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were housed in the building until
1959 when new offices were con-
structed on Tyler Road at a site locat-
edwithin townshipboundaries.
The building, now 141 years old,
has served numerous functions in
addition to the town meetings.
Residents voted in the building, got
their drivers licenses, paid their
taxes and even borrowed library
books. The building has been the site
of dances, concerts, showers, church
services, service clubmeetings, blood
drives and was even an Army recruit-
ing station.
After the move of township hall to
Tyler Road, however, the building
was the home of Oxbow Realty, The
Belleville Enterprise, Adventure
Travel and the Belleville Area
Chamber of Commerce before it was
dedicated to the preservation of local
history.
In 1995, a major restoration took
place at the old township hall and the
museum moved into the historic
building from the old Quirk School
where it first opened in 1989. Many
exhibits have been added to the
small scale replicas of historic build-
ings it once housed. Two years later,
in 1997, original receipts from the
1875 construction of the building
were donated to the museum by a
descendant of one of the original
building, Robert PattersonClark.
The building, located at 405 Main
St. has regularly scheduled hours
from 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday. It is funded by a tri-commu-
nity agreement with Van Buren and
Sumpter townships and the City of
Belleville.
For information about the muse-
um, call (734) 697-1944.
** Historical information from
Water Under the Bridge: A History of
Van Buren Township by Cathy S.
Horste and Diane F. Wilson, Copyright,
1977. **
Hall
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