203 South Ann Arbor Street

203 South Ann Arbor Street
Date of Construction: 1938

Photo by Cynthia Christensen
October 2012

Architectural Description: This is a one-story, side gabled, vernacular Colonial Revival house, set on a concrete block foundation with a prominent chimney in the center of the façade. The enclosed front entry porch, which had previously been screened-in, has new windows and is located on the southwest corner.

History: A Greek Revival style house, built in 1837, was previously located on this property. In 1937, Henry Ford had the house dismantled and moved to Greenfield Village because it had once been the birthplace and boyhood home of George Matthew Adams. Adams was an American newspaper columnist and founder of the George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service in Chicago, which syndicated columns and comic strips to newspapers for five decades. Adams' own articles were circulated to many newspapers, both in the U.S. and Canada. The original structure had once been the Baptist parsonage in Saline (where Adams' father had ministered). The structure became a private residence in 1918, when the Baptist congregation merged with the local Presbyterian Church. Edward and Adelaide Clark owned the house from 1918-1937. They built the existing house at 203 South Ann Arbor Street in 1938, after the parsonage was dismantled and moved to Greenfield Village. After the death of Edward Clark, the existing house on South Ann Arbor Street was sold to Clarence Fritz. The City of Saline bought the property in 1968 with the intention of building a future library expansion on the adjacent lot, while Clarence Fritz continued to reside in the house. Twenty-three years later, when the decision came to build a new library building on Maple Road, the old library was put up for sale, along with the house at 203 South Ann Arbor St. Richard A. McEnhill, of MB Ventures, LLC., purchased both 201 (old Saline Library) and 203 South Ann Arbor from the City of Saline on May 18, 1994 (Neese).

Sources: "Historic District Study Committee Report for the South Ann Arbor Street Local Historic District." 2007.

Kosky & Glynn Associates. "Intensive Survey, South Ann Arbor Street, Saline, Michigan." 1994.

Neese, Lynda. "A Profile of Saline’s Historic Properties: 201 South Ann Arbor Street (Adrian), 203 South Ann Arbor Street (Adrian). " Graduate Student Report, Eastern Michigan University, 2003.

Shackman, Grace. "George Mathews Adams House." Ann Arbor Community Observer, 2007. http://aaobserver.aadl.org/aaobserver/18633.

Suggested Reading: McAlester, Virginia, and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.

Prepared by Lori Swick
April 17, 2013