The Village of Clarkston is located at the head of several small
lakes. It is divided by the Clinton River and surrounded by a chain of
beautiful hills.
The first house was a cedar pole shanty built in 1830 by Linus Jacox.
Many newly arrived families lived there while they were building
cabins for themselves.
The Clark brothers platted the land in 1842 and gave the village its
name. Henry Ford had such a love for the village that he gave us our
first sewer system downtown. Ford owned several pieces of property in
the area, including what is now the township hall, land around Deer
Lake (where Edsel used to toboggan), the property where Clarkston
Mills Mall is, and at least one house. Ford used the Township Hall as
a factory to make vehicle upholstery, and used the third floor as a
dance hall.
Evidence of Independence Township's past is scattered throughout its
36 square miles. There are Victorian farm houses built in the 1880's
and 1890's; Gothic homes from the last third of the 19th century. Farm
building from other eras dot the countryside.
Some of the historic houses have unusual stories to tell. One, built
in 1875 on Maybee Road, is alleged to be inhabited by the ghost of a
baby of the Voorheis family who lived there. The baby dies in infancy
and it has been reported the sound of a crying child can sometimes be
heard in the house. The Queen Anne style train station constructed in
1851 when the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad came to the southeast
corner of the township is now a theater used by the Clarkston Village
Players.
The first church, a well-preserved example of the Greek Revival built
in 1856 with wood brought by sleigh from Lapeer and Knights Mills for
a Presbyterian congregation, is on Maybee Road.
In 1834 a schoolhouse was built in the Sashabaw Plains area. Miss
Eliza Holcomb was the teacher. In 1840, citizens of the Pine Knob area
built their own school at a cost of $90. It was called Piney School
because it sat among an unusually large stand of pine trees. Parents
were assessed two cents for each day their children attended. The
building still stands on Clintonville Road.
Various businesses operated throughout the township, too. Sawmills,
grist mills, black smith shops, small stores, and taverns were
established in the northwest quadrant of the Clarkston Saginaw Trail
area and the Sashabaw Plains area during the 19th century.
As Wayne County became more industrialized at the turn of the century,
families sought relief from both the congestion of the metropolitan
area and the summer heat. Many of the lakes of the township became
meccas for tourists. Resorts were built, and as a result, the
reputation of these summer resorts increased in the 1920's.
The economic system of the village of Clarkston was built around
agriculture in its early years as the surrounding territory was rich
farming land. By the 1930's that changed. As farming declined
manufacturing became the source of livelihood for the population of
southeastern Michigan.
With the rise of manufacturing, and later service industries, and the
availability of automobiles for nearly everyone, Clarkston's new role
has come to be that of supplying housing for the people who travel
elsewhere to their jobs.
In her book, Heritage, Jennifer Radcliff, says "(this is) A
community deeply involved in church and school, greatly concerned with
housing and neighborhood planning."
