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Historic home of Ulysses S. Grant to be moved

Flickr user Marion Doss
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One of the oldest structures in Detroit is being moved. The house, built in 1837, is the former home of Ulysses S. Grant.

Grant's residency in Detroit began when he was a young army officer when he was fresh out of West Point and transferred to the Detroit Barracks, according to Dan Austin of the Detroit Free Press and HistoricDetriot.org.

While he only lived in the city for a year, Austin says, "Grant is the only president who had the pleasure of calling himself a Detroiter."

The house was already moved once from its original location near Lafayette Park to the state fairgrounds when it was close to being demolished in 1936.

Now that the state fairgrounds are being shut down it's looking to move again, but the freeway system poses challenges.

The choices are either a lengthy trip solely on surface streets, or slicing the house in half to move on freeways according to Austin. 

"There is nothing that is going to be easy about this," Austin says.  

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