From Fox Farm to 1800s Themed Mall to The Village Today, the northeast corner of Adams Road and Walton Boulevard is the home of the Village of Rochester Hills, an outdoor shopping destination. Longtime residents of the area will recall that the predecessor of the Village of Rochester Hills was MeadowBrook Village Mall, an enclosed shopping center that occupied the location for about a quarter century. Detroit Silver Fox Farms However, long before either of the shopping centers was built, … [Read more...]
The Hamlin Family Legacy
August 21, 2018 by 5 Comments
The Story of the Hamlin Name in the Rochester Area Hamlin Road, Hamlin School, Hamlin Place Farms Subdivision – even Hamlin Pub – all owe their names to a pioneer settler of Avon Township (now Rochester Hills) named John Fairchild Hamlin. The immigrant ancestor of John F. Hamlin settled in the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1640. Some branches of the family moved on to New York State, where John Fairchild Hamlin was born in the Finger Lakes region in 1799. Hamlin family footprints are … [Read more...]
The History of Winchester Mall
July 17, 2018 by 47 Comments
The Winchester shopping center at Avon & Rochester roads is now in the process of entering its third incarnation as a retail development. Earlier this year, the owners sought approval from the City of Rochester Hills for another makeover of the site. An Art Van furniture store will occupy space that has been vacant since the K-Mart store closed in December 2014. The plan also calls for new outbuildings to house an Aldi grocery and a restaurant, as well as a complete redesign of the parking … [Read more...]
How Wilcox Street Was Named
May 22, 2018 by 2 Comments
Do you know the story behind the name of Rochester’s Wilcox Street? Early Avon Township settler Lyman J. Willcox and his son Elliot R. Willcox owned part of the land through which Wilcox Street now runs. According to an 1883 account in the Pontiac Gazette, Lyman Willcox left New York City with nothing but a rifle and a pack on his back and walked westward, traversing Ontario, and finally coming to Michigan. He stopped first in Troy Township and then settled in Avon Township in 1824, where … [Read more...]
Water-Powered Mills of the Rochester Area
January 30, 2018 by 3 Comments
Mill Town Heritage of Rochester and Avon Township The real estate professional’s mantra that “location is everything” was as true in Rochester’s pioneer days as it is today. Long before the James Graham party led white settlers to today’s Oakland County, its hospitable lakes and streams and the excellent fishing they offered drew native people to the area. Water also attracted the Grahams and those who followed them. It was an essential element to sustain life, and it would power the new … [Read more...]
Christmas 1942 in Rochester, Remembering the Fight and Loss of the War
December 19, 2017 by 1 Comment
Virginia MacLeod and Christmas 1942 in Rochester Seventy-five years ago, Rochester’s Christmas season was a memorable one – for a tragic reason. The end of the first year of the Second World War brought with it rationing restrictions, worries about absent loved ones, and the shock of a wartime-related death that happened not overseas, but right here at home. There were no big, bright holiday lights on Rochester’s Main Street in December 1942. The news from the fighting fronts was … [Read more...]
The Battle for Avon Township, Rochester and Rochester Hills, A Tale of Two Cities
March 28, 2017 by 10 Comments
As we celebrate the founding of Rochester during 2017, we must also note that Rochester Hills shares the same anniversary. Both Rochester and Avon Township - today’s Rochester Hills - received their first non-native settlers in 1817. Some of the founding Graham family members built their home in what is now the City of Rochester. The rest of them moved out to the area that is now the intersection of Avon & Livernois Roads, becoming the first white settlers of what would become Avon … [Read more...]
Founders Day Kicks Off the Bicentennial Year for City of Rochester with VIDEO
March 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Founders Day, an annual event, was extra special this year. A larger-than-normal crowd gathered at the Rochester Hills Museum, not only to recognize six new "founders," but also to kick off the start to the City of Rochester's 200th year celebration. Founded on March 17, 1817 by James Graham, Rochester has grown, keeping up with the times, yet holding on to its past. "Small town feel" is alive and well in Rochester. This year's event was held in the 1927 Calf Barn of the Rochester Hills … [Read more...]
