Mr. and Mrs. Campbell PhotoIn 1859, Mr. Campbell with his wife and eight children moved to section 26 and 27 of Royal Oak Township where he bought 750 acres of land between 9 and 10 Mile, which had a road running north through it.

Campbell Road is named in honor of Welcome Campbell and remains that name north of 10 Mile today. Interestingly, the road was never an official street name in Ferndale, but was commonly referred to as Campbell Road until 1920 when it officially named Hilton Road.

Welcome Campbell House front building PhotoMr. Campbell built his house a distance back from the road and when the area starting to be subdivided, it was moved closer to the main road. It was located at 2327 Hilton Road.

Years later, Mr. Campbell divided some of his land among his children. In 1890, his son David Campbell sold his 80 acres to an Ohio company who subdivided it and named it Urbanrest, our 1st subdivision.

 

 

Maurice Cole pictured at the David Campbell house, which he purchased in hopes of making it into a Museum. It was located at 3112-3114 Hilton Road. Unfortunately costs needed to renovate the building were too much and the 1st Historical Society could not spark enough interest to save the oldest brick house in the city.The city purchased the building on a land contract from Cole. The building was torn down in 1978 after the city sold the lot.

Urbanrest Plat Survey Photo

 

Welcome Campbell House Model with Students Photo
High School students Edward Fischer, Steve
Pemberton, and Bob Henry along with shop teacher
Kenneth Follmer posed for a local newspaper with
their model of the 111 year old Welcome Campbell
house that they presented to the City
Commission in 1971.

 

Welcome Campbell House Model at Museum Photo
 Welcome Campbell house model
on display at the museum

 

 

 

 

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and written consent from the Ferndale Historical Society is prohibited.

Revised: July 28, 2020