Fishbeck, Jacob, Farmstead - Genoa Township, Michigan
Posted by: 
GT.US
N 42° 33.421 W 083° 51.033
17T E 265985 N 4715562
The Jacob Fishbeck Farmstead is located at 5151 Crooked Lake Road in Genoa Township
Waymark Code: WM878Y
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 02/13/2010
Views: 5
The State of Michigan Preservation website at (
visit link) tells us:
The Jacob Fishbeck farmstead complex, located in Genoa Township, Livingston County, consists of five acres of a once much larger farm. The farmstead complex is located on the north side of Crooked Lake road with the south facing residence originally constructed to overlook nearby Big Crooked Lake. The Jacob Fishbeck farmstead complex currently includes a ca. 1853 Greek Revival house as well as a small barn, privy, garage, and chicken coop (see continuation sheet 7-5). The property also includes a section of the loose rubble remnants of a stone foundation of an earlier barn, believed to have been a bank barn form based on the topography of the setting. As a result of the subdivision of the farm, the barn foundation is largely located on the grounds of a neighboring residence. Although exact construction dates for each of the extant outbuildings are unknown, the extant barn appears to date from early in the John Milet family ownership, ca. 1885. Although there is a board in the barn apparently signed by Jacob Fishbeck, the gambrel roof (popular after the Civil War) and the simple hay hood (common on more recently erected barns), suggest a much later date (Noble and Cleek 1995:36, 41-42). The remaining structures were constructed in the first decades of the twentieth century by the members of the Milet family. In part, the later structures are dated by the popularity of their construction materials and the signature of Johnny Milet just inside the door of the garage.
The Jacob Fishbeck farmstead is historically significant as the home of Jacob Fishbeck, an early pioneer in Genoa Township. Although the original log cabin, constructed by Fishbeck, is no longer extant, the frame house constructed on the property stands as an excellent example of the Greek Revival Upright and Wing form residence. By the last decades of the nineteenth century, the farm was under the ownership of John Milet. Milet and his descendants retained ownership of the farm for over 90 years. While most of the associated farm lands have been subdivided, the farmstead complex stands on five acres of the original farmstead and includes the well preserved ca. 1853 residence associated with the Jacob Fishbeck family as well as remnants of the orchards planted by the pioneer family.