The Sawyer House, also known as the Sawyer Homestead and in its previous incarnation as the Navarre House, is a city-owned house located at 320 East Front Street in

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It was listed as a

Michigan Historic Site The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office is one of 59 state historic preservation offices established according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that plays a role in implementing federal historic preservation policy in th ...

on June 19, 1975. The house 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 ...

on November 23, 1977, and is also part of the larger Old Village Historic District. The property was settled in as early as 1785 along the banks of the

River Raisin The River Raisin (, 'River of Sturgeon') is a river in southeast Michigan, United States, that flows in a generally easterly direction through Ice age, glacial sediments before emptying into Lake Erie. The River Raisin drainage basin covers app ...

, and it was the first piece of land settled by European explorers. There have been two different houses on the property since 1785. The first house on the property was built by early-French explorer Francois Navarre, who was the first European to settle the area that would later become Monroe. The property was given to Navarre from the native

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

tribe and served as the center of the new settlement. The Navarre House was famously used as the military headquarters for James Winchester, who commanded his troops during the ill-fated

Battle of Frenchtown The Battles of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, were a series of conflicts in Michigan Territory that took place from January 18–23, 1813, during the War of 1812. It was fought between the ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. The house had several different owners, but its namesake comes from Dr. Alfred Sawyer, who was a famous early proponents of

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...

. Dr. Sawyer lived on the property from 1859 to 1870. When the Navarre House was demolished in 1873 to make way for the current house, it was the oldest structure in the county. The Sawyer House, built in

Italianate architecture The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century ...

, replaced the Navarre House on the property in 1873. Timbers from the original Navarre House were used to create the stair banister in the Sawyer House. While Dr. Sawyer did not live in the house after 1870, the property remained in his family's ownership. His daughter, Jenny Toll Sawyer, gave the house to the city of Monroe in 1938. The house was used by a variety of organizations, such as the Monroe County Historical Museum,

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, the

Camp Fire Girls Camp Fire, formerly Camp Fire USA and originally Camp Fire Girls of America, is a co-ed youth development organization. Camp Fire was the first nonsectarian, multicultural organization for girls in America. It is now gender-inclusive, and its p ...

, and the

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

s. The house stood empty before a group of citizens pooled their private funds and restored the building, and creating an organization whose main reason for existence was the maintenance of the historic structure. Today, the house remains owned by the City of Monroe and is available for public use through the custodial group, called The Sawyer Homestead, a 501(c)3 group who collects rent to fund the house's upkeep.

Gallery

Image:SawyerHouse2.jpg Image:SawyerHouse3.jpg Image:SawyerHouse4.jpg Image:SawyerHouse5.jpg

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Monroe, Michigan Italianate architecture in Michigan Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Michigan in the War of 1812 Michigan State Historic Sites in Monroe County Houses completed in 1873 Houses in Monroe County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Michigan Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Michigan