Mill Race Historical Village / Mill Race Historical Village

In 1827 John Miller built a gristmill on this site. The structure was replaced by the Northville Mills in 1847. In 1919 mill owner Donald P. Yerkes sold the site to Henry Ford who razed the structure and built a valve factory across Griswold Street one year later. The factory was one of Ford’s village industries, a group of rural plants that manufactured small automobile parts. The Ford Motor Company donated the land to the city of Northville in 1972 for use as a historical village. The Mill Race Historical Village was established in 1972 as a site for relocating buildings faced with demolition. That year the city of Northville donated the New School Church to the Northville Historical Society and it was the first structure moved to this site. The society’s focus has been the preservation and display of architectural styles and furnishings of the nineteenth century. The Gazebo and Hirsch Blacksmith Shop are reproduction buildings.