County note shelf
Livingston County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Livingston County. This shelf has 5 practical notes and 23 local stories.
28 notes
Read the county shelf
- History and cultureBrighton built the Imagination Station in five daysBrighton's Imagination Station, a roughly 10,000-square-foot wooden playground beside the Mill Pond downtown, was raised in 1995 by hundreds of community volunteers and has anchored the riverfront since.
- Home and propertyBuying on Hamburg's chain of lakes? You may help pay for the weedsMany Hamburg Township lake homes sit on the Huron River chain of lakes, where a township special assessment district bills waterfront owners for invasive-weed and algae control each year.
- History and cultureCleary started as a penmanship school in 1883Cleary University, whose flagship campus sits in Genoa Township near Howell, began in 1883 in Ypsilanti as the Cleary School of Penmanship and grew into a private business university.
- History and cultureFenton was named on a hand of cardsFenton, first settled as Dibbleville in 1834, takes its name from William Fenton, who by local tradition won the naming rights in an 1837 card game; the loser got LeRoy Street.
- History and cultureHowell's downtown won a national Main Street awardDowntown Howell, anchored by its 1890 courthouse, won a national Great American Main Street Award in 2018 and topped a USA Today readers' poll for best main street in 2024.
- OutdoorsIsland Lake: the state park where hot-air balloons take offIsland Lake Recreation Area in Green Oak Township spreads across roughly 4,000 acres along the Huron River, with paddling, mountain-bike trails, a shooting range, and a balloon launch field.
- OutdoorsMt. Brighton: a ski hill built from moved soilMt. Brighton opened for the 1960/61 season after soil was repositioned on former farmland. Its current stats list 230 feet of elevation change and 100% snowmaking coverage.
- History and cultureOak Grove: the mill village whose post office supplied the nameAn 1846 grist mill and dam drew a store and village in Cohoctah Township; settlers called it Chemungville, while its post office used Oak Grove.
- OutdoorsThe Potawatomi: 17 miles of rooty singletrack near PinckneyThe Potawatomi Trail in Pinckney Recreation Area is a roughly 17-mile mountain-bike loop of rooty, hilly singletrack that has drawn riders for decades, with shorter loops around Crooked and Silver lakes.
- History and cultureBefore it was Brighton, it was 'Ore Creek'Brighton was first settled in the 1830s as a mill village called Ore Creek; the name changed to Brighton when the township was set off in 1838.
- OutdoorsBrighton Recreation Area: glacier hills, Bishop Lake, and miles of trailThe Brighton Recreation Area covers nearly 5,000 acres of glacier-carved hills and lakes near Howell and Brighton, with hiking, mountain biking, equestrian, and camping options.
- History and cultureBrighton's 1879 Old Town Hall, now the CoBACH CenterBrighton's Old Town Hall, built in 1879, once held the village offices, jail, firehouse, and library; today it serves as the CoBACH Center for community events and exhibits.
- History and cultureBrighton's Mill Pond: the downtown's water heart and its three-way bridgeBrighton's downtown wraps around the Mill Pond, a dammed pond on Ore Creek with a paved promenade, a nature boardwalk, and a distinctive three-way pedestrian bridge.
- History and cultureHartland Music Hall: the 1858 church that found a second lifeHartland's Music Hall began as an 1858 church, was bought for $500 in 1929, and became a community performance hall in the early 1930s.
- OutdoorsHowell Nature Center: 200-plus acres and a busy wildlife hospitalThe Howell Nature Center, on Triangle Lake Road in Marion Township, runs a wildlife rehabilitation clinic plus trails, camps, and outdoor education on its wooded acreage.
- History and cultureHowell Opera House: an 1881 theater with a frozen-in-time upstairsThe Howell Opera House opened in 1881, hosted speakers like William Jennings Bryan and Henry Ford, and is run today by the Livingston Arts Council.
- History and cultureHowell's 1906 Carnegie library — and the county archives inside itHowell's downtown library opened in 1906 with a $15,000 gift from Andrew Carnegie; it still operates as a public library and houses the Howell Area Archives.
- History and cultureLivingston County's 1890 courthouse still anchors downtown HowellLivingston County's historic courthouse in Howell was completed in 1890, listed on the National Register in 1976, and now houses county administrative offices.
- OutdoorsPinckney's old rail line is now the Lakelands TrailThe trail through Pinckney follows a former Grand Trunk branch line, now the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park, named for the philanthropist who helped fund it.
- History and cultureFowlerville's long-running fair and Charlie GehringerFowlerville's agricultural society dates to 1886, and Hall of Fame Tiger Charlie Gehringer grew up on a nearby farm and attended Fowlerville High.
- History and cultureHowell's Melon Festival and BalloonfestHowell's two big summer traditions arrive on different weekends: hot-air balloons in June and a downtown melon celebration in August.
- OutdoorsAn "up north" weekend without leaving the county: Livingston's big parks and trailsLivingston County has large state recreation areas, major trails, and enough public land to feel like an up-north weekend close to Detroit.
- History and cultureWhy Does Michigan Have So Many Places Named After Foreign Places?Michigan's map is full of foreign and classical town names — Paris, Moscow, Athens, Rome — left over from an 1800s naming boom, and locals pronounce most of them their own way.
- OutdoorsThe Huron: a National Water Trail runs through itThe Huron River is a designated National Water Trail, with more than a hundred paddleable miles and liveries, launches, and river towns strung along it.
- Home and propertyBuying on (or near) a Livingston County lake? A few things to knowLivingston County lake homes can come with managed lake levels, special assessments, lake associations, and lake-specific boating rules.
- Home and propertyOutside the cities, most Livingston homes are on a well and septic — inspect before you buyMost Livingston County township homes use private wells and septic systems, and the county does not require a sale-time inspection.
- Money and taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.