Articles about the history of Plymouth Michigan:
Many people in the community know this Queen Anne Victorian
residence as the Wilcox House, for the family that owned it from 1911 until
2000. However, most people don't know the illustrious history of this elaborate
home that William Markham built in 1903 for his secretary and mistress, Blanche
Shortman. The 2.5 acres that the house still occupies was once an elaborate
formal garden with ponds, fountains, statuary and live deer. It was known far
and wide as "Markham Park." Not all of Plymouth's residents were admirers of the house.
At the turn of the last century, Plymouth was a very concervative, religious, small town and did not approve of Mr. Markham's affair with his secretary.
Look for more pictures and
information on this 'diamond in the rough' to be posted shortly.
The Detroit Free Press recently ran an article about this cemetery and the horrible state that it is in. Here is an article about the very same issue from 1978. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
It is unknown which publication originally printed this article. From the text, we can tell that it was printed in the year 1978. It is taken out of a scrap book that was compiled in the 60's and 70's by a member of the Plymouth Canton AAUW Landmarks Committee. (860KB)
The first woman judge in the State of Michigan lived at 207 Ann Arbor Trail. See a picture of the house her husband built for her in this scrap book article. (244KB)
It's true, Frank Lloyd Wright came to Plymouth and actually built not one, but two houses in our community! Read about the one he built for the Walls family in this article. This house is listed on the National Register.(236KB)
--Mariette Hough Memorial Building--
Demolished.
This structure stood next to the Central Middle School for over 140 years.
View a picture of what this building looked like after Mariette Hough remodled it into an Arts and Crafts Bungalow. This structure served as a community center for veterans for many decades.
--Daisy Air Rifle Factory--
Demolished.
The primary focus of this article is the Daisy factory but it does have some interesting facts about the other air rifle factories that existed in the area as well.
In 1958, Daisy moved its operations to Rogers, Arkansas. They have a museum there and a very nice
web site that explains the history of the company. Many of the Daisy founders' homes still stand in Plymouth Michigan. We will be posting more information about these homes right here in the near future.
Many fine examples of early Daisy BB guns are on display at the
Plymouth Historical Museum.
Links to web sites that pertain to the history of Plymouth Michigan
Enjoy!