Botsford Unveils New State Historical Marker

An informational sign that shares the history of the Botsford Inn on Grand River in Farmington Hills is back in place. 

The sign was temporarily removed as Botsford Hospital undertook the construction of a new cancer center and a rehabilitation of the historic inn, which Michigan Historical Commission vice president Kimberly Johnson pointed out has been in place since before Michigan was a state in 1837. The Inn was built in 1836. 

In 1924, Henry Ford, who had saved another inn in Massachusetts, purchased the Botsford Inn, moved and renovated it. Margo Gorchow, executive director of The Botsford Foundation, pointed out that a healing garden, located alongside the Inn, contains a fountain built with stones that were part of a rose garden belonging to Ford's wife Clara.

Gorchow said the sign unveiling was "sort of the period of the process of restoring this, the detail that was put into it, and the importance of keeping this as part of Farmington Hills."

Also present for the ceremony was former Botsford Inn owner John Anhut, who sold the property to Dr. Allen Zieger in 1963. Zieger founded the hospital, which opened in 1965. 

To learn more about the story behind this historic building, read local historian John Willyard's column, The Departed Historic Buildings of the Botsford Inn.