James M. Jameson Farm

James M. Jameson moved from New York State to Springport in 1835. Soon thereafter, he settled on the land on which this house stands and constructed a log house. He began farming, and teaching school in the winter. In 1841, he married Loretta Townley, and began concentrating more on farming.[2] Over the next decade, Jameson built one of the two largest farms in the area, and became a leading local citizen, being elected township supervisor several times. In 1850, Jameson constructed a new brick house. It was the first brick residence built in the township, and the unusually elaborate (for Michigan) house is one of the finest Greek Revival houses in south-central Michigan.[3] Jameson left the Springport area in 1876,[4] and died in Jackson, Michigan, in 1886.[2]

The Jameson Farm includes the 1850 farmhouse along with an old barnyard area containing a barn-corncrib structure, sheep pen, implement shed, and the remains of an orchard. The 1850 farmhouse is an unusually large, elaborate, brick Greek Revival structure built in an L shape. It sits on a fieldstone foundation. The house consists of a two-story main section with a hip roof and a 1-1/2-story, flank-gable, side wing. A large ell extends to the rear. The house has wide cornices with returns and a frieze band below. A porch with Doric columns fronts the wing; a second small porch was formerly located in front of the entry door. The windows are double-hung, six-pane sash units, with iron lintels and sills on the front facade and sandstone lintels and sills on the other facades.[3]