A Brief History of Oakland Township

Formation of Oakland Township

The political boundaries familiar today mark a much smaller area than the original township. When the first divisions were made in 1820, the upper three-fifths of Oakland County were designated Oakland Township, while the lower two-fifths became Bloomfield Township.

Under an 1827 act of the Michigan Territorial Legislature, Oakland Township lost ten townships but still included the areas that became Addison, Oxford, Orion, Oakland, and Avon. As settlement increased, the boundaries changed several more times. By the time Michigan became a state in 1837, Oakland Township had reached approximately its present size.

Early Settlement

The elevated and generally regular landscape, broken by creeks and streams, attracted early land buyers. After the federal land office opened in 1818, William Russell and Benjamin Woodworth purchased parcels in Section 33 on March 16, 1819.

Additional parcels were purchased in 1824 and 1825, but permanent settlement accelerated in 1826 when settlers began constructing log cabins.

Early settlers included Asa Baker, Benedict Baldwin, Needham Hemingway, Josiah Dewey, Jeremiah Hunt, Joel Potter, Samuel Tower, Russell Thurston, Ezra Newman, Ira and David Hammond, and James Coleman. Many came from Monroe County, New York, and settled in the western portion of the township.

Ezra Brewster arrived the following year with his sons Peter, Owen, Stephen, and Allen. William Snell came from New England in 1829, while William M. Axford, who later became Oakland Township's first supervisor, came from New Jersey.

Other settlers arriving during the 1830s included Isaac Sisson, Ludlow Shadbolt, Calvin and William Fosdick, Jonathan Carpenter, Job Sherman, Sanford Swayze, Peter Kline, Martin Vail, John Rodenbo, John Taylor, members of the Shoup, Hixson, and Flumerfelt families, Christopher Cole, and Jacob Perry.

Anderson Farm, Letts Road, circa 1870.

The photograph shows the dairy and orchard industries that became important parts of Oakland Township's agricultural economy.

Other early settlers included the Bromley brothers, Sewell and Boswell, from Vermont; Aaron Cook; Abraham Axford; David Brooks; Stephen Parish; Moses and George Snover; George Mercer; David Covel; Ira Youngs; and William Chapman. Many became prominent farmers and citizens, and descendants of several families remained in Oakland Township and neighboring communities.

Schools & Education

Schools appeared early in the township's development. A log schoolhouse was constructed in Section 29 in 1827. Historical accounts describe a large fireplace capable of holding six-foot logs and simple slab seats with legs made from saplings growing on the property.

In 1836, a log schoolhouse was built in Section 8 for families living in northern Oakland Township. That same year, another school built of tamarack logs served the Kline settlement near Rochester and Stoney Creek Roads.

By 1877, nine school districts existed wholly or partially within the township: Carpenter, Bigler, Clifton, Mt. Vernon, Snell, Kline, Baldwin, Eaton, and Brewster.

Baldwin School on Bannister Road was dedicated in the spring of 1927. Its predecessor had operated for nearly a century as a one-room school at Orion and Gunn Roads. On moving day, students marched from the old school to the new building while the old school bell rang continuously.

In 1952, much of Oakland Township consolidated with Rochester schools, while other areas joined Lake Orion and Romeo school districts.

Churches & Cemeteries

Early religious groups initially met in homes and schoolhouses. Revival meetings were recorded at Baldwin School in 1827. The Kline school became a meeting place for Methodists in 1837.

In 1855, the Methodists built St. John's Church at Buell and Rochester Roads. The building was later moved to Collins Road in Goodison in 1887.

Presbyterians began meeting at Kline School in 1854 and constructed a church at Stoney Creek and Rochester Roads the following year. The cemetery beside that former church site remains today.

Kline Presbyterian Cemetery and Bigler Cemetery later became township-owned cemeteries. Paint Creek Cemetery, formerly known as Baldwin Cemetery, remained under the Paint Creek Cemetery Association.

Other churches serving township residents included Oakland Baptist Church at Adams and Dutton Roads, the Seventh-day Adventist congregation on Dutton near Livernois, and Baptist and Methodist churches in Mt. Vernon.

Township Government

Early township meetings were held in Rochester, which was then part of Oakland Township. The first annual meeting within the present township boundaries took place in 1835 at the home of William Snell.

Meetings continued in private homes until 1855, when a township building was constructed in Section 15 on Buell Road. During the early twentieth century, Gleaner Hall on Collins Road served as a political and social center.

The township hall in Goodison was built in 1938 of cement block with an English Tudor influence common to municipal buildings of the era. It served as a location for township meetings and community events and was later expanded to accommodate township offices.

Goodison & the Post Office

A post office was established in Goodison in 1874. L. P. Tower served as its first postmaster. Later postmasters included William Goodison Jr., William Toms, Mary Toms Barkham, Ellen Collins, and Mrs. Blair.

The post office did not have a permanent building of its own and operated from several local stores. One remembered location was Billy Wangalien's store beside the Goodison Mill.

Wangalien and his son-in-law Art Fox later built another store across the road on the site of the present Rochester Gear Works. The building was moved to Territorial Road in 1950.

Mills, Water Power & Local Industry

The Goodison Grist Mill on Paint Creek was built in 1835 by Needham Hemingway. Instead of relying upon a conventional mill pond, Hemingway created a mill race extending approximately half a mile upstream.

Water traveled beneath Gallagher Road into the mill basement, where it powered a turbine connected to machinery on the upper floors.

William Goodison enlarged and improved the mill in 1877. Later owners included William Toms, Sam Barnes, Maurice Collins, and Frank Voll. The mill stopped grinding during World War II and, after more than a century of service, was eventually dismantled. The present Paint Creek Cider Mill was later constructed on the site.

Other Mills

Stoney Creek powered two additional mills. The James Hersey Saw Mill stood near East Gunn Road in Section 23. Arnon Baker built it in 1836, and James Hersey purchased it in 1839.

A second saw and grist mill stood approximately half a mile south where Stoney Creek crossed Snell Road into Section 26. Built during the 1830s, it remained in the Wilber family for four generations.

Blacksmiths & Craftsmen

Blacksmith shops included Gerilot's on West Predmore, Dernberger's — later Campbell's — at Rochester and Romeo Roads, Metz's at Dequindre and Inwood, Halsted's on Silverbell, and Maurice Collins's shop in Goodison.

Other local craftsmen included William Toms, who worked as a cobbler from his Collins Road home, and Frank Kremer, who built buggies and wagons in a shop beside his house on Dutton Road.

Railroads & Transportation

The Detroit and Bay City Railroad was constructed through Oakland Township in 1872 and established a flag station at Goodison. Because the grist mill and post office were operated by members of the Goodison family, the crossing became known as "Goodison's Station."

Freight sidings served the community, while farmers shipped grain and potatoes to market. Passenger service connected the area with Bay City until approximately 1950, when passenger rail service ended and diesel locomotives replaced steam engines.

A branch of the Detroit United Railway, an electric interurban line, opened through Goodison in 1900 and continued north toward Orion, Oxford, and Flint.

In Goodison, the tracks followed what is now Territorial Road. Local dairy farmers delivered milk cans to the railway for shipment to Detroit creameries.

Students also rode the line to high schools in Orion and Rochester. The passenger fare was five cents, and weekend excursion cars carried visitors to Lake Orion.

The rise of automobiles and trucks reduced use of the railway, and service ended in 1933.

A Changing Township

As the twentieth century progressed, Oakland Township continued to change. New residents were attracted by its rural character, historic landscape, rolling land, and streams.

Residential development began appearing in former farm fields, while farming itself evolved with new machinery and changing land use. Yet the township's rural and agricultural past remains visible throughout the community.