Local History

Digital Resources | Historical Buildings | Library Resources

Digital Resources

  • Archives of Michigan – Searchable records from the state’s digital collection.
  • Bloomfield Blossoms – A chronicle of the history of Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Settled in 1819 by Amasa Bagley, the community was known as Bagley’s Corners and Bloomfield Center until the present name was adopted in the 1890s. Written by local history expert Kay Smith and published by the Bloomfield Township Bicentennial Commission in 1976.
  • Bloomfield Hills – The city of Bloomfield Hills website includes community information for residents.
  • Bloomfield Township – The city of Bloomfield Township website includes community information for residents.
  • Bloomfield Historical Society – Includes historical accounts of Bloomfield area homes, the society’s Legacy newsletter, and an archive of maps and photos.
  • Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society – Online exhibits and galleries chronicle the history of the area.
  • Library of Congress Sanborn Map Collection: Oakland County – A searchable database of insurance maps published by the Sanborn Map Company and housed in the collections of the Geography and Map Division.
  • Michiganology – Traces Michigan history through articles written by historians, educators, and archivists at the Michigan History Center.
  • Michigan County Histories and Atlases – Search the University of Michigan collection of digitized county resources dating to 1923.
  • Michigan Electronic Library – Use your library card to request books about Michigan history from MelCat libraries.
  • Michigan Newspaper Portal – Access either digitized versions of newspapers or links to digitized newspapers made available from a variety of sources.  Among these are papers held by the Clarke Historical Library and Michigan newspapers found in Chronicling America, a database maintained by the Library of Congress.
  • Oakland County Historical Resources – Historical documents relating to Oakland County, Michigan.
  • Unknown No Longer – Digital access to records that document some of the lived experiences of enslaved and free Black and multiracial people in the Library of Virginia’s collections. Traditional description, indexing, transcription, and digitization are major parts of this effort. Though not focused on the history of the Bloomfield area, this resource provides important insights into pre–Civil War history.

Buildings of Historical Interest

  • Affleck House – Located at 925 Bloomfield Woods, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the Gregor S. and Elizabeth B. Affleck home was designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright.
  • Bagley Inn – Located at 101 West Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the inn’s history pre-dates the Civil War, when Michigan was a territory, Andrew Jackson was president, and Woodward Avenue was an Indian passage called the “Saginaw Trail.”
  • Century Houses – Information and narratives prepared by members of the Bloomfield Historical Society (BHS) to document historic houses in Bloomfield Township as they existed at the time of publication (2006).
  • History Next Door – A collection of brief descriptions of historic houses in the Bloomfield area; compiled by the Bloomfield Historical Society (BHS).
  • A History of Section 24 – The history and key features of Section 24 of Bloomfield Township, Oakland Country, Michigan.
  • National Register of Historic Places – Oakland County, Michigan, is home to fifty sites listed on the register, including four of national significance and six of statewide significance.
  • Woodcrest Lakes Residential Association – Chronicles the life of Walter O. Briggs, prominent Detroit businessman and one of the early landowners in Bloomfield Hills.

Library Resources

  • Genealogy Resources – Library resources for researching family history. 
  • John Marshall Collection of Historic Homes – Researched and written by local historian John Marshall starting about 2000, the collection provides information on historic homes in the area, including many in Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township. The files are organized by number and street name and are located in the Local History Archives. Request access at the Adult & Teen Services Desk.
  • Yearbooks – Collected yearbooks from local high schools, public and private, are kept in the closed stacks in the Local History Room. Request access at the Adult & Teen Services Desk.

Directories

Newspapers & Magazines

  • The Afterglow – The Afterglow magazine was published in 1925, 1926, and 1927. It primarily covered the Bloomfield and Birmingham areas on topics such as country homes and estates, society, book reviews, and local sports.
  • Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle – The Bloomfield Township Public Library has copies of this paper from January 21, 2004, until the present in our Local History Collection. You may make an  appointment with an Adult Services librarian. Please call 248-642-5800, ext. #171.
  • The Birmingham Eccentric – Browsable digitized pages of the newspaper from 1882 to 1964.

Genealogy Programs

The Detroit Society for Genealogical Research and the Oakland County Genealogical Society hold programs that are open to the public.