Center Avenue Historic District, Michigan, United States

4.5 (32 reviews) Spent Ranking #7 in Bay City Points of Interest & Landmarks

Beautiful Homes!

This was a really fun house tour. It’s a pretty long walk, so we did it in sections and moved our car a couple times. There is plenty of parking on the side streets. We printed the map from the Bay City website ahead of time, and that was helpful.

Address

, Bay City, Michigan, United States, Postal Code: 48707.

Website

http://canabaycity.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CANA

Current local date and time now

Tuesday, May 14, 2024, 23:10

User Ratings

4.5 based on (32 reviews)

Excellent
75%
Good
16%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
3%
Terrible
0%

Reviews

  • 5Citallwic 5:00 PM Sep 24, 2014
    A treasure trove of historic homes and churches
    Bay City’s Center Avenue Historic District is an architectural treasure trove. More than 250 of the district’s nearly 900 old houses and churches (1870-1960) are National Register-listed, and some are among the finest examples of their kind. A walk or drive in the district affords a view of an amazing array of building styles, including Arts & Crafts, Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival, Gothic Revival, Greek Revival, Italianate, Mid-Century Modern, Neoclassical, Queen Anne, Richardson Romanesque, Second Empire, Shingle Style, Tudor Revival, and Victorian-Era Stick. In the late 1800s, when the local economy was dominated by lumber processing and Bay City was dubbed the “The Lumbering Capital of the World,” the lumber barons, shipping magnates, and other tycoons of that era vied with each other to construct the grandest homes in Bay City. Impressive homes were still being built in the district in the 1910s and 1920s. The district has many historically significant, yet relatively unpretentious “kit homes,” too. Several pioneers of kit home manufacturing (the Aladdin, Lewis, and Liberty Companies) based their operations in Bay City and competed with Sears and Montgomery Ward. There is a self-guided walking tour of the District that begins at the west (downtown) end of Center Avenue and entails a walk of about 1.5 miles. You can do the tour in about an hour if you’re in a hurry, but a more leisurely stroll with an eye for detail will be even more rewarding. To print a walking tour map and see photos and descriptions of 20 or so of the District’s historic homes, click to http://canabaycity.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CANA_WB.pdf. Full disclosure addendum: Bay City is my hometown. I’m very familiar with the city’s Center Avenue Historic District, and have visited it as recently as July, but I’ve never taken the CAHD walking tour.
  • 5Geoffe H 5:00 PM Sep 4, 2017
    I drive by twice each day and it never gets old.
    I live just a block off the historic district and drive Center Avenue twice each day. The seeing lovely homes never gets old and they change with the seasons. I have had the pleasure to be inside several of the homes. Christmas time on Center Avenue is my favorite!

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