NORTHVILLIANS,

Over the past few weeks, we have celebrated the greenspace, gardens and waterscapes of the
Northville area and the splendor of the summer season. This week, we will continue the theme
by talking about our recreational area known as Maybury State Park.

In our locality, we are fortunate to have not only city and county parks, but a state park to
recreate in. I will highlight this gem in our own backyard and give you a bit of its history.

Before looking into Maybury State Park, let's look at what's going on in town today:

  • 8/10 - Northville Farmers' Market – Chef at the Market (9 AM) sponsored by Pomeroy Living with Chef Lumyar. Debbie Dingell is scheduled to be at the Market at 2:00 PM.
     
  • 8/12 - Northville Downtown Cars and Coffee (Saturday 8-10 AM) – Join our monthly gathering (always 2nd Saturday) at Old Village School parking lot, next to library at 212 W. Cady Street. Bring a car/bring yourself… see you there! Link 
     
  • 8/12 - Steps Against Suicide (8:45 AM – Noon): This 5K walk event at Northville’s Ford Field is benefiting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It’s an event for the whole family!  Registration is still open! Link
     
  • Mill Race Historical Village Sundays - Through summer on most Sundays, 1-4 PM. Docents in Mill Race buildings share Northville’s history.
     
  • 9/7 - Northville Community Support Fund (NCSF) Fundraiser – join us to share your time, talents and treasures for a spectacular get-together and explore the possibilities of the NCSF which will showcase the exciting initiatives planned for our beloved community.  This will be the first major event at NOMI’s - Northville’s New Speakeasy hidden behind the Sports Den … come check it out!

MUSIC IN TOWN

  • MONDAYS – Music at Maybury –  7:00 PM, through August 21st. Link
     
  • TUESDAYS – Tunes on Tuesdays – Town Square Family Fun 10:30 AM. Link
     
  • WEDNESDAY – Dancing in the Ville @ Town Square, 6:30PM - 8:00PM. Arthur Murray teachers provide lessons in a variety of dance genres (all levels). Link
     
  • Enjoy music and elixirs of life at the various breweries in town including:
    • The Northville Winery (630 Baseline Rd). Link
    • Great White Buffalo Brewing Company downtown @ (101 W. Main) Link
    • North Center Brewery (410 N. Center St.) Link
       
  • Summer Concerts, Friday & Saturday at 7:00 PM – Downtown. Link
    Additional live Music can be heard at various locations around town.

Now let's take a look at the History of Maybury through time...

Maybury today is a state park in our community and is truly an oasis of lush green forests, offering visitors miles of trails and a place to connect with nature.
  • The State acquired the land in 1971 from the City of Detroit. Before that, this site served the community for over 50 years as the Maybury Medical TB center.
  • Maybury has close to 1000 acres of gently rolling terrain, open meadows and mature forests. The park offers a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities, including extensive trails for walking and biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing in the winter, youth organizational camping, fishing, and a working visitor farm.
  • Articles going back over 40 years in The Northville Record speak about how the Scouts (both Girls Scouts & Boy Scouts) have used Maybury State Park for hiking, archery, running obstacle courses, educational learning events and overnight camping.
  • There is truly something for everyone in this 1000-acre trek. Notably, for seniors & others with walking disabilities, guided-assisted trail walks offer all-terrain motorized chairs, so all can explore its topography and the historical markers along the way.
DID YOU KNOW – Before becoming a park, the grounds originally encompassed eight farms, then transitioned to a medical center and eventually a State Park. This Maybury site, for its 50 years as a medical campus, was a complex of 45 buildings on initially 944 acres. It was an all-in-one community, including:
  • Buildings with porches for the patients
  • Its own powerhouse
  • A children’s unit
  • Doctors’ quarters and a nurses’ home
  • A school building and women’s dormitory
  • Bakery, tinsmith & carpenter shop, and pasteurization plant for their dairy farm
  • An auditorium/chapel and a Fire department.
  • It even had its own Library and published a Maybury Monthly magazine.
Total capacities when Maybury was a medical center are as follows:
Up to 844 beds were available for patients, and half of the 478 employees lived on the grounds.

Yearly consumptions at Maybury during this time:
  • 5200 tons of coal were burned in the power plant.
  • 60 million gallons of water were used.
  • 1.2 million pieces of laundry were washed.
  • 11.7 tons of soap were purchased.
  • 1.5 miles of bed sheets were laundered.
  • 27 tons of butter were consumed.
  • 45 tons of flour were grown & ground onsite.
  • 6 tons of coffee were purchased.
  • 31 tons of sugar were used to sweeten the food.
So, you can see through the years Maybury has meant many things to the community, starting with the original eight local homestead farms, to the construction and 50-year operation of the medical campus, and eventually becoming the State Park as we know it today. I encourage you to slow down and experience all that Maybury has to offer before summer ends – walk, bike, horseback ride, catch a bluegill in the pond or just come on a Monday night for a free concert. It's all right here in our own backyard!

Keep that Northville Summer Faith!

Brian Turnbull
Mayor – Northville
[email protected] / 248.505.6849

(Reach out to me anytime or forward this communication to others interested.)

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