NORTHVILLIANS,

• Music in downtown Northville. Saturday evenings – Link, Friday nights – Link,
• Parmenter’s Northville Cider Mill is open now (Baseline Rd) – 7 days a week from 10AM till 8PM … 151 years and going strong! Link
• Farmers’ Market – Visit Northville’s Award-Winning Market, Thursdays, 8AM-2PM (Highland Lakes Shopping Center – 7 Mile/Northville Rd)
• Northville Old Timers Lunch & History presentation, along with the Senior of the Year Announcement – Tuesday, Sept. 17, 11:00 AM, Genitti’s 108 E. Main St. Pay at door ($15) or over the phone (248 349 0522). Link
• Northville: The Ideal Suburban Village – History lecture by the Mayor at the Northville District Library, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7PM. Link
• The Northville Historical Society’s new coffee table book A Ride Through Northville by Steven Quay takes readers on a historical journey through Northville of the 1950’s through the 1980’s. Pre-order a copy before its release date of Sept. 21. Link
• Mayoral Town Hall 10/2, 7:00 PM Township Hall with School Board candidate intros
• Tipping Point Theatre’s Season 17 begins with Grand Horizons on Sept. 25. Link
• Victorian Festival 9/20-22 (Parade 9/20, festival/car show 9/21 & Duck Race 9/22)

• Ford Field – Work has begun, Phase I: Infrastructure, waterfall, staircase, fencing, invasive tree removal / Phase II – Vista, Play structure, bathrooms, drainage.
• Riverwalk – Daylighting of River & River Park at the Downs is progressing.
• Downs Initiative – Demo completed, foundations & build will begin on Cady this month and infrastructure work for the entire 49 acres is moving forward.  Link
• Log Cabin – Moved – Its new location is on corner of River St and Seven Mile. Link
• Mill Race Village – Bricking of the lane progressing & will finish next week. Commemorative engraved bricks are still available to purchase. Link

• Bicentennial Task Force Mtg – 9/12 (Thursday) 7:00 PM City Hall
• Cemetery Restoration Task Force – 9/23 meets on 4^th Monday (City Hall 7:00 PM)
   

Now let’s transition to School activities through time...

1826 – The first schoolhouse in the Northville area was built of logs and was located east of downtown. “It wasn’t uncommon for students to see wolves on their way to school.” (Record)

1829 – Two other district schoolhouses were built in Northville, and thus the Northville District began, with Griswold School and Taft School opening their doors.

1833 – The first school board was elected, including Messrs. Cady, Dunlap, and Mead (of Meads Mill). The group decided to erect a schoolhouse built of cobblestone for 100 students, which remained until 1923 (by CVS/The Exchange area).

1865 – A two-story brick building close to where Old Village School sits today was built for $11,000. The structure was known as the Union School and became the High School.

School Name Origins – Through the years, many of the schools were named after early educators such as Ida B. Cooke and superintendent Russell Amerman. Later on, schools were named after unique geography or activities, like Mead’s Mill, Thornton’s Creek, Moraine, Silver Springs, etc.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Amerman was built in 1955 as a modern 10-room schoolhouse on 10 acres. The school commemorates Russell Amerman, a past Principal & Superintendent. 

Moraine was built in 1966 and was named after a geological formation (a collection of earth, stone & sand) deposited by glaciers.

Silver Springs was built in 1975 and named for the famous bubbling Silver Springs which historically fed our Northville Well. (Silver Springs Lake is the only natural lake in the County.)

Winchester was named in 1975 for one of the primary avenues within Northville Commons, keeping the Northville frontier theme.

Ridgewood was built in 2002 and was named in a contest for its regional geological significance. With its woods around this ridge of Northville, the name was perfect.

Thornton Creek (circa 1991) was on property through which the Thornton Creek ran. Sally Thornton was an early pioneer in the Northville area.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Meads Mill was built in 1975 where the Mead brothers had a mill in the 1800’s. The Meads Mill community was as large as Northville at one time, and the mill workers sent their children to a one-room schoolhouse which sat at the entrance of where the school is today.

Hillside (previous site of Northville High School) is one of highest points in the county. In the 1800’s, this area was known as Buchner Hill because of the Buchner Family mansion located on top of this ridge. One could view Detroit to the east and Ann Arbor to the west. To the north, was Taft’s gravel pit and at the time … 8 Mile Road didn’t cut through the property (with its athletic fields) until it was developed in the late 1950’s. Notably the football field, which was recently renovated, is sculpted into the side of the gravel pit in an amphitheater setting.

HIGH SCHOOL
NHS was built in 2001 on some of our original settlers’ farm property dating back 200 years.

OTHER SCHOOLS
OVS (Old Village School on Main St.) was the historic high school of multi-generations until 1959, when it transitioned to being the 6^th Grade Annex. After that, it housed special education activities. Now it’s the home of the Board of Education. In the 60’s, Bob Seger even played concerts at the “Cavern” at the community center which historically was part of the campus.

Cooke School was named in honor of Ida B. Cooke who grew up and taught many years in Northville. Cooke was the first & only Junior High in town when it was built in 1967 (I was privileged to attend its ribbon cutting). Cooke is now a special education center of excellence.

St. Paul Lutheran School was founded in 1896 and began a Christian Day School program. The present school facility contains ten classrooms from pre-school through 8^th grade.

Northville Christian School & Montessori Schools have also provided educational opportunities for students in the community for decades.

Our Lady of Victory – The OLV school was established in the parish building in 1950 and transitioned in 1952 to the original 8-room school building. My eldest brother (Bob) was part of the first 8^th grade class of 1959 (of whom all 13 attended the full eight years). The current facility opened in 2006 with nineteen classrooms.

I hope you can see how important our schools are to the fabric of our town. We are fortunate that our community works together for the benefit of our youth and their continuing education. With school back in session, we can all be reminded that the greatest asset we have is our people, especially our children who begin yet another new school year. Let’s stay connected to our youth and support their dreams. I ask you to spread hope and to be there for our next generation, the future leaders of our community and our country.

Keep that Northville School Faith!