Tickets are now on sale for the Historical Homes for the Holidays tour in Schoolcraft on December 10 from 4 to 8 p.m. for a trip into Schoolcraft’s past. Four owners of Schoolcraft’s historic homes and the Schoolcraft Ladies Library will open their doors for ticketed guests aged 16 and up for the tour.
Tickets are $25 per person, are limited to 200 attendees and are available at the Schoolcraft Library or online at: http://www.folschoolcraft.org. The big event is sponsored by Friends of the Library.
Deb Christiansen will be creating a booklet for the tour that will include a little of the history of the homes and ads from the historic Schoolcraft Express. Included on the tour are four homes, two churches, and the Ladies Library building.
The Berglund home at 328 W Clay St., is an 1831 Greek revival built by young attorney Lyman Daniels and is said to be one of the oldest homes in Kalamazoo County. The Flinton home at 228 W Cass St., is the former residence of Dr. Nathan Thomas, the first doctor in Kalamazoo County and whose first home was the historical Underground Railway House. The Truesdell house at 158 S. Grand St., was built in 1884 by gentleman farmer Thomas Nesbitt. This home has been restored using decorative techniques appropriate to 1884. The Dehart home at 14025 S. 14th St., was built around 1872 when Louisa Cobb bought the 120-acre lot. Her father-in-law was an attorney and one of the most well-known people in Kalamazoo County.
The Schoolcraft United Methodist Church has been on the corner of Grand and Clay Streets since the early 1850s started by the Reverend Clements. The congregation was originally organized in Prairie Ronde Township in 1832. The Presbyterian Church is actually the new building replacing the original one that was built in 1851. This brick building at the corner of Cedar and Cass was built in 1892 and cost $4,278. The Ladies Library at 163 N. Hayward St., was built in 1896, and is a registered Michigan Historical Site. The Ladies Library Association was founded in 1879 to provide educational opportunities to local women and is still active today.