Digital Resources | Historical Buildings | Library Resources
Digital Resources
Bloomfield Hills– Settled in 1819 by Amasa Bagley, was known as Bagley’s Corners and Bloomfield Center until the present name was adopted in the 1890s.
Bloomfield Blossoms – Glimpses into the history of Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills, MI. by Kay Smith.
Bloomfield Historical Society – Access historical maps and photos from the Bloomfield area.
Library of Congress Sanborn Map Collection – Offers a searchable database of insurance maps published by the Sanborn Map Company and housed in the collections of the Geography and Map Division.
Michigan Electronic Library – Provides digital resources to explore about local history and genealogy.
Michigan County Histories and Atlases – Searchable resources containing digitized County sources from before 1924.
Digital Michigan Newspaper Portal – Access either digitized versions of newspapers or links to digitized newspapers made available from a variety of sources. Among these links are papers held by the Clarke Historical Library and also Michigan newspapers found in Chronicling America, a database maintained by the Library of Congress.
Michigan in the Civil War – Website chronicling Michigan’s participation in Civil War history.
Oakland County Historical Resources – Access a variety of historical documents relating to the county.
Unknown No Longer – Originally published by the Virginia Historical Society and now available through the Library of Virginia’s Virginia Untold: African American Narrative, provides users with various resources for researching African American history in Virginia.
Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society – Offers an assortment of online exhibits and galleries chronicling the history of the area.
Buildings of Historical Interest
Affleck House (aka Gregor S. and Elizabeth B. Affleck House) located at 925 Bloomfield Woods, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48302. The home was designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright.
National Register of Historical Places – Oakland County Michigan has 50 places on the National Register of Historic Places including 4 places of National significance and 6 places of Statewide significance.
Bagley Inn – Located at 101 West Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304. 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 – This material was prepared by members of the Bloomfield Historical Society (BHS) to document the status of historic houses in Bloomfield Township as it existed in 2006.
History Next Door – A collection of brief descriptions of historic and interesting houses in the Bloomfield area as compiled by the Bloomfield Historical Society.
Woodcrest Lakes Residential Association– Chronicles the life of Walter O. Briggs, one of the early landowners of property in Bloomfield Hills.
Library Resources
Genealogy Resources – We have a number of genealogy and online resources.
Yearbooks – Yearbooks are kept in the closed stacks in the Local History Room. Please contact the Adult Service department for access.
- Birmingham Bloomfield Hills Directory and Blue Book – This directory from 1929 is available in our Local History Archives.
- Little Blue Book 1986-1987, Birmingham & Bloomfield business and professional telephone directory – This directory is available in our Local History Archives.
Newspapers & Magazines
- The Afterglow – The Afterglow magazine was published in the years 1925, 1926, and 1927. It primarily covered the Bloomfield and Birmingham areas on such topics 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.
- Eccentric -Browsable Digitized edition of the Bloomfield-Birmingham Eccentric Newspaper from 1882 to 1963.
Genealogy Programs
Interested in genealogy? You might want to attend the programs of the Detroit Society for Genealogical Research or the Oakland County Genealogical Society.
