Historical Saline

The history of Saline – named for its natural salt springs – really began millions of years ago. Saline’s salt springs originated 600 million years ago when ground water pressure forced brine, from an ancient sea bed, up to the earth’s surface to form salt flats and springs. That salt has been attracting visitors for tens of thousands of years – from Ice Age animals, to Paleo and Pottawatomie Indians, to French traders, to the English-speaking settlers who started what has grown into the thriving City of Saline we know today.

Historical Highlights>>

Visit Our Historical Treasures

The Saline Area Historical Society and other community members are devoted to the preservation of Saline’s rich history. Take a step back in time and visit some of our cherished points of interest.

• Rentschler Farm Museum – Founded in 1999, The Rentschler Farm Museum, consisting of a Queen Anne-style frame house and 11 out buildings, provides a firsthand look at how farm life changed from 1900 to 1950.
• Depot Museum – Founded in 1995, The Depot Museum features the late-Victorian-style Saline Railroad Depot built in 1870.
• Weber-Blaess School – The Weber-Blaess School, once a quaint one-room schoolhouse from the 1860s, has been transformed into an interactive museum and is used widely in the Saline Area Schools elementary curriculum.
• Driving, biking or walking through downtown Saline, along Michigan Avenue and Ann Arbor Street, you can view many Victorian era homes, most notably the Davenport-Curtiss Home on East Michigan Avenue, built in 1875.

For more information on historic sites in the Saline area and a more detailed account of Saline’s history, visit the Saline Area Historical Society