History

Seasons change. People change. I was never interested in history until fairly recently. For me, my passion is local history. Local meaning anywhere in MI, not just in my backyard. It started a few years ago. In Shelby Township there is an intersection where 24 Mile Road and Van Dyke cross. Before it became part of Shelby Township, the area used to be called Disco. Before Emily was born in 1999, I remember reading about the Hope Baptist Church. The church was an original structure still standing where it was built. The members of the church wanted to move it to the Shelby Township municipal grounds to be kept as a historical building. After this was accomplished in 2001, they built a new church on the property.

Another area that I have discovered is the town of Davis which is sort of between Ray Township and Washington Township at 27 Mile road and Romeo Plank Roads.


The Prestonville Cemetery is very intriguing to me as well. It rests on 25 Mile Road, west of Schoenherr. The headstones in this cemetery are so old, they are almost ineligible.


One of the links above will take you to many of the places I have discussed. When looking at photos I saw a photo of an old farmhouse in Prestonville. Not long ago, that house also sat at the corner of 25 mile and Schoenherr. I always dreamed of bringing it back to it's original glory. The house sat on the corner of the intersection with a very large yard, where the chicken coop still stands proud. There was a creek on the north side of the house, and the entire lot was shaded by tall trees. The house is no longer there, and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to admire it before it was taken down.


I am most intrigued by the fact that people walked this same area so many years before us. We live in a world where every family has 2+ cars, a TV in every room of the house, mp3 players, cable, electricity, city services, a mall within a few miles and god knows other countless amenities, and yet the people before us, lived such a simple life. They had it hard and worked hard, but they simply... lived. They made it work with what they had and they were proud. I sometimes think I could have lived in this time period. Free from the distractions that we have brought on ourselves.


It almost makes me feel bad that we have so much, even though we worked for what we have. Why does it take so much to make people happy? They say money can't buy happiness, however look how much crap we have laying around our homes. Crap. That's all it is. Are you happy? Cause I'm not. I could easily get rid of half the stuff in this house and be completely content.

Believe it or not, I actually had not planned on telling you this much. Something I did last night brought all of this on. My next post will be what I intended it to be. This just took on a life of its own, and I needed to put it out there.

Sorry dear readers. I am the person that will bring the car to a screeching halt just to go wander through an old cemetery dreaming of the life these people lived.