A few useful books concerning Bay City, historic preservation and historic architecture:

Dale Patrick Wolicki. The Historic Architecture of Bay City, Michigan.
Bay County Historical Society
, 1998.

This is the essential book about all aspects and periods of Bay City's historic architecture. You may find your own house in here, or one of its close relatives.

The Aladdin Company. Aladdin "Built in a Day" House Catalog, 1917. Reprint.
Dover Publications, 1995.
Bay City is the proud home of many Aladdin "kit" houses, from fine Center Avenue district homes to cottages and even garages and back porches. Dover also publishes a number of other interesting books on Victorian architecture.

Virginia & Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. Knopf, 2000.
"The guide that enables you to identify, and place in their historic and architectural contexts, the houses you see in your neighborhood or in your travels across America--houses built for American families (rich, poor, and in-between), in city and countryside, from the 17th century to the present." This important book shows many of the different kinds of houses to be found in Bay City, including information about when they were built and how you can tell. Here's a useful review of this book.

 

Want ideas for painting your house? These are several of the great sourcebooks put together by Pomada & Larsen. If you look them up on Amazon.com, you'll find similar books by other authors.

Elizabeth Pomada & Michael Larsen. How to Create Your Own Painted Lady: A Comprehensive Guide to Beautifying Your Victorian Home. E.P. Dutton, 1989.
Elizabeth Pomada & Michael Larsen. America's Painted Ladies: the Ultimate Celebration of Our Victorians. Viking Studio Books, 1994.
Elizabeth Pomada & Michael Larsen. Daughters of Painted Ladies: America's Resplendent Victorians. E.P. Dutton, 1987.

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