Sheldon Inn

Sheldon Inn
Location 44134 Michigan Avenue, Canton Township, Michigan
Nearest city Sheldon, Michigan
Coordinates 42°16′31″N 83°28′28″W / 42.27528°N 83.47444°W / 42.27528; -83.47444Coordinates: 42°16′31″N 83°28′28″W / 42.27528°N 83.47444°W / 42.27528; -83.47444
Area 0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built 1825
Architectural style Greek Revival
MPS Canton Township MPS
NRHP Reference # 00000618[1]
Added to NRHP June 02, 2000

The Sheldon Inn is a two-story apartment building located at 44134 Michigan Avenue, in Sheldon Corners in Canton Township, Michigan. It was previously used as a single-family home and a travelers' inn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.[1]

History

The Sheldon Inn was built by Timothy and Rachel Sheldon. The couple moved from Monroe County, New York, with all their possessions in a wagon.[2] They had intended to settle further to the west, but when they camped for the night on the Chicago Road, two days from Detroit, they were impressed with the surrounding area and decided to settle there in Canton Township.[2] On June 6, 1825, the couple purchased 160 acres (65 ha) near their overnight camping spot, including the property on which this building now sits. They were the third landowners in Sheldon Township, filing their claim only a week after the first two.[2]

The Sheldons built a Greek Revival home on their land, and the building almost immediately became an inn, serving the influx of travellers and settlers spreading westward from Detroit.[3] The Sheldons farmed the surrounding land, and soon the hamlet of Sheldon Corners grew around the inn.[2] Sheldon's Corners soon became a thriving community, helped in part by the 1829 establishment of South Territorial (now Geddes) Road, which began at Sheldon's Corners.[2] South Territorial was established by legislative act, reading in part:[4]

Be it enacted by the Legistative Council of the Territory of Michigan, That there shall be a territorial road laid out and established commencing in the Chicago Road, at or near the Inn of Timothy S. Sheldon, in the township of Plymouth, in the county of Wayne, thence west on the most direct and eligible route, through the village of Ann Arbor, by Samuel Clements' to Grand River, where the St. Joseph Trail crosses the same, and also through the Coghwagiac and Grand praries, thence westerly on the most eligible route to, or near the Paw Paw, to the mouth of the St. Joseph River of Lake Michigan...

In 1830, Timothy Sheldon became postmaster of the area's post office,[5] and the next year, Rachel Sheldon purchased an additional 80 acres (32 ha) adjacent to this property.[3] The hamlet eventually boasted a log schoolhouse, two general stores, two churches, a cemetery, a cobbler and three blacksmiths.[2][5]

The Sheldons added a one-story wing to the house in the 1830s for an unmarried sister.[3] Timothy Sheldon served as a state legislator in 1839 and Director of the Poor in 1841 and 1845.[2] The ownership of the Sheldon Inn eventually passed to Charles Sines, Timothy Sheldon's nephew, who sold the house to Charles and Anne Morton c. 1890.[6]

The former Sheldon Inn is now a two-unit apartment building.[3]

Description

The Sheldon Inn is a two-story, side-gable Greek Revival house located on a 1/4 acre lot, and sitting a few feet behind what was once its original location. The house has been altered since its construction, but still exhibits the Greek Revival cornice return detail on the side gable. The 1830s one-story addition is still extant, and a porch running the width of the house was added in the 1930s.[3] Two small additions are located in the rear.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kosky and Glynn Associates (April 2000), Historic and Architectural Resources of Canton Township Multiple Property Submission Nomination Form (PDF), National Park Service, pp. 6, 12, 14
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sheldon Inn". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  4. ↑ State of Michigan (1874), Laws of the territory of Michigan, Volume 2, W.S. George & Co., p. 744
  5. 1 2 "Sheldon's Corners Informational Designation". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  6. ↑ Gerald C. Van Dusen (2006), Canton Township, Arcadia Publishing, p. 16,81, ISBN 0-7385-4098-6

See also

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