State Of Michigan Historical Markers In Livonia
There are eight State of Michigan Historical Markers in Livonia. The marker
program was established in 1955. The program is a part of the Michigan
History Center, Department of Natural Resources.The Michigan Historical
Commission oversees the program. Details are available at:
https://www.michigan.gov/mhc/historical-markers
Clarenceville School District / Louis E. Schmidt Auditorium
Registered Site S0672
Clarenceville School District
The Clarenceville School District originated as Fractional School District No. 5
in 1837 and served the children of present-day Livonia, Farmington Hills and
Redford. The village of Clarenceville was the last stagecoach stop on the
Lansing to Detroit plank road, and was named for Postmaster Thomas Clarency,
who owned what became the Botsford Inn. In 1907 the post office closed but
the school district, the inn and the cemetery remained.
Louis E. Schmidt Auditorium
Louis E. Schmidt Auditorium was home to the Clarenceville Jazz Series from
1969 to 1982. Jazz greats like Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Harry
Jones, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, and Maynard Ferguson performed here,
and held workshops for middle and high school students. Built in 1968, the
auditorium was named for Louis E. Schmidt, who served as school
superintendent from 1948 to 1966 and in the Michigan House of
Representatives from 1967 to 1968.
Erected 2001
Location: 20155 Middlebelt Road
Livonia, Wayne County
Latitude: 42.4349431, Longitude: -83.3370226
Cooper School
Cooper School
Registered Site L1578
Cooper School
The original Cooper School was built sometime between 1836 and 1841 on a
farm owned by Gilbert Cooper at the corner of present-day Ann Arbor Trail and
Middlebelt Road. The Coopers were Nankin Township pioneers who owned a
sawmill on the Rouge River. Cooper School became Fractional No. 1 of Nankin
and Livonia in 1849. In 1865 the district built a one-room schoolhouse on land
leased from Cooper’s son Loren. It was replaced in 1938 with a three-room
brick structure. Over the years the school expanded to seventeen rooms and was
annexed to the Livonia Public Schools in 1957. A fourth school was built in By this time, Cooper School’s origins and the Cooper family had been
forgotten. In 1987, as a Michigan sesquicentennial project, Cooper teachers and
parents researched the school’s history and discovered its pioneer namesakes.
Erected 1987
Location: 28611 Ann Arbor Trail
Westland, Wayne County
Latitude: 42.349118, Longitude: -83.324709
Joshua Simmons Farm
Registered Site L0139
Joshua Simmons Farm
In 1824 Joshua Simmons of Bristol, New York, obtained a patent from the
federal government for 160 acres of land in Livonia Township. Simmons and
his wife, Hannah, were among the township’s earliest white settlers. Their first
home was a log shanty, built in 1826. In 1841 they constructed this house in the
Greek Revival style, popular in New York State. The farm was named Meadow
Brook. Joshua Simmons (1801 ~ 1882) hewed lumber to build the earliest barns
and mills in Livonia Farmington and Plymouth. He continued to acquire
acreage, becoming one of Livonia’s most prominent landholders. In 1920
Sherwin and Jean Boyd Hill purchased the farm and renamed it Greenmead.
The city of Livonia acquired the property in 1976 as a park. The Joshua
Simmons Farm is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Erected 1997
Location: 38125 Eight Mile Road
Livonia, Wayne County
Latitude: 42.439375, Longitude: -83.419969
Lawrence Simmons House
Lawrence Simmons House
Registered Site L1110
Lawrence Simmons House
Constructed in 1861, this is one of the three houses that Livonia farmer Joshua Simmons had built for
his three sons. Lawrence Simmons, for whom this house was built, lived here for twelve years. He,
like the elder Simmons, was a farmer. The house was designed by local carpenter and architect
Serguis P. Lyon, who was also an undertaker, a stove manufacturer and founder of the Farmington
Universalist Church. The handsome Victorian style stone structure displays seven different
“gingerbread” designs in the trim.
Erected 1985
Location: 33742 Twelve Mile Road
Farmington Hills, Oakland County
Latitude: 42.498554, Longitude: -83.381136
Livonia Revolutionary War Veterans
Registered Site L0395
Livonia Revolutionary War Veterans
This marker commemorates three American Revolutionary War soldiers who lived and died in
Livonia. David Dean was born in 1763 and enlisted in the New York militia in 1778. Dean settled in
Livonia around 1836 where he died in 1838. A native of Connecticut, born in 1755, Salmon Kingsley
belonged to a company of minutemen who aided in the defense of Boston. Kingsley came to Livonia
in 1825 where he died two years later. Born in New York about 1763, Jeremiah Klumph was a
messenger in Washington’s army. Klumph lived in Livonia from 1836 until his death in 1855. These
men were a few of the many Revolutionary veterans who settled in the west. All three journeyed with
their families and settled in this area.
Erected 1977
Location: Wayne and West Seven Mile
Livonia, Wayne County
Latitude: 42.4258561, Longitude: -83.394797
Newburg Methodist Church
Registered Site L1922
Newburg Methodist Church
By 1834 there were two religious societies in Newburg, one Methodist and one Congregational. The
Methodist society was part of the Plymouth Circuit and served by itinerant ministers. The Reverend
Marcus Swift was the first pastor. A strident anti-slavery advocate, Swift openly criticized the
Methodist conference for its silence on the issue. In 1841 he seceded. Methodists constructed their
first church in 1846. Two years later the Congregationalists built a church. Each society hosted
worship services on alternate Sundays. In 1888 the two organizations merged under the Methodist
name and worshipped in the former Congregational Church. The society grew rapidly during World
War II, 1941-45. The present parsonage, sanctuary and educational wing were erected in 1962.
Erected 1995
Location: 36500 Ann Arbor Trail
Livonia, Wayne County
Latitude: 42.3596795, Longitude: -83.4027019
Newburgh Cemetery
Registered Site L0036
Newburgh Cemetery
An organization, later known as the Newburgh Union Cemetery Society, was formed on Nov. 23,
1832, to establish and maintain this cemetery, the first in the present city of Livonia. One grave, that
of Salmon Kingsley, a veteran of the American Revolution who died in 1827, already existed here. In
the century that followed, three other Revolutionary War veterans, more than fifty Civil War veterans
and other early residents were buried here in these grounds, a treasured reminder of the pioneer era.
Erected 1964
Location: 36000 Ann Arbor Trail
Livonia, Wayne County
Latitude: 42.3574419, Longitude: -83.3990031
Wilson Barn
Registered Site L0261
Wilson Barn
This barn was constructed in 1919 on the burnt-out foundation of an earlier structure built about 1888.
It is a fine example of an increasingly rare bank barn style. Here on the farm owned and operated by
his family since 1847, Ira Wilson built a million-dollar enterprise which grew from dairy farming, to
delivery, to full creamery operations. By his death in 1944 the business had become “one of the
district’s leading creameries.” Wilson also held several local elective offices.
Erected 1974
Location: Middlebelt at West Chicago Road
Livonia, Wayne County
Latitude: 42.3624820, Longitude: -83.3320686