1930 - Original Building No Longer in Greenfield Village


The Clark House
The following is taken directly from the book, "A Home For Our Heritage" by Geoffrey C. Upward:
"In June 1930, a small, rather nondescript frame house was erected on South Dearborn Road. Located in the area presently occupied by the Swiss Watchmaker's Chalet, the 1868 Clark House from rural Wayne County, Michigan, suffered the unusual fate of being torn down in later years. Evidently Ford felt the house contributed little to the Village."

I have no photographs of the Clark House, but the 1935/36 guidebook does give us a sketch, as well as more information on the reason why Mr. Ford chose this particular structure to be placed in the Village:
"Originally owned by Nelson Clark, whose brother, John P. Clark, was donor of Clark Park in Detroit. The building typifies the style used and developed extensively west of the Alleghenies, particularly in Michigan. This building was erected in 1868 by Sophira Litogot, an uncle of Mr. Ford's living in Ecorse, who was both a carpenter by trade and a trader by profession.
The house originally stood on Taylor Center Townline Road between Flat Rock and Brownstown (not yet completed)."

By the time of the 1941 guidebook, the house was gone.

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