Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Fred and Bertha Wilkins at Wilkins Restaurant |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Description |
Fred and Bertha Wilkins photographed inside Wilkins Restaurant at Wilkins Corner in Orchard Lake, Michigan. Photograph taken January 10, 1955. |
Date |
01/10/1955 |
Subjects |
Photographs People Restaurants |
Collection |
Wilkins Corner |
Catalog Number |
2003-001-018 |
People |
Wilkins, Fred Wilkins, Bertha |
Provenance |
"Wilkins Corner" was the name of the restaurant and gas-station complex located on the east side of the intersection of Pontiac Trail. Orchard Lake Road from the south to this point and Pontiac Trail west of this intersection form a remnant of the old Pontiac and Adrian Road approved in 1828. It was the second road cut in early West Bloomfield. Owned and operated by Fred and Bertha Wilkins, Wilkins Corner stood on the site of both an old blacksmith shop and the West Bloomfield tollgate, which was in operation from 1858 to 1920. In 1921, a year after the tollgate was dismantled, the Wilkins rented the blacksmith shop, which they turned into a garage. The garage's opening on December 3, 1921 marked the arrival of the first gas station in West Bloomfield. |
Search Terms |
Wilkins Corner Wilkins Restaurant |