Cornelius G. Munger General Store / Cornelius G. Munger General Store

In 1817 one of the oldest towns in this area was settled and named for local pioneer Michael Vreelandt of New York. In 1838 Vreelandt was renamed Flat Rock. Around 1875 merchant Cornelius G. Munger built a general store on the east side of Detroit Street, just west of here at present-day Telegraph and Huron Roads. In 1885 he moved this building to the northwest corner of Telegraph and East Huron Roads next to the Munger Hotel, operated by his father, William. According to local tradition the Munger establishments were a stagecoach stop, and the store had the first public telephone between Detroit and Toledo. Serving as postmaster from 1885 to 1889, Cornelius Munger distributed mail from his store. The original service window remains. This building housed the Cornelius Munger General Store from 1875 until 1937 when the family closed the store with merchandise on the shelves. Lee’s Barber Shop occupied the site from 1949 to 1969. When that shop closed, the vacant building deteriorated and was slated for demolition. In 1976 the George Diamond family donated the store to the Flat Rock Historical Society with the condition that it be moved and used as a museum. The Munger general store is one of the city’s oldest commercial buildings and is a rare example of late nineteenth century detached false-front wood-framed commercial architecture. The historical society moved the structure to this site, donated by the Flat Rock School Board, and dedicated it as a museum in 1985.