The picturesque suburb of Northville we see today, which was once a farm town, was first settled in 1825.  It was the northern border of Plymouth township, and it was a heavily wooded, swampy area.  Logging of timber began in this area, and in turn produced mills. Factories were built that produced school furniture, dowels, ship components, and parts for church organs.  Within a few years of its settlement, many acres were cleared and planted, and cabins were built for the people who settled here.

Among the early pioneers of Northville was a Revolutionary War veteran named Joseph Yerkes.

By 1831, a post office was established in Northville, and mail arrived here  once a week.  In 1835, land was purchased on Main Street, and the first actual church building was constructed.  It was a wooden frame building, 24' x 33', and it cost approximately $330.  This structure served as the Presbyterian Meeting House until 1845, when it was moved to Cady Street, where the Christian Education wing now stands.

The Northville Record, c. 1870

In 1889, electric lights became available in the area, and by 1897, the Northville Telephone Company opened with a capacity for 100 subscribers.  In 1904, the Village Library was founded, thanks to Dr. Mary E. Lapham.  There was a tremendous amount of residential and business growth in the area, and in 1919, Henry Ford opened the Northville Ford Factory, the first of the cottage industries.

In the last 50 years, Northville has undergone many changes, with several large areas being left behind and abandoned. These are typically State or County facilities that out-grew their usefulness. One of these was the Wayne County Training School.

The abandoned Wayne County Training School at 5 Mile and Sheldon is pictured above. There was a large group of buildings that were networked together by underground tunnels. These were known as the Northville Tunnels .and were used to access the buildings' plumbing and electrical system.  The Wayne County Training School was constructed in the early 1920's on 1040 acres of land owned by Wayne County. The facility opened its doors in 1926 with approximately 400 impaired children between the ages of 6 - 18 under the supervision of Dr. Robert Haskell. The complex cost 2.5 million dollars to build, it was constructed using hand tools and horse drawn wagons. The school was setup in a cottage style orientation and was comprised of 38 buildings including 18 dormitories, 4 classroom buildings, a motion picture theater as well as a stage theater, gym, swimming pool, bowling alley, play sets for the children, a fire station and even it's own hospital. Throughout the next 40 years the complex's population dwindled slowly as other facilities opened in the area, and even some of the patients at WCTS were transferred out to the new facilities. As the years went by and the mental health industry began to place greater emphasis on education, rather than training, the complex's population dwindled even more. The complex closed in 1974. A maintenance crew was employed to keep the buildings in shape but were laid off in 1978 as the utilities alone for the complex cost $200,000 a year. It then became a hangout for teenagers, curiosity seekers and many others. In 1984 however, the grounds were supposed to be transformed into a Retirement Village, but this was disagreed upon by the Northville Elderly Development Company. Several other attempts to sell and develop the land were discussed over the years, but nothing ever became of these ideas. In January of 1997, a Farmington teen died after falling off the rooftop of an abandoned building located on the property of the complex. The death forced the county to take action and the complex was completely demolished by 1999.