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
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- History and culture Brighton built the Imagination Station in five days Brighton'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 property Buying on Hamburg's chain of lakes? You may help pay for the weeds Many 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 culture Cleary started as a penmanship school in 1883 Cleary 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 culture Fenton was named on a hand of cards Fenton, 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 culture Howell's downtown won a national Main Street award Downtown 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.
- Outdoors Island Lake: the state park where hot-air balloons take off Island 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.
- Outdoors Mt. Brighton: a ski hill someone had to build first Mt. Brighton, open since 1961, is a man-made ski hill near Brighton with about 230 feet of vertical and 25 runs; Vail Resorts bought it in December 2012 and rebuilt the base.
- History and culture Oak Grove: a grist-mill village that almost wasn't called that Oak Grove, a tiny crossroads in Cohoctah Township north of Howell, grew around an 1846 grist mill on Bogue Creek; nearly named Chemungville, it kept its post office name until 1982.
- Outdoors The Potawatomi: 17 miles of rooty singletrack near Pinckney The 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 culture Before 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.
- Outdoors Brighton Recreation Area: glacier hills, Bishop Lake, and miles of trail The 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 culture Brighton's 1879 Old Town Hall, now the CoBACH Center Brighton'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 culture Brighton's Mill Pond: the downtown's water heart and its three-way bridge Brighton'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 culture Hartland Music Hall: an 1858 church turned community theater Hartland's Music Hall began as an 1858 church, was bought and restored in 1929 for $500, and is now a historic-site performance hall run by the Cromaine District Library.
- Outdoors Howell Nature Center: 200-plus acres and a busy wildlife hospital The 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 culture Howell Opera House: an 1881 theater with a frozen-in-time upstairs The 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 culture Howell's 1906 Carnegie library — and the county archives inside it Howell'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 culture Livingston County's 1890 courthouse still anchors downtown Howell Livingston County's historic courthouse in Howell was completed in 1890, listed on the National Register in 1976, and now houses county administrative offices.
- Outdoors Pinckney's old rail line is now the Lakelands Trail The 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 culture Fowlerville: one of Michigan's oldest fairs, and a Hall of Fame Tiger Fowlerville is known for the long-running Fowlerville Family Fair and hometown Hall of Fame Tiger Charlie Gehringer.
- History and culture Howell: home of the Melon Festival and a sky full of hot-air balloons Howell's signature annual events are the Howell Melon Festival and the Michigan Challenge Balloonfest.
- Outdoors An "up north" weekend without leaving the county: Livingston's big parks and trails Livingston County has large state recreation areas, major trails, and enough public land to feel like an up-north weekend close to Detroit.
- History and culture Why 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.
- Outdoors The Huron: a National Water Trail runs through it The 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 property Buying on (or near) a Livingston County lake? A few things to know Livingston County lake homes can come with managed lake levels, special assessments, lake associations, and lake-specific boating rules.
- Home and property Outside the cities, most Livingston homes are on a well and septic — inspect before you buy Most Livingston County township homes use private wells and septic systems, and the county does not require a sale-time inspection.
- Money and taxes Buying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxes Michigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxes In Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not one Most Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.