Matthew Hutchison / news@whmi.com

Brighton is getting statewide attention in a new book highlighting notable small towns across Michigan.

Nancy Fredenburg, president of the Brighton Historical Society, presented copies of "Small Town Michigan" by Amy Piper to Brighton City Council during Tuesday night’s meeting.

“I was very pleased to see that Brighton got in a new book called Small Town Michigan by Amy Piper,” Fredenburg said.

“We’re listed with some big names here in Michigan, which I think is exciting and which makes you even prouder,” she said, citing Mackinac Island, Cadillac, Frankenmuth, Marshall and Saugatuck. “So it was just a great book to bring some Brighton pride. We’re always looking for those things to help our community.”

Fredenburg said Brighton’s section includes “a short history of Brighton and what's available to see and focuses on our mill pond area” and the way it helps “bring families together.”

Fredenburg said she owns fewer than 10 books that have been written about Brighton, many of them by local residents or historians. She said this book stands out because it comes from outside the local historical community.

“This is the first one that would be more outside of the circle of Brighton historians,” Fredenburg said.

She also praised the photos selected for the Brighton section.

“I just thought the pictures they did were lovely,” Fredenburg said.

She said one photo looks over the Mill Pond from the Tridge “on a beautiful sunny day.” Another shows the historic CoBach Center, Brighton’s former Old Town Hall, which was built in 1879.