Walking Tour-122 North Main Street-Walking Tour
(East Side of Street)

This house was built circa 1906. An item in the 2/02/1905 issue of the Oakland County Post newspaper noted "The lumber and other materials for the house that Joseph Reese will build on Main Street in the spring is being placed on the ground in readiness to begin the operation as soon as the snow goes off." Joseph Reese apparently lived in the house to the south of this, 114-116 North Main which was previously owned by his father-in-law, Edwin Jefferson. Jefferson, then Reese also owned the property to the north as far as Clarkston Road. The 4/06/1905 issue of the same newspaper noted "J Reese has the lined 'drawn' and will commence excavation for his 'now' home in this village very soon." The 8/29/1905 edition read "With the near completion of the two new Reese houses on upper Main Street in the village the boom in the building line is continuing by the beginning of a new home for A. J. Taylor, just across the street from the Reese property." (The A. J. Taylor house was/is at 135 North Main.)

The newspaper of 1905 had several stories about the shortage of houses in the Village for new residents and the many 'resort people' who visited in the summer and wanted to reside here. Apparently Reese constructed the houses at 122 and 130 North Main for resale. Original photos show the house as a late Victorian building with detail in the street facing gable reminiscent of the Stick Style. There was a Queen Anne style wraparound front porch with turned wood balusters & spindles under the roof eaves which was removed at some time. The house at 135 N. Main was built for/by Austen Taylor at the same time. It was virtually a duplicate of this house. The houses at 130 & 177 N. Main, and 18 N. Holcomb all originally had a similar appearance.

Official Property Description:

• Part of the northwest corner of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 20 in Independence Township, not a part of Nelson W. Clark's Original Plat of the Village.
• Lot 52 Of the Supervisor's Plat No.1.
• See the tax history for 116 N. Main prior to 1906.

Significant Property History:

[A Synopsis Of Property Transfers Derived From Abstracts
(when available) And Periodic Changes In Ownership Or
Assessed Value Derived From Township Tax Records]

• Note: All the properties currently located in the Historic District were originally part of a tract registered by Butler Holcomb with the federal government on October 22, 1831. Thus, abstracts for these properties, when they exist, show the original transfer to be from the United States to Butler Holcomb and may also include references to then President Andrew Jackson.
• 1906 Joseph Reese property north of Robertson Court & south of Clarkston Rd. was split into three pieces. The assessed value of this one was $1000.
• 1910 Lucy King, assessed value $1100.
• 1911 Lucy King, assessed value $1700.
• 1915 Lucy King, assessed value $2000.
• 1952 Lucy King.
• 1954 Rovert W. Osgood.
• 1956 Robert W. Osgood.