375 Depot Rd.
South side of street
Currently Village Hall, Park & Wetlands
Before this property belonged to the Village, the parcel along the south side of the road as far as Lakeview Cemetery was divided into various segments held by a variety of owners. For a time part of the area was a dumpsite. A 1938 Community News item said the "rubbish dump on Depot Road will close. Ben Powell Disposal will pick up refuse instead." In 1940 the area flooded when the mill pond dam collapsed during preparation for the construction of the Ford factory on the property on the north side of Depot Road. The building which now stands on the site of 375 Depot Road, the Clarkston Village Hall & D.P.W. garage, was built in the 1970s. In 1850 tax records listed Stark & Hirst /Hurst (future owners of the Clarkston Mills ) for the west 1/2 of Lots 1 & 2 Block 26, assessed value $320. This refers to property on the south side of Depot Road, once known as Livery Hill. The Hill is at the back of the building which still stands on the southwest corner of South Main Street and Depot Road. The assessed value would seem to indicate a building, probably a mill/foundry, on the site then. Taylor H. Stuart/Stewart & Son owned the property by 1855. 1859 records listed a "clothing works and dwelling house and John G. Owen's "warehouse" on Lot 1 or the entire corner. The warehouse was at the top of the hill on the corner of S. Main and Depot Rd. In 1860 Enos Church moved his "furnace" from a location on East Washington Street to the west 1/2 of Lots 1 & 2 Block, the back of the property. Church had a "carding mill/cloth dressing" business. Lee Bingham, owner of the property in 1872, ran a foundry and woolen mill here. By that time B. F. Elwood was the owner of the livery/stable which stood at the top of the hill facing South Main Street. Peter Green became the owner of the livery building by 1876. The next owner of the building at the back was Clarence Paddock followed by Jasper Linabury. In the 1920s, the Belle Isle Creamery owned a piece, north by Depot road, east by Lots 1 & 2 Block 26, south by Abbey, west by Depot Road. (An item in a turn of the 20th century Oakland County Post newspaper noted that an "evaporator" was being constructed near "the old creamery". "Workmen are excavating for the new evaporator which is to be constructed near the site of the old creamery building." (6/25/1903) By October of that year the newspaper noted "Apples" were needed by Downing and Co. for the evaporator. "Apples are wanted by Downing and Company at the evaporator where the highest prices are paid." It isn't certain that this business was on the south side of Depot Road.") A photo from the Henry Ford Museum Collection shows a small greenhouse with a stone foundation and a small hip-roofed barn behind the buildings which face South Main Street on the southwest corner of Depot Road. In 1932 the greenhouse was Cyrus Linabury's Shady Nook Gardens. This became the Susie Q. Greenhouse. A 1999 photo shows the general view from the Village parking lot.
Official Property Description:
- Not a Part of Nelson W. Clark's Original Plat of the Village in the Southwest 1/4 of Section 20 in Independence Township.
- Part of the Assessor's Plat.
Significant Property History:
- Note: All the properties currently located in the Historic District were originally part of a tract registered by Butler Holcomb with the federal government on October 22, 1831. Thus, abstracts for these properties, when they exist, show the original transfer to be from the United States to Butler Holcomb and may also include references to then President Andrew Jackson.
- 1832 Butler Holcomb, the Northeast 1/4 , the Southeast 1/4 , the east 1/2 of the Northwest 1/4.
- 1850 Stark and Hirst /Hurst, the west 1/2 of Lots 1 & 2 Block 26, assessed value $320. Eleazer James, the east 1/2 of Lots 2 & 2 Block 26, assessed value $190.
- 1855 T. H. Stewart /Stuart, the west 1/2 of Lot 1, assessed value $300. John G. Owen, 48' x 82 1/2' on the northeast corner of Lot 1, assessed value $320. George W. Smith, the rest of the east 1/2 of Lot 1, assessed value &70.
- 1857 Taylor Stewart, an 18'x 24' building in the southeast corner on the east 1/2 of Lot 1. J. G. Owen, as above.
- 1859 Taylor H. Stewart /Stuart and Son, Lot 1, "clothing works and dwelling house. John Owen, part of Lot 1, assessed value $350. "warehouse".
- 1860 J. G. Owen -"storehouse". Enos Church, an 18'x 24' building on the west 1/2 of Lot s 1 and 2 Block 26, assessed value $800. "furnace"., "carding mill/cloth dressing and dwelling house."
- 1870 Lee Bingham, 18'x 14'.
- 1872 Map of the Village has two building footprints, owner B. F. Elwood, the east part of Lot 1 Block 26; and Lee Bingham, the owner of the building behind on Depot Road, a foundry and woolen mill.
- 1876 Clarence Paddock, 18'x 24' off the south side of the east 1/2 of Lot 1 Block 26, assessed value $50. & the east 1/2 of Lot 2 Block, assessed value $400.
- 1889 Peter Green 48' on Main 82 1/2' on the northeast corner of Lot 1 Block 26. John West, the west 1/2 of Lot 1, assessed value $200.
- 1896 Peter Green 48' x 82 1/2'. Jasper Linabury part of Lot 1 Block 26.
- 1918 William Casement, estate, north by , Drake Johnson, Depot Road, east by Highway, south by self, west by Middle Lake . B. F. Hawley north by Depot, east by Lambert and Middle Lake, south by Lakeview Cemetery. Charles Lambert, north by Depot, east by Clinton River, west by Hawley.
- 1920 Belle Isle Creamery Co., north by Depot, east by Lots 1 & 2 Block 26, south by Abbey, west by Depot Road, assessed value $700. Mrs. Annie Smith, north by Ford, south and east by Depot Road, west by self and Nelsey, assessed value $200. Also a piece north by W. & Belle Vliet, east by the Street, south by Hunter, west by Armstrong, assessed value $100.
- 1929 Belle Isle Creamery Co., north by Depot, south and east and west by Linabury, assessed value $600.
- 1933 Belle Isle Creamery, north and west by Depot Road, south, east and west by S. Linabury, assessed value $400. The property on the south side of Depot Road west of Block 26 of Nelson W. Clark's Original Plat was deeded to the Village of Clarkston as was the beach property on the south shore of Deer Lake.
Historic District Commission Documents:
