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Genoa
Township
Located in
Livingston County
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Local History
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Before
there was the new Township Hall, the land belonged to the Herbst family.
45 acres were sold to the township at the request of Township Clerk
Polly Skolarus; Robert Murray negotiated the price of $180,000.00.
Mr. Herbst provided the following short history
of his farm:
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The Herbst Family Farm |
- The township hall sits on property that originally belonged to the Carl
Christian Conrad family.
- It was first purchased from the United State Government in 1830.
- After the civil war there was no one left to farm the land and it was
purchased by John Schoehals.
- John had three daughters and one son. The son was named Oscar. Oscar
married Lyle's father's sister Anna.
- In 1950 Anna bought the brick two-story home just east of the farm on
Brighton Road and Lyle bought the 149-acre farm on Dorr and Crooked Lake.
- The land was farmed from 1950 until 1962 when the Michigan State Highway
came through and condemned eight different parcels in the township to
construct Interstate-96.
- The State Highway Department gave the homesteaders 30 days to get out of
their way.
- The Herbst family received $17,500 for their condemned 43.9 acres.
- The Herbst property was then cut in half on a 45-degree angle.
- The dairy business was no longer viable because there wasn't land close
enough to the barn to take care of the cows.
- The barn was now on the north side of the expressway and the house was on
the south side.
- That was when Mr. Herbst went into the beef business.
- He bought cattle from Mr. Fisher of the General Motors Fisher Body Family.
- In 1994 the land was sold to Genoa Township for their new office and
that's the whole story.
Township Profile
Genoa Township is located in south central Michigan between the cities of
Brighton and Howell. The Grand River corridor and Interstate 96 provide direct
access to our business district. We are centrally and strategically located
within 45 miles of Detroit, Lansing,
Ann Arbor, Flint and Toledo.
If you have any old photographs, letters, or memories that you would like to
share about Genoa Township, please contact
us.
Informational
courtesy of Genoa Township.
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