Michigan Central College Residence Hall

Constructed in 1845, this building served as a residence hall of Michigan Central College, and the connecting living quarters to the right were built in 1873 by Moses L. Hart, father of Rev. E.P. Hart. Moses Hart, the postmaster from 1873 to 1880, had his office in a corner of the grocery and farm implement store on the left, and a hitching post stood on the building’s left side. Because antislavery was one of Michigan Central College’s platforms, the building played a part in the underground railroad, with a separate cement basement room entered by a trap door from a first-floor closet and escape available through tunnels to outbuildings. Before it was razed in 1971 to make way for Weatherwax Drug Store, the building also housed various enterprises at different times, including a grocery store, meat market, clothing store, restaurant, post office, and a home appliance and carpeting store.

Spring Arbor, Michigan · United States