Joshua Simmons Farm

Joshua Simmons Farm is a Michigan historical marker in Livonia, Wayne County, dedicated 1997.

38125 Eight Mile Road, Livonia

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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.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1796 · N. W. Territory. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1819 · Ohio & Indiana (H. S. Tanner, 1819) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1820 · Ohio (Bourne & Kilbourne, 1820) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1823 · Ohio (1823) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · (Map of Wayne County, Michigan) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

N. W. Territory, 1796, covering the location of Joshua Simmons Farm, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — N. W. Territory, 1796, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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Joshua Simmons Farm

Historical maps covering this location

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