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Metro Detroit Macomb County Charter township
Orchards, an octagon house and the green, rolling north of Macomb County
01 / Why it matters
Washington Township sits in the northwest corner of Macomb County on the Oakland County line, and this is where you can feel the city fading out: hills, woods, orchards and new subdivisions take turns. Much of Stony Creek Metropark is here too.
Fruit goes way back here: Westview Orchards was founded in 1813 and has been run by the same family for more than 200 years. In fall it's u-pick apples, fresh cider, donuts and a winery.
The township's best-known building is the Loren Andrus Octagon House on Van Dyke, built from 1858 to 1860 following Orson Squire Fowler's book, and said to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad. The nearby former village of Mount Vernon had as its first postmaster William Austin Burt, inventor of the solar compass.
02 / Known for
The Loren Andrus Octagon House, built from 1858 to 1860 and on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971.
Westview Orchards, founded in 1813 and still run by the same family.
William Austin Burt, Mount Vernon's first postmaster (1832 to 1856), who invented the solar compass and, in 1829, the typographer, an early ancestor of the typewriter.
Stony Creek Metropark, largely inside the township, with Stony Creek Lake at its heart.
Mount Vernon Cemetery and the former village, named for George Washington's estate.
03 / What’s on
Oct 3, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Oct 4, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Oct 10, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Oct 11, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Oct 17, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Oct 18, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Oct 24, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Oct 25, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Oct 31, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
Nov 1, 2026, 10:00 AMWestview Orchards & Winery · Every Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Westview Orchards & Winery in Washington, Michigan, runs Weekend Fall Fun with an America's 250th themed corn maze, wagon rides, a 40-foot slide and petting animals. Check the farm's site for admission prices.
04 / Places
05 / What to do
A family orchard on Van Dyke going back more than two centuries, with u-pick fruit, a farm market and bakery for cider and donuts, a winery and fall farm fun.
Official site ↗The octagon house at 57500 Van Dyke, open 1 to 4 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month from March through October, with tours by appointment otherwise.
Official site ↗A big regional park around Stony Creek Lake with 14 miles of mountain bike and hiking trails, nature center trails, beaches and boating.
Official site ↗06 / History
Westview Orchards is founded.
Washington Township is organized.
Mount Vernon gets a post office, with William Austin Burt as first postmaster.
Loren Andrus starts building the octagon house, finished in 1860.
On September 3 the Octagon House is added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Friends of the Loren Andrus Octagon House buy the house.
07 / People
Population and area are Census Bureau figures (Washington charter township).
Change since 2020, per the Census Bureau estimate: +3.8 percent.
