Newspaper Clippings for
July, 1992
From Pioneer Press, Thursday,
16 July, 1992
Walk through 19th century in Millburn this weekend
PHOTOS By VICKI GRAYLAND, Staff Photographer
Just south of the Wisconsin border on U.S. 45 is Millburn, a
small unincorporated village that hasn't changed much since it was
settled in the 1800s.
This weekend, Historic Millburn Community Association and the
Millburn Congregational Church are sponsoring a house walk.
Open to the public will be a Victorian "painted lady," a
country farmhouse, the Samuel Smith House, part of which was built
before 1858, and a 19th century barn filled with antique tools and
engines.
The Martin General Store and the Millburn Art Gallery also will
be open. The house walk is from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. An ice
cream social is part of the event.
Millburn is located on Route 45 at Grass Lake Road four miles
north of Grand Avenue (state Route 132). Tickets for the house
walk are $8 in advance or $10 at the door.
The unincorporated village of Millburn is an example of the
many cross-road communities that were the business, social and
religious centers for most people in the 19th century, according
to a press release. Named for the many grist and sawmills along
the nearby "burn" - a Scottish word for creek - Millburn was
settled by Scot immigrants and New Englanders in the 1840s. At its
height, the village included four stores and a post office, a
church, two doctors, two fraternal lodges, two blacksmiths, a
cobbler, a creamery and an undertaker.
The village has what is believed to be the oldest brick
commercial building in Lake County, the Robert Strang store built
in 1856. Martin's General Store is the oldest continuously
operating store in Lake County.
The walking tour will include: The Samuel Smith House, one of
the oldest buildings in the village. In early days the house
almost always was a two-family residence and also served as a
general store. Present owner Mildred Haisma has furnished the
house with antiques and collectibles. The barn at the rear of the
house belonged to the house next
door and housed the horse and buggy of the area's last country
doctor, Dr. Homer Jamieson. Today the barn houses Haisma's
collection of antique tools and engines.
The Ruth White house was built in 1888. When Mrs. White bought
the property in 1980 it was badly deteriorated. Walls were
bulging, floors rotting, and the front porch decayed. Today, the
house has been restored and enlarged to its Victorian elegance,
providing a setting for Mrs. White's antique furnishings and
collections.
Dr. William and Dawn Revenaugh live next door in what is known
as a "working man's" farmhouse built before 1893. The house had
become an antique shop when they bought it in 1983 and they have
turned it into a country home. Nestled behind the house and guest
cottage is Millburn Gallery that features art and custom framing.
