Walking Tour-154 North Main Street-Walking Tour
(East Side of Street)

The original building on this site, the home of V. C. Vliet, was probably built circa 1857. According to an article in the 1/01/1903 Pontiac Post newspaper, "Fifty years ago on Dec. 24, 1852, Polly Ann Webster and Van Rensellear Cash Vliet were quietly married in Pontiac by Rev. Alfred Handy and came to live in Independence township to establish a home and make a start on the road of life. In 1853 they built their present home in Clarkson and have lived there continuously since that time." The same article which was occasioned by the Vliet's fiftieth anniversary, listed the gifts: "The presents were both valuable and artistic, consisting of 55 dollars in gold, a Morris chair, an elegant rocker, two pictures, vases, candle sticks, a hall mirror, china, a lamp and many elegant pieces of silver." Vliet was a carpenter who was born in New Jersey. The first building on this site was probably a simple Greek Revival style structure, if it had any style at all. The 1872 Map of the Village has the footprint of a rectangular building with the short side facing the street.

The house as seen today is covered with shingles (probably applied over the original wood clapboard circa 1930) and has elements of several subsequent styles. The proportions of the 2 story section of the house are taller and more narrow than those of the typical Greek Revival style building indicating the Gothic Revival instead. The front vestibule entrance and the windows of the south wing, which was an addition, are elements which were typical of the Tudor Revival style.

Official Property Description:

• The west 1/2 of the Northeast 1/4 of Section 20 in Independence Township, not a part of Nelson W. Clark's Original Plat of the Village.
• Lot 49 of the Supervisor's Replat No.1.

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.
• 1844 Ebenezer Clark, the west 1/2 of the Northeast 1/4 of Section 20, assessed value $200. Jacob Walter, 1 acre in the corner of the southwest 1/4 of the Northeast 1/4 of Section 20, assessed value 420.
• 1847 Joseph Chapman, the west 1/2 of the Northeast 1/4 of Section 20, assessed value $150.
• 1848 Joseph Chapman, the west 1/2 of the Northeast 1/4, assessed value $169.
• 1856 VanRensaler (?) Vliet 1/4 acre, assessed value $100.
• 1857 Vliet, assessed value $250.
• 1858 V. C. Vliet, assessed value $200.
• 1865 V. C. Vliet, assessed value $250.
• 1872 Map of the Village has a building footprint on this site, owner V. C. Vliet.
• 1889 V. C. Vliet, assessed value $600.
• 1896 Map of the Village, owner of this site, V. C. Vliet.
• 1910 as above.
• 1914 V. C. Vliet , assessed value $1600.
• 1915 V. C. Vliet died.
• 1915 J. Fleming, assessed value $1000.
• 1923 Jason Fleming, assessed value $1500.
• 1940 W. A. Hubbard.
• 1954 as above.
• 1956 J. R. Harris.
• 1970 Frank W. Wilson.