Emmendorfer House
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S5280ft
N 42° 34.660 W 083° 21.920
17T E 305885 N 4716628
There is no parking nearby this marker. It requires a walk along the extremely busy Pontiac Trail Road. Please take extreme care.
Waymark Code: WM129J
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 12/23/2006
Views: 116
Text from the Michigan Historical Marker:
William Gilmour began building this house in the 1830s. With two hidden chambers and a strategic location on an Underground Railroad route between Farmington and Pontiac, it is believed to have provided shelter for runaway slaves. In the 1830s and 1840s Gilmour occasionally hosted township meetings here. It was owned by Seneca Randall in 1847 and Nathaniel Hearding from 1849 to 1863. Francis A. Emmendorfer and family owned this property from 1864 to the 1950s.
From the State Historic Preservation office website:
The Emmendorfer House is believed to have been a hideout for slaves escaping to freedom. The house contains two secret rooms, one accessible only through a small opening hidden behind built-in drawers in a bedroom, and another accessible through the rear of a closet. The house was built in 1840 and is located on Pontiac Trail, one of the few early roads in Oakland County, and is halfway between Pontiac and Farmington, where known underground railway hideouts existed.
Address:
4121 Pontiac Trail
Orchard Lake, MI U.S.A.
Open to the public?: Private
Name of organization who placed the marker: Bureau of Michigan History, Michigan Department of State
Web site: Not listed
Site Details: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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