History

The Village of Clarkston is located at the head of several small lakes.

It is divided by the Clinton River and surrounded by a chain of beautiful hills. 

  The first house was a cedar pole shanty built in 1830 by Linus Jacox. Many newly arrived families lived there while they were building cabins for themselves. 

  The Clark brothers platted the land in 1842 and gave the village its name. Henry Ford had such a love for the village that he gave us our first sewer system for the downtown area. Ford owned several pieces of property in the area, including what is now the township hall, some land around Deer Lake (where Edsel used to toboggan), the property where the Clarkston Mills Mall is located, and at least one house. Ford used the Township Hall building for two purposes. He established a factory which made upholstery for his vehicles, and used the third floor as a dance hall.

The orchestra was seated on the raised platform which can still be seen there.

  Evidence of Independence Township's past is scattered throughout its 36 square miles. There are Victorian farmhouses built in the 1880's and 1890's; Gothic revival and Greek revival homes from the last third of the 19th century. Farm buildings from other eras dot the countryside.  

  Some of the historic houses have unusual stories to tell. One, built in 1875 on Maybee Road, is alleged to be inhabited by the ghost of a baby of the Voorheis family who lived there. The baby died in infancy, and it has been reported that the sound of a crying child can sometimes be heard in the house. The Queen Anne style train station constructed in 1851 when the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad came to the southwest corner of the

township is now a theater, owned by the Grand Truck Western Railroad and used by the Clarkston Village Players. 

  A schoolhouse built in 1840 has been modified for use as a single family dwelling. The first church, a well-preserved example of the Greek Revival style built in 1856 with wood brought by sleigh from Lapeer and Kings Mills, Michigan for a Presbyterian congregation is now the headquarters of Lighthouse Clarkston. 

  As more people arrived in Independence Township, they found that they needed such things as businesses, schools, and cemeteries. The pioneers recognized the importance of educating their children. In 1834 a

schoolhouse was built in the Sashabaw Plains area. Miss Eliza Holcomb was the teacher. In 1840 the citizens of the Pine Knob area built their own school, at a cost of $90. It was called Piney School because it sat among

an unusually large stand of pine trees. Parents were assessed two cents for each day their children attended. The building still stands on Clintonville Road. Now used as a house, its appearance has been greatly changed with such modernization as aluminum siding. 

  Various businesses operated throughout the township too. Sawmills, grist mills, blacksmith shops, small stores, and taverns were established in the northwest quadrant of the Clarkston Saginaw Trail area and the

Sashabaw Plains area during the 19th century. 

  As Wayne County became more industrialized at the turn of the century, families sought relief from both the congestion of the metropolitan area and the summer heat. Many of the lakes of Independence Township became

meccas for tourists. Resorts were built, and as the reputation of these summer resorts increased in the 1920's, the railroad at times put as many as twelve additional coaches on its trains to the area each weekend to bring people from the city. 

  The economic system of the village of Clarkston was built around agriculture in its early years as the surrounding territory was rich farming land. By the 1930's that changed. Farming declined about that

time, and manufacturing became the source of livelihood for the population of southeastern Michigan. With the rise of manufacturing, and later service industries, and the availability of automobiles for nearly everyone, Clarkston's new role has come to be that of supplying housing for people who travel elsewhere to their jobs. 

  Jennifer Radcliff, in her book, Heritage, says that this is "A community deeply involved in church and school, greatly concerned with housing and neighborhood planning." She expresses the hope that "It will retain some of the charm and slower pace of an earlier day."