The Main Street Historic District is a commercial historic district that includes structures located at 3-153 East Main Street, 1-41 West Main Street, and 8 Park Lane in Milan, Michigan. Although within Milan, the district spans the county line between

Washtenaw County, Michigan Washtenaw County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the United States 2020 Census, 2020 census, the population was 372,258. The county seat and largest city is Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor. The ...

and

Monroe County, Michigan Monroe County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 154,809. The largest city and county seat is Monroe, Michigan, Monroe. The county was establi ...

, containing structures within both counties. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1999.

History

Milan was first settled in 1830, located at a point on the Saline River and on the Monroe-Saline

plank road A plank road is a road composed of Plank (wood), wooden planks or wikt:puncheon#Noun, puncheon logs, as an efficient technology for traversing soft, marshy, or otherwise difficult ground. Plank roads have been built since antiquity, and were comm ...

. A

toll booth A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll plaza, tollga ...

was placed on the

, collecting tolls that were used for road maintenance. As commerce flowed along the plank road, Milan quickly grew. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established in 1833, a

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

and

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

(later incorporated into

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

's village industries)) a few years later, and the first school opened in 1837. One of the first stores built in the downtown commercial district was the Ellis Building, constructed in 1845 by Elijah Ellis. Major fires in the commercial district destroyed buildings in 1891 and 1893.

Structures

The structures in the Main Street Historic District are primarily commercial in nature. However, the district also includes structures originally built as a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

, meeting hall, and

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. Significant structures include: Stimpson Hotel/Danube Inn (24 W. Main): The Stimpson Hotel was built by Walter Stimpson in 1901. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 2011. Ellis Building (12 E. Main): The Ellis Building was constructed by Elijah Ellis in 1845, and is the oldest building in the district. (52 E. Main) This was built in 1906 by Dr. Emmet Pyle built for use as his home, medical office, and hospital. Post Office (123 E. Main) The post office was dedicated in 1959. Old Village Hall and Fire Station (153 East Main Street): The Old Village Hall And Fire Station was built in 1897, and was the first structure in the village built for municipal purposes. It is a two-story gross-gable brick building; it originally housed the fire department on the ground floor and village offices on the second. It is now the home of the Milan Area Historical Society. Marble Memorial United Methodist Church (8 Park Lane): The cornerstone of the Marble Memorial United Methodist Church (originally the Methodist Episcopal Church) was laid in 1888. A large addition was added to the church in 1955, an education wing was added in 1964−65, and a major renovation was undertaken in 1982.

References

External links

Milan Area Historical SocietyMilan Downtown Development AuthorityMap of downtown businessesMarble Memorial United Methodist Church
{{National Register of Historic Places Italianate architecture in Michigan Queen Anne architecture in Michigan Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Washtenaw County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Michigan