The Town of Huron owns and maintains three historic buildings: The Old Town Hall (1849), the Dayton Mills Schoolhouse (1871), and the Huron Grange (1884). Each of these three buildings is a monument to the agricultural and rural heritage of our area and contains a collection of items pertinent to each building’s history as well as to the history of Huron.
The Old Town Hall, now known as the Huron History Center, is the center for historical collections – featuring agricultural, recreational, and domestic exhibits of the late 19th through mid-20th centuries, and a room dedicated to the town’s local natural water features, made possible by a Hoffman Foundation grant. The Huron historical archives are housed in the Old Town Hall. Maps, photos, diaries, family histories, news articles, local history books, and other local history information files are available for use by researchers and for exhibit development.
The Huron Grange building is currently used for rummage sales and other community events. The Grange building has experienced a multi-phase (multi-year) restoration. Beginning in 2016 with exterior painting and repair, followed by 2019 window restoration, made possible by a grant from the Rochester Area Community Foundation, with the next step in the Grange building preservation – a revisit to exterior painting, as well as interior painting, and continued work on the electric system in the structure. Electricity was added in 2022, much to the delight of the Huron Presbyterian Church members who use the building for annual rummage sales.
The Dayton Mills Schoolhouse is one of the few one room schoolhouses in Wayne County fitted with exhibits and period furnishings for public display. The schoolhouse has recently benefited from significant improvements – metal storage cabinets to protect a collection of old schoolbooks. Building repairs to secure better animal proofing for the 150-year-old structure is an ongoing effort on the maintenance schedule. The schoolhouse is unique to the town, in that it is one of eleven 19th century rural schoolhouses in Huron – three of which still exist.
Huron’s historic buildings are open several times a year during Historic Huron open houses, and between April and October by appointment. Contant Town of Huron Historian, Rosa Fox via email at rfox@townofhuron.org to learn more or make an appointment.