This article attempts to list the oldest extant buildings in the state of Michigan in the United States. Some dates are approximate and based upon dendochronology, architectural studies, and historical records.
To be listed here a site must:
Name | Image | Location | Date of Construction | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Officer's Stone Quarters of Fort Mackinac | Mackinac Island | 1780 | Military | Oldest structure within the fort and oldest building in Michigan. | |
McGulpin House | Mackinac Island | c. 1780 | Residential | Architectural style could predate 1780. Relocated in 1981. Rare example of French-Canadian architecture in Michigan. Oldest house in Michigan. | |
Biddle House | Mackinac Island | c. 1780 | Residential/fur trading | Restored in 1959. [1] | |
William Tucker Residence | Harrison Township | C.1784 | Residential | After being kidnapped and raised by a local Chippewa tribe from age eleven to age eighteen, William Tucker was given 18 square miles of land by the tribe, who later helped him build a log cabin on the land to become his residence. The home has since been refaced with brick, but parts of the original structure remain intact beneath. [2] | |
Navarre-Anderson Trading Post | Frenchtown Charter Township | 1789 | Trading post | Oldest building in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. | |
Cookhouse at Navarre-Anderson Trading Post complex | Frenchtown Charter Township | 1810 | Cookhouse, food preparation | ||
Robert Stuart House | Mackinac Island | 1817 | Residential | Home of American Fur Company agent Robert Stuart. | |
John Johnston House | Sault Ste. Marie | 1822 | Residential | Home of North West Company fur trader John Johnston. Oldest building in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. | |
John W. Hunter House | Birmingham | 1822 | Residential | ||
James H. Murray House | Linden | c. 1823 | Residential | Greek Revival house of James H. Murray. | |
Mission House | Mackinac Island | 1825 | School/residential | Missionary constructed by William Montague Ferry and operated by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to spread Christianity to Native Americans. | |
Sheldon Inn | Canton | 1825 | Residential/inn | ||
Fort Gratiot Light | Port Huron | 1825 | Lighthouse | First lighthouse constructed in Michigan. | |
Edward Loranger House | Frenchtown Charter Township | 1825 | Residential | Considered to be one of the oldest unaltered structures in Michigan. | |
Charles Trowbridge House | Detroit | 1826 | Residential | Oldest documented building in the city of Detroit. [3] | |
Musgrove Evans House | Tecumseh | 1826 | Residential | Oldest building in Lenawee County. | |
Elmwood | Sault Ste. Marie | 1827 | Indian Affairs | Relocated and renovated in 1979. | |
William Starkweather House | Plymouth | 1828 | Residential | Built by Plymouth's first settler, William Starkweather, the house at 150 S. Union Street, is the oldest house in Plymouth. It is still functional and occupied. | |
Mission Church | Mackinac Island | 1829 | Religious | Oldest surviving church In Michigan. | |
Barn at Joshua Simmons' farm | Livonia | 1829 | Farm building | ||
Wing–Allore House | Monroe | 1829 | Residential | Former home of Austin Eli Wing and his descendants. Now a funeral parlor. | |
Ward-Holland House | Marine City | 1830 | Residential | Former home of shipbuilders Samuel Ward and Robert Holland. | |
Funke-Bregger Livery | Bangor | 1830 | Residential | Former Stagecoach Livery | |
Land Office | White Pigeon | 1831 | Government | Former United States General Land Office agency on the Sauk Trail. | |
Caswell House | Troy | 1832 | Residential | ||
Murdoch Log House | Berrien Springs | 1832 | Residential | Original county seat of Berrien County. | |
Thunder Bay Island Light | Alpena | 1832 | Lighthouse | ||
Walker Tavern | Cambridge Township | c. 1832 | Residential/tavern | ||
Commandant's Quarters | Dearborn | 1833 | Military | Originally a U.S. Army supply depot. | |
Bagley Inn | Bloomfield Hills | 1833 | Residential/tavern | ||
St. Mary's Church | Monroe | 1834 | Religious | ||
Joseph Campau House | Detroit | 1835 | Residential | ||
Governor John S. Barry House | Constantine | 1835 | Residential | ||
Marantette House | Mendon | 1835 | Residential | ||
Sharon Mill | Manchester | 1835 | Agricultural | ||
Raisin Valley Friends Meetinghouse | Adrian | 1835 | Religious | ||
Ticknor-Campbell House | Ann Arbor | 1835 | Residential | ||
Old Tavern Inn | Niles | c. 1835 | Tavern | Oldest business in Michigan [4] | |
Hubbard-Kesby House | Milford | c. 1835 | Residential | ||
Botsford Inn | Farmington | 1836 | Tavern | ||
Calkins law office | Grand Rapids | 1836 | law office | ||
Orrin White House | Ann Arbor | 1836-1840 | Residential | ||
St. Marks Episcopal | Grand Rapids | 1836 | Religious | ||
Rogers Mansion | Wyoming MI | 1836 | Residential | Oldest house in Kent county. | |
Indian Dormitory | Mackinac Island | 1837 | Residential/school | Constructed as a dormitory for Native Americans visiting the Indian agency on Mackinac Island. Now known as the Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum. | |
St. Ignace Mission | St. Ignace | 1837 | Religious | Oldest Roman Catholic church in Michigan. Relocated in 1954. | |
Franklin Cider Mill | Franklin | 1837 | Agricultural | ||
Trombley House | Bay City | c. 1837 | Residential | Oldest frame house still standing in Bay County. Relocated to Veterans Memorial Park in 1981. | |
Andrews-Leggett House | Commerce Township | c. 1837 | Residential | ||
Indian Dormitory | Mackinac Island | 1838 | Residential/ Governmental | ||
Rogers house | Wyoming, MI | 1838-1839 | Residential | originally built in 1838, burned down and rebuilt in 1839. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2015/05/the_rogers_mansion_said_to_be.html | |
Governor's Mansion | Marshall | 1839 | Residential | House built by Whig politician J. Wright Gordon in a campaign to make Marshall the state capital. | |
Berrien Springs Courthouse | Berrien Springs | 1839 | Governmental | Oldest courthouse in Michigan. | |
Judge Robert S. Wilson House | Ann Arbor | c. 1839 | Residential | ||
South Manitou Island Lighthouse | South Manitou Island | 1839-40 | Lighthouse | ||
President's House, University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | 1840 | Residential | The oldest building at Michigan's oldest university, the University of Michigan. [5] | |
Old Presque Isle Light | Presque Isle | 1840 | Lighthouse | ||
Smith's Chapel | Niles | 1840 | Religious | ||
Governor Robert McClelland House | Monroe | 1841 | Residential | Former home of Robert McClelland. | |
Joshua Simmons House | Livonia | 1841 | Residential | Another house on the farm may have been built in 1826 | |
Dougherty Mission House | Old Mission | 1842 | Residential | Oldest frame building in Grand Traverse County and one of the oldest in northern Michigan. | |
Paw Paw City Hall | Paw Paw | 1842 | Government | Relocated in 1900. | |
St. Augustine Catholic Church | Hartland Township | 1843 | Religious | ||
Paine Bank | Niles | 1843 | Commercial | ||
Ladies' Literary Club Building | Ypsilanti | c. 1843 | Residential | ||
Abram W. Pike House | Grand Rapids | 1844 | Residential | ||
Old Wing Mission | Holland | 1844 | Residential/ Religious | Originally a Presbyterian mission. Oldest house in Holland, Michigan. | |
Some buildings at Fort Wilkins Historic State Park | Copper Harbor | 1844 | Military | U.S. Army fort built to provide law enforcement and navigation on Lake Superior during the Michigan copper boom. | |
Ballard-Breakey House | Ypsilanti | 1845 | Residential | Construction may have started in 1830s | |
1244 Randolph | Detroit | c. 1845 | Commercial | A rare surviving commercial building in Detroit dating from the 1840s. | |
Rudolph Nims House | Monroe | 1846 | Residential | ||
Lapeer County Courthouse | Lapeer | 1846 | Courthouse | Oldest registered property in Lapeer County. | |
Pillar Church | Holland | 1847 | Religious | ||
Sessions Schoolhouse | Ionia | 1847 | School | Often considered the oldest schoolhouse in Michigan. Restored in 1918. | |
Barracks of Fort Wayne | Detroit | 1848 | Military | Fortress constructed due to tensions with British Canada during the Patriot War and used during the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and much of the Cold War. Oldest remaining military structure in Detroit. | |
Sibley House | Detroit | 1848 | Residential | Original home of Solomon Sibley. | |
Saints Peter and Paul Church | Detroit | 1848 | Religious | Original cathedral of the Diocese of Detroit and campus of the University of Detroit-Mercy. | |
Mariners' Church | Detroit | 1849 | Religious | Episcopal parish church in Downtown Detroit serving foreign mariners on the Great Lakes. | |
Detroit is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 census, making it the 29th-most populous city in the United States. The Metro Detroit area, home to 4.3 million people, is the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area and the 14th-largest in the United States. A significant cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music, art, architecture and design, in addition to its historical automotive background.
Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It borders Wisconsin to the northwest in the Upper Peninsula, and Indiana and Ohio to the south in the Lower Peninsula; it is also connected by Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie to Minnesota and Illinois, and the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of 96,716 sq mi (250,490 km2), Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the largest by area east of the Mississippi River. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. The name derives from a gallicized variant of the original Ojibwe word ᒥᓯᑲᒥ, meaning "large water" or "large lake".
The University of Michigan is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Michigan is one of the earliest American research universities and is a founding member of the Association of American Universities. In the fall of 2023, the university enrolled over 52,000 students.
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Wayne State University is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 24,000 graduate and undergraduate students. Wayne State University, along with the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, compose the University Research Corridor of Michigan. Wayne State is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
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Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit (Sainte-Anne-de-Détroit) was founded July 26, 1701 by French colonists in New France, and is the second-oldest continuously operating Roman Catholic parish in the United States. The current Gothic Revival cathedral-styled church, built in 1886, is located at 1000 St. Anne Street in Detroit, Michigan, in the Hubbard-Richard neighborhood, near the Ambassador Bridge, and the Michigan Central Station. At one time it was the seat of a diocese that included French territory in Ontario, Canada south of the Detroit River.
The Michigan State University College of Law is the law school of Michigan State University, a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the first law school in the Detroit, Michigan area and the second in the state of Michigan. In October 2018, the college began a process to fully integrate into Michigan State University, changing from a private to a public law school. The integration with Michigan State University was finalized on August 17, 2020.
Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third-largest stadium in the world, and the 34th-largest sports venue in the world. Its official capacity is 107,601, but it has hosted crowds in excess of 115,000.
Cadillac Place, formerly the General Motors Building, is a landmark high-rise office complex located at 3044 West Grand Boulevard in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It was renamed for the French founder of Detroit, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. It is a National Historic Landmark in Michigan, listed in 1985.
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The Michigan State Capitol is the building that houses the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the portion of the state capital of Lansing which lies in Ingham County.
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The architecture of metropolitan Detroit continues to attract the attention of architects and preservationists alike. With one of the world's recognizable skylines, Detroit's waterfront panorama shows a variety of architectural styles. The post-modern neogothic spires of One Detroit Center refer to designs of the city's historic Art Deco skyscrapers. Together with the Renaissance Center, they form the city's distinctive skyline.
Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse is an active lighthouse located in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located along the shores of Lake Huron on the northeastern tip of the Thumb. Originally constructed in 1848, it is one of the oldest active lighthouses in the state. The name is translated as "point of little boats" from the French language, which refers to the shallow coastline that poses a threat to larger boats.
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