This is the oldest known photograph of Downtown Farmington, believed to have been taken in the early 1870s. It shows the early businesses on the north side of Grand River Avenue, which was known as Main Street, east of Farmington Road, then called Division Street.
The stone building pictured in the center was Oliver B. Smith's Dry Goods Store and Dr. Woodman's Pharmacy. The second floor of that building was the first home of the Farmington Masonic Lodge. Other businesses seen here are John N. Power Hardware, Pierman's Millinery, Warren Selsby's Jewelry Shop (clock on building), the Dohany Building (brick) and Jackson's Blacksmith Shop. All of these buildings were destroyed in the disastrous fire of 1872.
Pictured in front of the Power Hardware store are (left to right) John Hiler, Jack Northrup (tree behind shoulder), Thomas Hanafon, James Wilbur, Ben Arnold, William Kennedy, Uncle Fields and Walker Brown.