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Local History

History LinksCensusDirectoriesGenealogyLocal Historical Places
NewspapersYearbooksOther Reference ResourcesLocal History Archives

Upcoming Programs

WANTED! AREA HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOKS

BTPL is looking for yearbooks from area high schools to keep in our Yearbook collection, where they are available for the many patrons who use them for research. If you have any to donate, please contact the Adult Services Departmentat 642-5800.

If you have any photos, stories, or other materials or memories of our community's early days, we would love to hear from you too!

Local Resources

Bloomfield Township, The Charter Township of Bloomfield, incorporated in 1827, was the first Township to be established in Oakland County, Michigan.

Bloomfield Hills, settled in 1819 by Amasa Bagley, was known as Bagley's Corners and Bloomfield Center until the present name was adopted in the 1890s.

Greater West Bloomfield

Oakland County

Other Reference Resources

1817-1877 history of Oakland County [CD-ROM]. Troy, MI : Clarkston Community Historical Society, c1999.

A bicentennial historical sketch of Oakland County, Michigan, 1815-1976 / by J. Carlton Starbuck ; as edited and rewritten by the History Committee of the Oakland County American Revolution Bicentennial Commission.; 1976.

Bloomfield Township Public Library:  A History.  [n.p., 1977].

Bloomfield Township Ordinances. Bloomfield Michigan 1827. [Bloomfield Township, MI : Clerk's Office, 1973.]

Book of records for the township of Bloomfield, 1827-1874. Univ. Microfilms.

First land owners of Oakland County; 1981.

History of Bloomfield Township [videorecording] / Bloomfield Township Public Library and Homer Case.   Bloomfield Hills, MI : Bloomfield Community Television, 2002.

Michigan, Oakland County Genealogical Society, surname directory. Publisher Birmingham, Mich. : Oakland County Genealogical Society, 1983 -

Oakland County book of history / Arthur A. Hagman, editor ; and a staff of 100 writers. 1990. 

Zoning ordinance /Township of Bloomfield, Oakland County, State of Michigan. [Bloomfield Township, MI: Clerks's office. LIBRARY HAS ORDINANCE NO. 67 WITH AMMENDMENTS(1962), ORDINANCE NO. 169 (1968), ORDINANCE NO. 265 WITH AMMENDMENTS (1974).
 

Newspapers

BIRMINGHAM-BLOOMFIELD ECCENTRIC (BTPL has last 6 months).  Baldwin Public Library carries microfilm 1878 - present.  Indexed 1878-1995. (Index for 1996 - present is in progress.)

Birmingham Ecentric Newspaper - The Bloomfield Township Public Library, in cooperation with the Birmingham Eccentric Newspaper, have provided the first sixteen years—dating from January 6, 1882—of the newspaper in electronic form. At the launch of this new feature on the web site, newspaper issues from 1882 through 1902 (excepting the years 1894-1897) are provided. The newspaper's weekly issues are now available for viewing.

 

Directories

Birmingham-Bloomfield Hills community directory.  LIBRARY HAS 1968/69 - 1987.

Birmingham Bloomfield Hills directory and blue book 1929.

Little blue book 1986-1987, Birmingham & Bloomfield business and professional telephone directory.

Polk ... Birmingham/Bloomfield city directory. LIBRARY HAS 1959, 64-77, 79-80, 82, 84-86, 88, 91-93, 2000.

Birmingham (Oakland County, Mich.) directory.  1983. (Note: "Including Bloomfield Hills, Beverly Hills and vicinity.")
 

Yearbooks

Lahser High School.  1968-71, 73-96, 98-2006

Andover High School.  1957, 60, 62-67, 69-78, 80, 82-88, 90-96, 98, 2000-06

Cranbrook High School.  1958-64, 67-76, 78, 80-81, 86-87

Marian High School.  1989, 91

Brother Rice High School.  1983-86, 88-89

Academy of the Sacred Heart.  1972, 1974, 1978-1980

West Hills Jr. High.  1972-75, 1977-83.
 

Census

State census of Oakland County, Michigan for the year 1845.

U.S. Census - Michigan Counties [CD-ROM]. Includes Family Quest archives for 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860,  1870,  1880 , 1890, 1900, 1910, and 1920.

Census Links
 

Historical Places

Affleck House (or Gregor S. and Elizabeth B. Affleck House)
1925 N. Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills 
Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Wright,Frank Lloyd
Architectural Style: Other 

National Register of Historical Places, www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MI/Oakland/state.html
Detroit Area Art Deco Society, www.daads.org/modern/1301/wright.htm

Bagley Inn
101 West Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills

Cranbrook
500 Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills
Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering, Person
Architect, builder, or engineer: Saarinen,Eliel, Kahn,Albert 
Architectural Style: Late Gothic Revival, Moderne, Tudor Revival

National Register of Historical Places, www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MI/Oakland/state.html

Melvyn Maxwell Smith House
5045 Ponvalley Rd., Bloomfield Township
Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Wright, Frank Lloyd 
Architectural Style: Other
National Register of Historical Places, www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MI/Oakland/state.html
Detroit Area Art Deco Society, www.daads.org/modern/1301/wright.htm

The Saunders Residence: Vignettes of a Deceased Architecture / David M. Foxe.
http://web.mit.edu/dmfoxe/www/saunders.htm


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