Novi Historical Commission

Last night we had a fabulous program about Michigan Food and Beverages. Jon and Gail truly wowed the audience with great history and funny stories about the famous Michigan businesses that have brought us so many iconic brands.
Many thanks to Busch’s Fresh Food Market in Novi for donating a wonderful bag of delicious Michigan Products and a Gift Card for our Raffle.

Have you registered? This Wednesday at 7 pm our program will be Michigan Food and Drinks presented by Gail Offen and John Milan. Don’t miss this fabulous program learning all about the great products produced in our great state!

Yesterday evening, we had the pleasure of a wonderful speaker and author, Susan Nenandic presenting a wonderful program about women’s employment in the 19th century. It was great to kick off our spring speaker, season and honor women’s history month sharing stories about the impact and challenges women have had in the workplace throughout history.

We are kicking off our Spring Speaker Series next week, Wednesday, March 11th with a fantastic program about Women’s Employment in the 19th Century. Come listen to Susan Nenandic tell their story.

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A new exhibit about the Novi Special is now online! Thanks to the Novi Historical Commission and the Fall 2025 Betty Lang Intern, residents can now visit novilibrary.org/novispecial to view photos of this Novi treasure. If anyone has their own photos or information about the Novi Special, they are encouraged to donate to the Local History Room. The next Document Donation Day is Saturday, March 21 from 10am-12:30pm.

This morning we were honored to be at Fox Run Senior Living Center. Our Commission Vice Chair and longtime Novi Resident, Kathy Crawford presented the 4-Corners program to their Women’s Club. The audience was delighted to hear more about early Novi history and the businesses that were at the 4-Corners over 100 years ago. We took our recently completed Miniature of Matt Moeren’s General Store for display! Stay tuned to see more additions to this great program in 2026.

Today our Commission honored the veterans at The Novi Road and Knapp Cemeteries with the “Wreaths Across Novi” Ceremony. It was a wonderful fall day to celebrate these wonderful and courageous men and women who fought our our freedom. Today marked our 7th year for this event. Thank you to our community members and honored guests that came out today, Mayor Justin Fischer, Council Members, Casey, Staudt, & Smith. Novi Library Director, Julie Farkas & Board Members, Sturing & Bartlett. VFW Post 1519 & Girl Scout Troops 76932/76936. A very special thank you to our community sponsors whose generosity makes this event possible each year! ITC, Suburban Showplace, O’Brien-Sullivan Funeral Home, Rotary Club of Novi, Vibe Credit Union, Diversified Credit Union, MSU Credit Union, Varsity Lincoln, Begonia Brothers & Busch’s Market.

This evening we were honored with a fantastic presentation about early Novi and the 4 Corners of Grand River and Novi Road featuring Matt Moeren’s General Store. Kathy Crawford and Randy VanWagnen told the story of how this area progressed from its early days and settlers into the early 1900’s. The Novi Historical Commission members worked for many months to develop a miniature model of the interior of the Moeren’s store which was constructed utilizing many 3D printed items designed by Randy VanWagnen fulfilling a longtime vision of Kathy Crawford’s to share the history of “The 4 Corners”

Want to know what the intersection of Novi Road and Grandriver Ave. was like over 100 years ago? Don't miss this fantastic program featuring our own Kathy Crawford and Randy VanWagnen. Come see our first miniature display of Matt Moeren's General Store!
Seats are filling up. Register at novilibrary.org.

Looking for something fun to do today. Come on down to Tollgate Farm and enjoy pumpkin fest. Learn about the Novi Special Race Car and lots of other fun things to do.

Looking for something fun to do with the family this weekend? Join the Novi Historical Commission at Pumpkinfest on Saturday, October 4th and learn about some "Special" Novi History. See you there!!