Farmington
A charming, walkable historic downtown along Grand River, deep Quaker roots, a governor's mansion, and a welcoming spirit that's 200 years strong.
The story
Farmington started with a Quaker and a sled. In March 1824, Arthur Power — a Quaker from Farmington, New York — arrived and felled the first tree, buying land at $1.25 an acre. The settlement was first called Quakertown, then renamed Farmington in 1826 after Power’s hometown. Those Quaker roots mattered: the community was built on values of welcoming everyone with dignity, and Farmington served as a station on the Underground Railroad. The city leaned all the way into that history for its 2024 bicentennial — “welcoming all since 1824” is basically the civic motto.
A great fire in 1872 wiped out the wooden downtown, which got rebuilt in handsome brick — much of which still stands along Grand River Avenue today, now a National Register historic district. One quirk worth knowing: the little 2.7-square-mile City of Farmington is almost entirely surrounded by the much larger City of Farmington Hills (which was Farmington Township until 1973). They share schools, a library, and a name, so people mix them up constantly — but the small, historic, walkable downtown core is Farmington proper. It’s the kind of place that’s kept its character while the suburbs grew up all around it.
Did you know?
- Farmington was originally called “Quakertown,” founded by Quakers in 1824 — the first Quaker settlement in Michigan — and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
- The Governor Warner Mansion downtown was home to Fred Warner, the 26th Governor of Michigan and the first to serve three terms. It’s now a historical museum.
- Tiny Farmington (2.7 sq mi) is almost completely surrounded by Farmington Hills (33 sq mi) — same name, same schools, two different cities. Everybody confuses them.
- An 1872 fire leveled the wooden downtown, which is why the historic core is full of handsome late-1800s brick buildings today.
- The old Farmington Winery building transforms into the “Haunted Winery” every Halloween — a long-running local tradition.
Notable locals
Farmington’s most famous face might be Robert Patrick — yes, the liquid-metal T-1000 from Terminator 2. Add Olympic gold-medal hurdler Rex Cawley (1964 Tokyo), actress Martha Smith (“Babs” in Animal House), Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, and NFL quarterback Drew Stanton, and this small city’s claim to fame runs from sci-fi villains to statehouse to the gridiron.
