Frederick C. Myrick / Charles H. Palmer House

The Frederick C. Myrick / Charles H. Palmer House is an Italianate Victorian residence built between 1855 and 1857. Frederick Myrick was a prosperous businessman in the Pontiac area, and owned the Mahopac Steam Mill, a lumber operation, in Orion Township at the time. He purchased this property on Huron Street in Pontiac in April 1855, and the house is presumed to have been built very soon thereafter, as a drawing of the residence appears on the 1857 Hess map of Oakland County. Myrick died of small pox while on a trip to New York City in 1860. In 1862, his widow sold the house to Charles H. Palmer, who lived in it until his death in 1887. Palmer was a well-known businessman with mining interests in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and was also an educator who served as a regent of the University of Michigan. The Myrick-Palmer house is one of the few intact mid-nineteenth century residences remaining in Pontiac, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

This Italianate Victorian residence, sometimes known as an Italian villa, was built by Frederick C. Myrick ca. 1855-1857. Myrick, who ran a lumber operation known as the Mahopac Steam Mill in Orion Township, purchased this property in April 1855. A depiction of his house appeared on the Hess map of Oakland County, published in 1857, which featured illustrations of the homes of some of the county's prominent citizens.

Myrick had very little time to enjoy his new house; he died in New York City in 1860, and the Pontiac Gazette published the following obituary, which referred to his "splendid residence":

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Fredrick C. Myrick, esq., long a valuable and esteemed citizen of this village, died in the city of New York, on Saturday the 10th inst. of small pox. He was taken sick at the Astor House where he was stopping for a few days, and when the nature of his disease became apparent, he was removed to the Hospital, where he died.

No man in this community was more respected for integrity, honor and those sterling traits of character that go to make up the true man and good citizen than Mr. Myrick. He was an active and sagacious business man, and had amassed a competence, and built a splendid residence, the home of an amiable and respected family, the members of which, in their hour of deep affliction have the kindest sympathies of the whole community. His loss to a sorrowing household can never be supplied, and his public spirit, genial good nature, and rare social qualities will live long in the memories of very many friends.

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In 1862, Myrick's widow, Harriet, sold the property to Charles H. Palmer. Palmer was an educator who served as principal of the Romeo Academy in Macomb County, and was elected to the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan in 1851. He also had diversified business interests in several Upper Peninsula mines and at least one railroad. In Pontiac, he was credited with helping to bring the Eastern Michigan Asylum to the city. He died in his Huron Street home in 1887.

National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Myrick-Palmer House, listed 8 July 1970.

Alfred Williams and Francis L. Williams his wife to Fred C. Myrick, 20 April 1855, land on Huron Street in the village of Pontiac, being part of the southwest quarter of section 29, Oakland County Record of Deeds, Liber 56, page 18.

Harriet A. Myrick to Charles H. Palmer, 28 June 1862, consideration $6000, land in the southwest quarter of section 29, Township 3 north, 10 east, comprising 3 and 1/10th acres, being the same land deeded to F. C. Myrick by Alfred Williams and wife of April 20, 1855, Oakland County Record of Deeds, Liber 73, p. 544.

“Death of an Esteemed Citizen [obituary of Fredrick Myrick],” Pontiac Gazette, March 16, 1860, p.2.

"Charles H. Palmer," in Biographical Publishing Company. Biographical Record: This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Oakland County, Michigan ... Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company, 1903, pp.48-50.

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWD2-WTY : 11 November 2020), [blank] Myrick, 1860.

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHCC-BZP : 19 March 2020), Charles H Palmer, 1870.

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MW37-4ZH : 13 November 2020), Charles H. Palmer, Oakland, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district ED 267, sheet 330D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,599.

"Blaze Damages Hoffman Home," Pontiac Daily Press, May 5, 1936, p.7.