Pittsford Township History

HISTORY INDEX>Pittsford Village & Township

Pittsford Township was organized in 1836 and sits in the eastern part of Hillsdale county. The Pittsford Feed Mill (with Supersweet sign) is one of the oldest existing landmarks of the Township. The Township was formed out of Wheatland Township which had been divided out of Lenawee County in 1835 and made a part of Hillsdale County. In 1833 Charles Ames built the first dwelling in what is now Pittsford Township. In 1855, Philip Sickman laid out the Pittsford Township portion of what is now the "Hamlet" of Pittsford.

The Hamlet of Pittsford came about in 1855 after the establishing in 1843 of the railroad between Toledo, Ohio and
Elkhart, Indiana. Hiram Pratt and Elihu Hubbard built the first two dwellings in the Hamlet.

This link will take you to a complete history of “The Hamlet of Pittsford,” by author Cinda Lou Walton. This is made available, through the history pages of this web-site and the Pittsford
Area School web-site.

Pittsford was a good shipping point and the farmers found it a good place to sell their surplus.
In 1875 Pittsford had 4 stores and many shops, churches, train depot, etc. In 1887 the Hamlet covered 24 acres of
land and now is larger. The first school was established in Pittsford in the late 1840s.

Timeline - the Forming of Pittsford Township

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(This listing has been prepared for use by the Pittsford School web-site and for use in connecting that site with the Hillsdale County CIS project. It may be copied for your personal reading but any use of this list for the purpose of sale or profit is prohibited)

French and Indians (Pottawatomies, Miamies, Ottawas, Chippewas). 1641

French ceded to England. 1763

Parliament assigned Michigan to be a part of the Province of Quebec. 1774

Indian Treaty. 1785

England surrendered Michigan to the United States & Michigan became a part of the Northwestern Territory. 1796

Wayne County was organized out of the Northwestern Territory and all of Michigan, Ohio, Etc. were m Wayne County. 1796

The Territory of Michigan was formed with questions as to where the Michigan and Ohio State Line was. 1805

United States Treaty with Indians. 1807

Territory of Michigan was surrendered to the British. 1812

Territory of Michigan was evacuated by the British and returned to the United States. 1813

Wayne County was organized in the Territory of Michigan of the United States. (This included all of the State of Michigan) 1815

More Treaties with the Indians and included the lands of what we now know as Hillsdale Co. 1821

Lenawee County was divided out of Wayne County and included what is now
Pittsford Twp., Hillsdale Co., Mich. 1822

Legal organization of the County of Lenawee took place. 1826

Western Lenawee Co. was known as Bean Creek Country.
Charles Ames & Thomas Pennock made purchase of land in what is now Pittsford Twp., Hillsdale Co., Mich., then Lenawee Co. 1833

Charles Ames built the first white man’s dwelling in Pittsford Township. 1833

First wedding in Pittsford Twp. was held on Christmas Day (James Sprague & Elizabeth Ames.) 1834

Wheatland Township, Hillsdale County was formed out of the western section of Lenawee Co. and included what is now Pittsford Twp., Hillsdale Co., Mich. 1835

Alpheus Pratt’s home was the site of a meeting to request forming another new township
to be Pittsford, Twp., Hillsdale Co., Michigan. 1835

James Grant of Ontario, NY purchased from the United States Government 350 acres of land, out of which the current Hamlet of Pittsford would later be developed. 1835

Pittsford Twp., Hillsdale County, Michigan was formed out of Wheatland Twp., Hillsdale Co., Mich., and went all the way to the Ohio line (there was no Wright Twp.). However,
Mich. was still known in the eastern states as “the land of savages, snakes & beasts.” 1836

Charles Ames platted the Village of Keene of Pittsford Township. (This village no longer exists.) 1836

The first Library in Pittsford Township which provided books for Pittsford Twp. and the eastern portion of Jefferson Township was organized in connection with Sunday Schools and
thru the efforts of John Perrin’s daughter. At one point they had over 1,000 books. 1836-38

The township of Canaan (Coman) later to be known as Wright Twp. was divided out of
Pittsford Township. 1838

First school in Pittsford Twp. known as the Loomis District. We believe this was later named
the “Lane School." 1838-39

Completion of the Michigan Southern Railroad through the center (east & west) of the Township.
Through the Hamlet of Pittsford but 2 miles south of what was then known as the "Hamlet of Keene."
Keene vanished from the scene, many buildings were taken down or moved — it simply vanished. 1843

Philip Sickman laid out the plat for the "Hamlet of Pittsford" on the far western edge of Pittsford Township. 1855

An extensive history of Pittsford Township and the "Hamlet of Pittsford" is now available by using the link below