HOLLY, MI — Village officials added a Sherman Street pothole to Holly’s historic register Friday after learning the road defect had survived more councils than several current trustees.
“This is one of the best-preserved examples of early twenty-first-century municipal asphalt failure,” said preservation consultant Mark Ellison. “You simply do not see this level of uninterrupted deterioration anymore.”
Under the designation, crews may stabilize the pothole’s edges and install an interpretive plaque, but filling it would be considered an irreversible loss of local character.
Historians dated the site through distinct geological layers of asphalt, gravel, cold patch, rainwater, and Facebook comments asking whether anyone had reported it yet.
Village officials said the pothole will remain open to the public during normal driving hours.