History of Plymouth MI
History of Plymouth MI
I became interested in the history of our local towns after reading a small book on the history of Plymouth. I was disappointed became I could not find a lot of good solid information about our local towns on the internet. Being a Plymouth Realtor I thought it would be a good project to see if I could get the local historical societies to write about their areas and I would post them to the internet. So everybody could learn about Plymouth, Farmington, or whatever local town
Plymouth’s Earliest Inhabitants
In an article from the May 12, 1949 issue of The Plymouth Mail newspaper (predecessor to the Plymouth Observer), Dr. R. C. Hussey, professor of literature, science and the arts from the University of Michigan, explained that “great mastodons, reptiles, and beasts that towered more than 20 feet in the air roamed about the hills on what is now the north side of Territorial Road.”
Fast forward about 10,000 years and you come to 19th century A.D. when the Pottawatomie Indian tribe frequented but had no permanent settlements in Plymouth. It is believed, however, that Plymouth was home to some of their burial grounds and annual rituals and Native American grinding stones were found at a home on Ann Arbor Trail between Sheldon and Ann Arbor Road as well as a home on Ann Arbor Road west of Ridge Road . Tonquish Creek, which runs behind the homes on the south side of Penniman Avenue, is named after Tonquish, the chief of the Pottawatomie Indians, who was killed by the militia six years before Plymouth’s settlement in 1825.
There have been conflicting reports on the friendliness of this particular Indian tribe, nonetheless, by the late 1830’s, most of them had been moved on to other lands or reservations. The bear and wolves were eradicated due to their taste for the early settler’s sheep and the land began to be cleared to make room for new homesteads and businesses. The birth of Plymouth had begun.
Plymouth MI First Settlers
According to Nettie Dibble, a local historian who wrote a history of Plymouth in the 1930’s, some of Plymouth’s first pioneers were descendants of those pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, MA. Most of them were born in the New England area and made their way here from New York via the recently opened Erie Canal. Plymouth Township was settled in 1824 and today’s City of Plymouth in 1825. The area formerly known as Section T1S-R8E, was named by area settlers as Plymouth Township in 1827. The Village of Plymouth separated form the township and was incorporated in 1867 and became the City of Plymouth in 1932. The year of 1867 is recognized as the official date the City of Plymouth was founded. In 1967, the city held a centennial celebration and Frank Chapman, Lord Mayor of Plymouth, England, attended and presented a piece of the original Plymouth Rock from England to city officials. This is now on display in front of the Dunning-Hough Library along Main Street.
In 1820, Congress passed an act that allowed for the sale of public lands in this area known as the West at the time. One could purchase an acre for $1.25 with a minimum purchase of 80 acres. This act combined with the later completion of the Erie Canal in 1826 helped open the door for westward expansion and settlement of the Midwest. In 1824, three parcels of land were purchased in today’s Plymouth Township. Only one of these purchasers, Erastus Hussey, later settled here in 1826, but the history of Plymouth had started. The first settlers credited to arrive in the Plymouth area were John, William and Allen Tibbitts in 1824, settling along the south side of North Territorial Road
between Sheldon and Beck Roads. William & Kezia Starkweather were the first pioneers to actually settle in today’s City of Plymouth, building the city’s first homestead at the southwest corner of today’s Ann Arbor Trail and Main Street in 1825. That “home” was a wooden shack made from branches and bark that was later replaced by a log cabin. This corner would play a significant role in Plymouth’s history marking the sites of the stately manner of John Fuller, the Mayflower Hotel and the present Mayflower Centre.
Prior to settling here, Starkweather traveled to this area, without his family, on foot from Detroit in the winter. Several days later, on March 11, 1825, he bought two tracts of land that formed a rectangle and consisted of 240 acres for the sum of $300. It is believed that over 80 families made their way to this new area between 1825 and 1830.
In 1827, a group of them got together at John Tibbitt’s barn to give their new home a name. That barn still stands today behind the home that was built c. 1827, located at 46225 N. Territorial Road.
I hope you enjoyed the first segment of our Plymouth History
This article was written By Brian Hill newsletter editor for the Plymouth Historical Society.
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