Built in 1870 (Italianate architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
From the record
“Calkins House, originally built as a single-family home, is located at 127 East 1st Street in Perry, Michigan. It now houses the Calkins-McQueen Museum, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.”
Wikipedia article Charles H. Calkins House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 45 National Register listings published here for Shiawassee County · listed in 1978 · category: Building · built in 1870, Italianate architecture.
National Register reference number.78001511- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Fires near this property
9 since 1994
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Charles H. Calkins House
between 1994 and 2020, burning about 86 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
4
Equipment and vehicle use
3
Debris and open burning
2
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Date
Cause
Size
Reported by
Name on the report
5 May 2018
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
1.0 acres
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
LSW EMERGENCY SERVICES FIRE DIVISION 0000222 - 201
9 April 2018
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
1.0 acres
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
LSW EMERGENCY SERVICES FIRE DIVISION 0000173 - 201
8 April 2019
Equipment and vehicle use
1.0 acres
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
PERRY AREA FIRE/RESCUE 0000049 - 2019
2 April 2019
Equipment and vehicle use
1.0 acres
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
PERRY AREA FIRE/RESCUE 0000042 - 2019
2 April 1994
Debris and open burning
60 acres
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
not named
14 April 2018
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
1.0 acres
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
PERRY AREA FIRE/RESCUE 0000048 - 2018
26 March 2018
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
3.0 acres
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
LSW EMERGENCY SERVICES FIRE DIVISION 0000149 - 201
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
3 workings within 5 miles of Charles H. Calkins House: 2 producers, 1 past producer.
2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Perry, the town this property stands in, in 29 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 17 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 3 tornado, 1 lightning.
The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
This tornado developed in Ingham County, just northeast of Mason, and tracked northeastward through the town of Williamston before crossing into Shiawassee County at 2153EST at a point 3.3 miles south-southeast of Perry (see Storm Data for Michigan, Southwest, for more information on the beginning portion of this tornado). In Shiawassee County, the tornado was on the ground for 2 miles and the most significant damage, rated EF1, was concentrated on Lovejoy, Locke, and Braden roads where 4 barns and 3 houses received damage. One house had windows blown out, one farm house had a section of roof taken off, and a modular home had the entire roof taken off. A man in the modular home received a bump on the head, otherwise, no injuries were reported. Total property damages to structures, vehicles, and other property were estimated at $400K. Average path width for the Shiawassee County portion was 100 yards.
A 15-year old Perry Middle School student was hit by lightning while playing soccer on a school field. The boy was rushed to an area hospital for treatment. It is unknown at the time of this publication the condition of the boy.
The tornado touched down around the intersection of Britton Rd and I-69 and produced EF-0 damage up to Bancroft Rd and Newburg Rd with large tree limbs downed and trees snapped. Shoreline Lake Condos had over 10 trailers and mobile homes damaged from falling trees. The tornado continued northeast from Bancroft Rd/Newburg Rd to M-71 just ESE of Vernon producing EF-2 damage. One roof was completely taken off, a second story wall collapsed, and numerous homes with wall damage. The tornado weakened back down to EF-1 as two more home damaged near Bennington Rd Reed Rd. The tornado finally lifted near Riniel Rd just south of Lytle Rd.
The tornado touched down three miles west of Perry around Beardslee Rd, just south of W. Britton Rd, and initially traveled through Ruess Rd and Boulder Ln, where downed trees and fallen large tree limbs were observed. The tornado then intensified as it entered into the city of Perry. Damage located around the intersection of Polly St and Lamb St and southeast into the intersection of 2nd St and Washington St consisted of large uprooted trees, sheared large tree limbs, major roofing damage to several outbuildings, and shingle/siding damaging to some residential homes. These locations observed a peak wind around 95 mph with a tornado width around 430 yards. The tornado then weakened while entering the vicinity of Washington and 2nd St |where downed large tree limbs were observed, before lifting just east of this location.
A severe thunderstorm dropped quarter-size hail in the town of Perry. In addition, strong wind gusts, estimated at 62 mph by spotters, blew down numerous large trees.
A severe thunderstorm dropped quarter-size hail in the town of Perry. In addition, strong wind gusts, estimated at 62 mph by spotters, blew down numerous large trees.
No historic map-sheet match is published
for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs
a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
Browse the county's mapped places while that work is
pending.
Listed places nearby
3 within 8 miles
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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