Greenmead: the 1820s farm Livonia kept

Livonia built out so fully in the postwar boom that people forget it was farm country for 130 years first. It became one of Michigan’s largest cities almost entirely on quiet subdivisions. The city didn’t forget, though. In its northwest corner sits Greenmead, the 95-acre homestead that pioneer Joshua Simmons settled in the 1820s. The original farmhouse and outbuildings still stand. So does an 1829 barn — the first ever raised in Livonia Township. Around the old farm, the city assembled a historical village of rescued 19th-century buildings. Churches, a general store, houses — all of them would otherwise have met the bulldozer.

Today Greenmead is where Livonia gathers. There’s a summer farmers market, car shows, craft fairs, and holiday walks through the decorated village. Wedding photos get taken in front of the Simmons house. Pair it with the Wilson Barn, the city’s other beloved landmark — a century-old red barn at Middlebelt and West Chicago with pumpkin patches and markets of its own. Add Hines Park rolling along the city’s southern edge. Livonia turns out to keep more of its history, and more green space, than its freeway-grid reputation suggests.