Harsen House

Harsen House is a Michigan historical marker in Harsens Island, St. Clair County, dedicated 1977.

2006 Golf Course Road, Harsens Island

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This house belonged to the family of Jacob Harsen. A gunsmith and fur trader who arrived here about 1778, Harsen was the first white settler on the island. On this site he built a log home, which was destroyed by a gunpowder explosion. The present structure, erected around 1800 and subsequently enlarged and altered, housed his descendents until the 1940s. The Harsen family once owned all of the island which bears their name.

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

1778 · The Western Parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1805 · New York (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1819 · Ohio & Indiana (H. S. Tanner, 1819) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · (Map of St. Clair County, Michigan) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1914 · Algonac, Michigan (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

The Western Parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina, 1778, covering the location of Harsen House, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — The Western Parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina, 1778, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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