Barton Hills

History

In the early 1900s the land now occupied by Barton Hills Village was used for cattle grazing by a local firm, Towar Dairy. Around 1910, the Detroit Edison Company needed to increase its electrical generating capacity and decided to construct a series of dams and power stations along the Huron River. For that purpose they purchased 2,000 acres and water rights along both sides of the Huron River, including the Towar Dairy property. The present Barton Dam was built in 1913. Land owned by the company was also used for agricultural purposes, including farms, dairy cattle, and fruit orchards. The Olmsted Brothers architectural firm, designers of Central Park in New York City, were employed to lay out lot lines and roads which they did in great detail. Most of that plan is still in use today. At first a denuded hill sloping into the pond, jokingly referred to as "Barren Hill", the Olmstead Brothers plan prescribed that the area be reforested. The Barton Hills Country Club, the only business establishment within the village, was founded in 1917. Membership in the Barton Hills Country Club was considered by many to be a mark of distinction. In 2020, about 45% of Barton Hills residents were members of the country club. The subdivision was in its early years considered too far from Ann Arbor to be attractive, and grew slowly. The economic depression of the 1930s slowed all types of building, and it was only in the post-World War II years of the 1950s and 1960s that construction of private homes resumed in earnest. This has continued so that few empty lots remain. By the 1940s, through the economic and social turmoil of the Great Depression and World War II, the community had become an economic liability for a public utility. The company shareholders decided to make an…

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land. Barton Hills sits on the north bank of Barton Pond along the Huron River, which is a reservoir created by Barton Dam, which is located in the city of Ann Arbor.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  65,673
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  65,299
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  58,108
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  56,336
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  48,677
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  47,015
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  46,929
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  45,448

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2026-05-04
  8 km N of Maybee, Michigan
• M 3 — 2026-04-26
  7 km SSE of Amherstburg, Canada
• M 2.5 — 2024-03-18
  4 km WSW of Millbury, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2023-05-20
  3 km SSE of Walbridge, Ohio
• M 3.2 — 2020-08-21
  2 km SSE of Detroit Beach, Michigan
• M 3.4 — 2018-04-20
  Michigan