1844-d.1920) and John C. Johns (b.1849-d.1906), proprietors, manufacturers of carriages and lumber wagons, sleighs, carriage and wagon ironing and horse shoeing Hixson, Lord & Co, Marshall Hixson (b.1842-d.1915) and Daniel R. Lord, proprietors, manufacturers of doors, sashes and blinds Daniel R. Lord & Co., foundry, manufacturers of plows and cultivators. Lorenzo Streeter, manufacturer carriages, wagons and sleighs, carriage repairing, painting and ornamental glass staining Osmund Wigg, merchant and dealer in dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes Waterford Village was designated a Michigan State Historic Site on June 18, 1976, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 10, 1979. Geographically, the historic district includes Dixie Highway, a block north and south of Andersonville Road, then Andersonville Road between Dixie Highway and Airport Road, then south on Airport Road to the railroad tracks.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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