Franklin Boulevard Historic District

About Franklin Boulevard Historic District

The Franklin Boulevard Historic District sits just west of downtown Pontiac, running along Franklin Boulevard between West Huron Street and Orchard Lake Avenue, with contributing structures spilling onto Williams Street and the cross-streets. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 (reference 83000888). The 93 contributing buildings span nearly a century of construction — from the 1840s Greek Revival of the Myrick-Palmer House at 223 W. Huron through Italianate, Stick, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival phases, ending around 1930. It is the most architecturally diverse historic district in Pontiac.

The district reflects Pontiac’s role during Michigan’s industrial coming-of-age between 1880 and 1920. The leading figures of the state’s timber, mining, publishing, carriage, and early automobile industries built or bought houses here — most famously Oliver Joseph Beaudette, whose carriage company was one of Pontiac’s largest employers and whose 1914 house still stands at 87 Franklin Boulevard. The former Pontiac City Library at 47 Williams Street, a Ladies’ Library Association project from 1898, now serves as the Pontiac Cultural Arts Center and is one of the district’s civic anchors. Lot sizes are urban-scaled and walkable rather than suburban-grand.

Condition varies sharply parcel-to-parcel, more so than in Seminole Hills. Several mansions have been meticulously restored — the McCall House and the Murphy House bed-and-breakfast are notable examples — while others have spent decades as cut-up rentals or have suffered fires, vinyl-siding overlays, and porch removals. Vacant lots from past demolitions punctuate the streetscape. The district is governed by the city’s Historic District Commission, so exterior changes on contributing structures require review, which has slowed but not stopped further loss.

What buyers get here is square footage and craftsmanship at prices that would be impossible in Birmingham — 3,000- to 5,000-square-foot homes with original woodwork, pocket doors, and carriage houses, often under $300,000. What they accept is a working urban setting: Pontiac School District (C- on Niche, schools-of-choice in active use), a mixed-income block context, and the reality that restoring a stick-style Victorian is a long project. Walkability to downtown Pontiac, the Strand Theatre, and Lafayette Market is a genuine asset that most Metro Detroit historic districts cannot offer.