Built in 1886, the Village of Holly’s historic Union Depot played an important role in the community’s early history, when the economy was based on lumber and milling.

It’s a unique piece of Michigan rail history, too. “It was the first [depot] in Michigan that could service both sides of the track,” says Village Manager Tim Price. “That’s why it was like the Union Depot, because it was the uniting of the two rail lines.” Holly also boasted one of the first water treatment centers in the state, so the Depot was accordingly one of the first buildings in Michigan to have public bathrooms with running water.

While the Depot hasn’t functioned as a train station for about 50 years, it remains an iconic symbol of Holly’s history. Discussions around the preservation and revitalization of the 2,600-square-foot building have occurred since at least 1999, when the Village purchased it for one dollar.

“We wanted to preserve that portion of our history and our heritage,” says Price.

Recent years brought greater urgency: The Depot had to move. “The railroad, who previously owned the Depot, has to expand the tracks down there,” says Price. “They said, ‘Hey, if you don’t move it, we’re just going to get rid of it,’ essentially.”

“We had to actually move the Depot—literally, pick it up and move it 500 feet down the road, towards the downtown,” says Price.

Move it—they did. Preserved it—they have. The successful relocation of the Holly Union Depot is the Village of Holly’s submission for the 2026 Community Excellence Award.

The Village had been planning the relocation for some time already, having purchased the property for its new location around 2019. Resident Peter Stouffer was brought on as project foreman. “The reason it got done is because of Pete Stouffer,” says Price. “He’s a person that’s very passionate about the community—by hook or by crook, he made sure that we were moving this thing this year and getting it done.”

“This was completely done by community donations and grants,” says Price. The Village received a $150,000 National Trust for Historic Preservation Grant and over $400,000 from Main Street Oakland County through the Public Spaces and Placemaking Grant Program. Ron Campbell, an architect with Main Street Oakland County, provided technical assistance.

Holly Main Street, a 501(c)(3), helped get the grants and ran a crowdfunding campaign. Individuals and families provided donations. Funds were also raised through sales of the local “Holly-opoly” board games. Overall, $900,000 was raised for the Union Depot project.

“There are very few people who have the requirements that we need in order to move this building,” says Price. “You’re moving a building from the 1880s. We had to make sure that we had people doing the correct historic mortar work on it; when they were doing all the tuckpointing and stuff, that the masons actually could do it historically correct.”

The Village worked with Wolfe House & Building Movers, a historic building relocation firm out of Pennsylvania. Crews reinforced the brick exterior through specialized masonry and secured windows and doors with protective framing. The floor was removed. “We saved some sections of the floor that have some cool historic value,” says Price. “It was an old sandstone floor, and you could tell where people would walk because the sandstone was worn down. We wanted to save those sections, hopefully to repurpose someday.”

To carry out the relocation, Wolfe separated sections of the foundation and installed large steel beams and crossbeams beneath the structure. The Depot was then lifted onto what Price described as “six robotic trucks that had the ability to talk to each other,” capable of adjusting to uneven ground conditions. These vehicles moved the Depot slowly, advancing inches at a time to minimize stress on the structure.

The move itself was completed in a single day, though it followed months of preparation and planning. “Wolfe was great to work with,” says Utilities Director Danny Rathsburg. “They handled all the logistics for the actual move itself, but the time of year that we fell on was a challenge in terms of weather.”

Originally scheduled for April 2025, the relocation pushed to July, then October, then the winter, around the time of the village’s annual Dickens Festival. “The day of the move, we had gotten snow and ice,” recalls Rathsburg. DPW workers hurried in and thoroughly plowed and de-iced before the trucks got moving.

“Other than that, the process was fairly seamless.”

A crowd of people turned out to watch the Depot’s slow, careful journey. “People joked that—because we had been talking about it for over 20 years—a lot of people lost a lot of bets that day,” laughs Price. “We were expecting some heart attacks and such when they actually saw it move, because a lot of people never thought it would happen.”

Purchasing the land and moving the building conclude Phases One and Two of the Holly Depot project. What the Depot will ultimately be used for is a decision the Village hasn’t yet made. Phases Three and Four are still down the line, but Price is determined to keep up the momentum. Community input will be taken; presentations will be given; proposals will be made—the municipal process will continue.

“Now that [the Depot has] moved—now that it’s in place—it’s in good hands,” says Price. “Now that it’s in this location, we want to highlight it. It has to be community driven, and the community has taken it this far.”

Author

Emily Pinsuwan

Emily is the League’s full-time Content Writer, composing emails, articles, blog posts, and press releases. If you need words, she has many. Prior to becoming a word person, she was a restaurant person, handling catering, event management, and marketing; prior still, she was a teaching person, at a private boarding school in Massachusetts. Having earned a master’s degree in Classics from the University of Georgia, Emily is confident that she is the only League employee fluent in Latin. She also enjoys cooking, stand-up comedy, and is an avid gamer, having achieved level 40 on her Steam profile.