Richmond
Area Historical and Genealogical SocietyOur Village
Donley Family Cabin
The
Donley Cabin is named after John Donley of Ballyporeen, County 
Tipperary,
who came to New York City in 1848. He bought a farm on Irish Road,
now 29 Mile Road, and built a cabin in 1853. Four generations of the Donley
family lived in the cabin for 100 years. In the 1930s and 1940s, Donley's
grandson and wife, Hugh Donley and Frances Gavin, along with their seven
children, occupied the cabin. In 1972 the great-grandsons took the cabin
apart, numbergin each log and rebuilt it using the old mortar mixed in
with the new. The Donley family donated the cabin to the Society in 1997
and in 1998, the cabin was moved to its current location at the corner
of Park and Beebe streets in Richmond and it was dedicated to the Society
on Aug. 8, 1998.
Prior to being moved, the cabin was nearly destroyed by fire in the mid-1990s,
but George Fealko and Norm Gibson of the Richmond Area Historical and
Genealogical Society said that because the cabin was lined with barn wood,
it stopped the fire from completely destroying the cabin. In addition
to the new roof, a new stone fireplace was built inside after the previous
one was destroyed.
One Room Schoolhouse
One-room Schoolhouse, built in 1885 -
originally located on School Section
Road in Richmond Township. Moved to its present location in 1994. Once
a year, Richmond second and fifth-grade students tour the buildings with
their teachers and parents. During the month of May, Richmond 5th grade
teachers also use the old one-room classroom for the day for a real hands-on
history lesson for their students. About 130 students a year will cycle
through, getting a chance to see what a day at school was like for their
ancestors.
Train Depot
In
1992 the Society acquired a former Grand Trunk Railroad Depot which was
built in the 1900's from owner Joseph Maranzano. The depot was moved from
his private property on Rattle Run in Columbus Township. The arrival of
the Rand Trunk Railway in Richmond on December 1, 1859 from Detroit helped
assure Richmond's economic survival.
Blacksmith Shop
At the beginning of this century the Society
decided to built a building to house a bathroom and storage area. As the
project progressed the plans were
expanded to include a full basement and a loft office. On July 18, 2009,
after hundreds of hours of work by volunteers the Blacksmith Shop and
Museum moved from a dream to reality. The main floor houses a museum with
rotating exhibits; the upstairs gives the Society a central office and
the basement contains inventoried storage of items for future displays.
Our current exhibit's theme is "19th Century Richmond".
This exhibit will run approximately 12 months.
All the buildings are situated in a section of Richmond's Bailey Park
for tourists and locals to get a glimpse of a different, less complicated
era.
