kids encyclopedia robot

Governor Charles Croswell House facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Governor Charles Croswell House
Charles Croswell House.JPG
Governor Charles Croswell House is located in Michigan
Governor Charles Croswell House
Location in Michigan
Governor Charles Croswell House is located in the United States
Governor Charles Croswell House
Location in the United States
Location 228 North Broad Street,
Adrian, Michigan
Built 1840s
Architect Daniel Hicks
Architectural style Greek Revival
NRHP reference No. 72000633
Quick facts for kids
Significant dates
Added to NRHP March 16, 1972

The Governor Charles Croswell House is a special old building in Adrian. You can find it at 228 North Broad Street. This house is important because it was once the home of Charles Croswell, who became the governor of Michigan! It was recognized as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1958. Later, in 1972, it was also added to the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's a really important historical place in the United States.

The Story of Charles Croswell

Charles Croswell was born in 1825 in New York. Sadly, he became an orphan when he was very young. He then went to live with his uncle, Daniel Hicks, who was a carpenter.

Moving to Adrian

In 1831, Daniel Hicks and young Charles moved from New York to Adrian, Michigan. Daniel Hicks built this house sometime in the 1840s. After Daniel passed away in 1847, Charles Croswell bought the house from the Hicks family.

Charles Croswell's Life in the House

Charles Croswell moved into the house in the early 1850s. This was soon after he married Lucy Eddy. Charles became a lawyer and started getting involved in local and state government. He helped create the Republican Party.

He served in the state legislature, which is like a state's law-making group. Later, he became the Governor of Michigan. He served as governor from 1877 to 1881. Lucy Eddy Croswell passed away in 1868. Charles Croswell married again in 1880 to Elizabeth Musgrave.

Charles Croswell died in 1886. Elizabeth lived in the house for a few more years until she remarried.

The House Becomes a Museum

In 1925, Charles Croswell's second wife, Elizabeth Merrill, helped fix up the house. She then gave it to the Lucy Wolcott Barnum Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. This group wanted to keep the house as a special memorial to Charles Croswell. Today, this chapter still owns the house, and it is open as a museum for people to visit and learn about its history.

What the House Looks Like

Charles Croswell
Charles Croswell

The Croswell House is a one-and-a-half-story building. It is built in the Greek Revival style, which was popular a long time ago. The house is made of red brick and has white trim.

Main Features

There is a single-story part of the house on one side. There's also another single-story part at the back. Two porches with square pillars stretch across the front of the main house and the side part.

Each porch has an entrance. The one on the main part of the house opens into a hallway. The entrance on the side part leads into the dining room. The windows have six panes of glass on the top and six on the bottom, and they have simple white frames.

kids search engine
Governor Charles Croswell House Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.