Main Street

Colorful carousels were at the height of their popularity during the early 1900s and could be found all across America in amusement parks, city parks, and seaside resorts. Built in 1913, this "menagerie" carousel's hand-carved animals include storks, goats, zebras, dogs, and even a frog. Although its original location is uncertain, this carousel operated in Spokane, Washington, from 1923 to 1961.

Wilbur and Orville Wright operated their bicycle business in this building from 1897 to 1908 in Dayton, Ohio. The brothers sold and repaired bikes, and they even produced models under their own brands. It was also in this shop that the Wright brothers built their earliest flying machines, including the 1903 Flyer that became the first successful heavier-than-air, powered, controlled aircraft.

The Detroit Central Market's vegetable shed sheltered vendors and customers from 1861 to 1894. The structure was then removed to Belle Isle and was slated for demolition in 2003 when The Henry Ford acquired it. The reconstructed building--which opened in Greenfield Village in 2022--includes several original cast-iron columns and ornamental woodwork, siding, and other details that convey the Swiss-Chalet aesthetic of the original design.

Churches were a center of community life in the 1700s, a place where townspeople came together to attend services and socialize. The Martha-Mary Chapel, with its architecture inspired by New England's colonial-era churches, was built in Greenfield Village in 1929. This chapel was named after Henry Ford's mother, Mary Litogot Ford, and his mother-in-law, Martha Bench Bryant.

Specialized retail stores like this one served the needs of city dwellers in the late 19th century. During the 1880s, a series of shops selling fancy goods, groceries, dry goods, and flour and feed occupied the building. In the mid-1890s, widow Elizabeth Cohen operated a millinery shop here, offering customers fashionable headwear while supporting her young family. Like other shopkeepers, Mrs. Cohen lived above her store.

This stagecoach tavern was built in 1831 in Clinton, Michigan, 50 miles west of Detroit. Taverns dotted the American countryside during the first half of the 1800s, a period of massive migration, new settlement, and rapid change in a young America. From 1849-1854, farmer Calvin Wood operated this tavern, offering food, drink, and accommodations to travelers who passed through his village.

Between 1840 and 1847, Abraham Lincoln tried cases here as a traveling lawyer. Visiting once or twice a year, he worked mostly on cases resolving neighbors' disagreements over land, contracts, and debts. As Lincoln traveled, people got to know him because he always took time to talk to them. This helped him earn votes later when he went into politics.

James R. Jones was one of nine different proprietors who operated a general merchandise store in this building between 1857 and 1927. From 1882 to 1888, Jones sold products like coffee, sugar, fabric, and shoes. He also boasted the first telephone in town. General stores were organized shopping spaces. Long shelves with groupings of similar products lined each side.