Before Interstate 94, before automobiles and even before Michigan became a state, travelers heading between Detroit and Chicago faced a long overland journey. In Clinton, one building became part of that traffic story.
The structure remembered as the Old Stage House was built in 1831-32 along the Detroit-to-Chicago road. Michigan was still a territory. Roads could be rough, travel was slow, and stagecoach passengers depended on taverns for meals, lodging, and a place to rest horses.
The Clinton building was unusually imposing. Its long two-story porch and row of columns gave arriving travelers a clear sign that food and shelter were available. The building changed names as owners came and went. At various times it was known as Parks Tavern, Eagle Tavern, the Union Hotel and Smith’s Hotel.
One of its best-documented periods came between 1849 and 1854, when farmer Calvin Wood operated the tavern with his wife, Harriet, Harriet’s daughter Irene, and hired help. Research by The Henry Ford, using deeds, census records, tax records, probate material, and newspapers, has helped reconstruct this chapter of the building’s life. That research is why the building is now presented as Eagle Tavern during roughly the 1850 period…