Circa 1962
Imlay Township Hall & Library – 1951
212 East Third Street
This building was used as the Imlay Township Hall and Library until 1985 when a new facility was built across from the township cemetery on Fairgrounds Road for township offices. The building then remained the Imlay Township Library until 1989.
At a meeting in October of 1921, the Women’s Study Club began discussing the idea of a public library in Imlay City. They began to raise money by putting on three plays in the town’s opera house. The first library opened in January of 1923 at the town hall on the corner of Fourth and Almont Avenue with 450 books.
In 1927, a 1/8 mill tax was passed and the library became a part of Imlay Township. After ten years the library was moved out of the town hall and into Dr. Braidwood’s office at the corner of Almont Avenue and Fifth Street. It stayed at this location for two years and then moved to a building behind the Lapeer County Bank building on Bancroft Street. It resided there for 16 years until 1951 when a new building was built to include the library and the township office. The building was constructed by Frank Wiegersma. The library resided there for the next 39 years.
In 1989 a new library was built from a generous trust left by Ruth Hughes, a native of Imlay City. The dedication of that building was held in January of 1990, naming it the Ruth Hughes Memorial Library. Library business continues today on that original site, the corner of Fourth and Almont Avenue.
In 1998 the building was sold to the Harry F. Hovey American Legion Post 135 for use as their headquarters.
Imlay Township Hall & Library
212 East Third Street