Sue Silliman House / Sue Silliman House
This brick structure was built in the 1870s by Arthur Silliman, an early pioneer in the area, who came to Three Rivers in 1847. The lower level of the building served as Silliman’s blacksmith shop and the upper stories housed his family. Near this site a Potawatomi Indian trail crossed the St. Joseph. The confluence of the St. Joseph, Portage, and Rocky Rivers at this site gave Three Rivers its name.
Arthur Silliman deeded this property named “Riversby” to his daughter Sue in 1914. Sue Silliman was Three Rivers’s librarian and historian for forty-two years. During that time she also served on national, state, and local boards of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Before she died in 1945, she left to the people of this area her papers, the books she wrote including St. Joseph in Homespun, her home, and the memory of a life dedicated to public service.
Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Marker data: Michigan History Center
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