NORTHVILLIANS,

Last week we spoke of MLK Day. We recognized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the impact he had on America and our lives. This week, we will go back in time and talk about Northville’s part in the Underground Railroad, a true path to freedom that ran through our community.

As you may know, the “Underground Railroad” was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the US during the early to mid-1800’s. It was used primarily by African Americans to migrate to free states and Canada.

This underground network was established by abolitionists and others sympathetic to the cause. One estimate suggests that even before 1850, a hundred thousand people escaped to freedom via the network. We will take a look at some of the stations within the Northville community. Overall, it is believed that over 40,000 made their way to freedom through Northville and the greater Detroit area, primarily into Canada.  

Before we look at some of the stations on the Underground Railroad in the Northville Community, let's see what's happening in town today...

• Mill Race History Lecture by the Mayor – 1/25/23 at Mill Race Village, 7:00 PM, presenting the history of various sections of town. LINK
   
• Quarterly Mayoral Town Hall – Thursday, 1/26/23 (Live and on Zoom). Northville Township Hall (6 Mile & Sheldon), 7:00 PM with Debbie Dingell, our new U.S Representative in DC joining via Zoom, and Matt Koleszar, our State Representative in Lansing, attending live. LINK
   
• Snow Moon Hike @ Northville’s Maybury State Park 2/5, 7:00 PM - Guided tours on this full moon night with all meeting at the Trailhead Building off Eight Mile. LINK
   
• Northville makes the list of “TOP 12 Incredible Charming Small Towns in Michigan” – One town to visit for each month – we’re September’s choice. LINK

Now onto Local Stops on the Underground Railroad...

I thank local author Barbara Louie for the work she did in the early 1990’s researching & writing articles on Northville’s Underground Railroad connections.

• One route she described came from the south, through Ohio to Ypsilanti and then down Seven Mile into Northville.
• Another came into Michigan from Indiana and Illinois, using the I-94 corridor from Niles to Cassopolis, running through Battle Creek, Albion, Jackson, Chelsea, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and finally into Northville. The journey then continued on to Detroit and eventually Canada.

• The Ambler Hotel on the Corner of Main Street and Center (future home of the Great White Buffalo Brewing Company) was mentioned in a 1927 Record article, which tells us that during the 1800’s, it was a bustling station on the Underground Railroad, assisting former slaves in their journey to freedom.

• The Cady Inn, one of the oldest buildings in town, was built around 1831 and moved from Cady Street to the Mill Race Village in 1987.  One of our earliest settlers, Daniel Cady, owned the Cady Inn. The building functioned as both an Inn and a stagecoach stop. Prior to 1869, the southern entrance to town was by way of Cady Street.  Early on, the Cady Inn was a major stop along the Underground Railroad.

• The Starkweather homestead on 7 Mile west of Beck (where the Stonewater subdivision sits today) was a significant stop on the underground network. The weather-beaten barn in the center of their property stood for over 150 years and was a stopover on the railroad journey.
• According to a 1963 article in The Record, Ruth Starkweather spoke about stories passed down generationally regarding how her family assisted folks trying to get to Canada. Mr. Starkweather Sr. strongly believed in equality for all and had fought in the Civil War. The stone fence on the south side of 7 Mile just west of Beck Road still stands today as a testament to the Starkweather days.

• In this area (6 Mile/Northville Road) a group of homes were part of the Underground Railroad system. This area was generally known as Waterford (not to be confused with today’s Waterford). The community rivaled Northville and even had a train station and a population similar to the Ville.  But surprisingly for this period of time, it didn’t have any churches. The Mead Brothers’ mill was the community’s stimulus economically, but without the faithful in the pews and then the later fires in the mill, Waterford eventually disappeared from our maps.

Hopefully, you have a better understanding of the Underground Railroad network and Northville’s part in it … the Railroad was said to run solely on Trust and Hope.  And that gave hope to the thousands that traveled from the south to Michigan and through Northville.

Faith, Hope & Love – a foundation of our society.

In this New Year, keep that Faith, Hope and Trust in the future of your Northville Community!