Goodison’s history centered on the mill Needham Hemingway built on Paint Creek in 1835 after purchasing 80 acres from the U.S. Government for $1.25 an acre in 1825. In the spring of 1836, he dug a millrace a half mile upstream to divert water to the gristmill, whose grinding of crops into meal and flour helped attract early settlers to Oakland Township. Hemingway operated the mill until 1844, and after several ownership changes William Goodison bought it in 1866 for $3,600. The site became the community’s economic and social hub, eventually including a market, blacksmith shop, cobbler’s shop, and post office. After the Detroit & Bay City Railway arrived in 1872, the stop became known as Goodison’s flag station, giving the hamlet its name, and the community grew into a center of commerce and social gathering with a sawmill, more shops, schools, a church, and railroad. In 1945, Dale O. Miller bought the property and planned to restore the surviving mill after the other buildings were torn down, but deterioration proved too severe, and the old mill was dismantled in 1953, with its hand-hewn timbers salvaged for reuse. Miller then developed a new building in a contemporary Swiss-inspired style designed by Giffels & Vallet, Inc., L. Rossetti Associates and constructed in three sections over more than a decade: the water wheel room was completed in 1959, a larger building for cider pressing opened as the Paint Creek Cider Mill in 1960, and the sections were connected in 1968. True to the site’s history, Miller installed an 1890 Bi-Polar Generator built by Thomas Edison and a steel breast-shot Fitz Water Wheel powered by Hemingway’s 1836 millrace, while salvaged beams from the original mill and materials from the closed Henry Ford Trade School in Detroit were reused throughout the structure. Miller’s cider mill became a popular destination during the postwar tourism boom and remained a hub of commerce in Goodison. Jerry and Lucy Mancour bought it in 1976, remodeled it, and later opened a restaurant; in 1993 Jerry Mancour replaced the rusted Fitz water wheel with a new wooden white oak wheel. Ray and Mary Nicholson purchased the property in 1996, installed a new cider press, and remodeled it for a restaurant. In 2005, they donated it to Oakland Township, which completed renovations in 2008 so the second floor could house township and local nonprofit offices, while the main floor provided meeting space, public restrooms, and a cafe specializing in cider and donuts. The Paint Creek Cider Mill continues to draw crowds year-round.