Henry Stephens Memorial Library

Henry Stephens (1823-1886), a native of Dublin, Ireland, was a merchant, lumberman and financier. One of Almont’s earliest settlers, Stephens established the first mercantile business here. In 1845 he built a sawmill north of Lapeer. When the pine forests in this area were depleted, he moved to Richfield Township in Roscommon County, building a mill and founding the village of St. Helen. Stephens also had a summer home in Romeo. In 1916, his youngest son, Albert Stephens, offered to fund the construction of a library in honor of his father. The following year, local contractor Al Thayer erected this Georgian Revival building. An addition was erected in 1987. The library is part of the West St. Clair Street National Register Historic District.