The Old Michigan Mill Villages of Dover & Hudson, Washtenaw Co.

Dover,
Dover Mill,
Dover Mills.
It answers to any of those names. This little settlement hardly has anything left except a few homes...you'd never even know there was once a village there.

According to Michiganmarkers.com, a sawmill was built here on the Huron River in 1832 by Samuel Dexter and Isaac Pomeroy. It was replaced by a grist mill in 1846 by the Sloan Company, who named the community Dover Mills (the mill's foundation can still be seen north of the old Bell Road Bridge location). This got the village growing, and a post office finally began operating in 1849 under the name “Base Lake P.O.”. You can see this on the 1873 map in the photo gallery below.

In the early 1860s, Thomas Birkett took over the mill, built a church, and the post office was name “Birkett P.O.” in his honor. This is visible in the 1895 atlas below.

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News Break says it was Birkett who also built the pulp mill along the river where Hudson Mills Metropark is located. Built in 1832, it has collapsed and deteriorated over time, but there is still a good portion of this mill still visible to visitors. This mill joined an 1827 sawmill, and soon there were a couple of others from the 1840s-1882: another grist mill, cider mill, plaster mill, and wood pulp mill. So there were plenty of mills at 'Hudson Mills'.

Dover and Hudson Mills are located in Dexter Township (named after the above-mentioned Samuel Dexter), Washtenaw County. Unfortunately, both villages never grew, but there are plenty of things to see in the area to keep their memories alive.

Check out the photo gallery below, the Hudson Mills Cemetery here, Hudson Mills' last remaining mill here, and the Bell Road Bridge here!