History · Center Line

Center Line’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Center Line. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1837established
0old images & papers
2recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Historically, the land that Center Line came to occupy was swamp and wilderness until the early nineteenth century. As land became scarce, French, German, Belgian, and Irish immigrants began clearing the forests and draining the swamps. Center Line was known as "Kunrod's Corner" during the mid-nineteenth century. The theory is that the French named it "Center Line" because it was the middle of three Potawatomi trails from Fort Detroit to northern trading posts. The "center line" was the trail used from Detroit to Utica. The community received its initial start when Catholics decided to build a church so that they would not have to walk to St. Mary's in Detroit for Sunday Mass. This church (St. Clement's) was established in 1854 and attracted more Catholic settlers into the area. In 1863, the first general store was constructed by Joeseph Buechel. On July 19, 1878, Hieronymous Engelmann …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Center Line, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

From Wikimedia Commons (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Center Line

Michigan · MI
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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01