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Boston–Edison Historic District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boston-Edison
Homes on West Boston Boulevard. Note the variety of styles but uniformity in size and setback.
Boston–Edison Historic District is located in Michigan
Boston–Edison Historic District
LocationDetroit, Michigan
 United States
Architectural styleColonial Revival, Late 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals
NRHP reference No.75000965[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 5, 1975[1]

The Boston-Edison Historic District is an historic neighborhood located in the geographic center of Detroit, Michigan. It consists of over 900 homes built on four streets: West Boston, Chicago, Longfellow, and Edison, stretching from Woodward Avenue on the east to Linwood on the west.[2] It is the largest residential historic district in the nation.[2] It is surrounded by Sacred Heart Major Seminary to the west, the Arden Park-East Boston Historic District and the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament to the east, and the Atkinson Avenue Historical District to the south.

Early history[3]

The land now within the boundaries of Boston-Edison was first owned by John R. Williams (who was granted a single parcel in 1822) and Thomas Palmer (who was granted three parcels in 1828 and 1832). These original four grants were transferred from owner to owner over the next fifty years until they were obtained by the Joy family, the Newberry family, and Edward W. Voigt.

In 1891, Edward Voigt, foreseeing the growth of Detroit northward, platted out Voigt Park subdivision, consisting of seven streets between Woodward and Hamilton[4]--Calvert Avenue, Glynn Court, Schiller Esplanade, Shakespeare Esplanade, Longfellow Avenue, Edison Avenue, and Atkinson Avenue. Four of these streets--Schiller Esplanade (now Boston Boulevard), Shakespeare Esplanade (now Chicago Boulevard), Longfellow Avenue, and Edison Avenue--formed into the Boston-Edison neighborhood. The location of the neighborhood park, originally between Chicago and Boston Boulevards, was later changed to be between Longfellow and Edison Avenues.

Voigt Park subdivision was immediately incorporated into the city of Detroit. Voigt platted spacious lots and established building restrictions that established the character of the neighborhood. His vision was followed by Truman and John Newberry, who platted the West Boston Boulevard Subdivision between Hamilton and 12th Street (now "Rosa Parks Boulevard") in 1913. The subdivision included lots on West Boston, Chicago, Longfellow, and Edison, as well as on Atkinson to the south.[5] In 1915, Henry B. Joy platted the Joy Farms Subdivision between 12th Street to Linwood. This subdivision included lots on the same seven streets originally platted by Voigt.[6] Both of these subdivisions were annexed by the city in 1915.

File:House1 in Boston-Edison.jpg
A modest three-story vernacular on Edison St. This is a typical size home in the neighborhood, but slightly smaller than average.

Homes

The very first homes built in the Boston-Edison Historic District were occupied in 1905.[7], with the majority of the homes built between 1905 and 1925.[8] The overall style of the neighborhood is eclectic,[8] with no two homes alike.[7] Architectural styles represented include English Tudor revival, Roman and Greek Revival, French Provincial, Colonial Revival, Italian Renaissance, Prairie Style, and Vernacular.[7] These homes range in size from modest two-story vernaculars to massive mansions set on sprawling grounds.[9] However, although the homes are eclectic in style, homes along the streetscape are uniform in roofline, scale, setback from the street, and in the use of stone or brick construction.[10] This uniformity creates a gracious suburban ambiance.

Henry Ford's home from 1908-1915. A State of Michigan Historical Marker marks this home.

Original residents

One of the earliest residents of Boston-Edison, Henry Ford[8], was also perhaps one of the most well-known. In 1907, Ford had a brick and limestone Italian Renaissance Revival residence built at the corner of Edison and Second for a cost $483,253.[11] Henry and his wife Clara moved in the next year, living in the neighborhood until 1915, when they moved to Fair Lane, their estate in Dearborn.[11] During the time Ford lived in Boston-Edison, his introduction of the Model T, mass production methods, and wage-price theories revolutionized American industry. Above the garage behind the house, Henry built a machine shop his son Edsel to support his interest in automobile design.[11] A State of Michigan Historical Marker now marks the home.[11]

Henry Ford was only the first of many automotive pioneers to live in Boston-Edison.[11] Ford's early business partners and Ford Motor Company stockholders James Couzens and Horace Rackham also built homes near Ford's in Boston-Edison. (Two other Ford stockholders, John Dodge[12], and Alexander Y. Malcomson,[13] lived in the adjoining Arden Park-East Boston neighborhood.) They were followed by other early and important Ford collaborators such as Peter E. Martin, C. Harold Wills, and Clarence W. Avery.[14] In addition, other early automobile pioneers such as Walter Briggs, Sr. of Briggs Manufacturing Co,[14] four of the Fisher brothers (of Fisher Body),[8] Charles Lambert of Regal Motor Car Co., John W. Drake of Hupp Motor Car Co., and William E. Metzger of Cadillac and E-M-F.[14] built homes in Boston-Edison.

S.S. Kresge's home on Boston Boulevard is one of the largest in the neighborhood.

Other prominent Detroit businessmen lived in Boston-Edison in the early years of the neighborhood, including Sebastian S. Kresge (founder of the S.S. Kresge Company--later Kmart)[8], Benjamin Siegel (founder of a major early clothing store)[8], and J. L. Webber (nephew of J. L. Hudson).[14] Other notable early residents included conductor Ossip Gabrilowitsch and his wife Clara Clemens, Detroit Tigers owner Frank Navin, player Ty Cobb, and historian Clarence M. Burton.[14]

During the early history of Boston-Edison, four factors influenced the character of the neighborhood. First was a tendency for employees and business associates to live in a cluster[8], as early associates of Henry Ford did. In addition, six employees of S.S. Kresge lived in the neighborhood.[8] Second was the tendency of several family members to live in close range. In addition to the four Fisher brothers (a fifth brother, Frederic, lived in the nearby Arden Park-East Boston neighborhood[12]), a number of Benjamin Siegel's relatives lived in the neighborhood, as did a number of Wagner family members (owners of Wagner's bakery).[8] A third factor was the construction of Henry Ford Hospital in 1915, only a mile south of the neighborhood. Twenty-three physicians built homes in Boston-Edison.[8] Finally, Boston-Edison had no discriminatory covenants prohibiting Jews from living in the neighborhood.[8] Many prominent Jewish families, including the Siegels as well as Rabbi Leo M. Franklin[14], moved to the area.

A three-story colonial on Chicago Boulevard. This is a typical size home in the neighborhood, but slightly larger than average.

Later history

As time progressed, Boston-Edison remained a fashionable neighborhood. An impressive number of prominent Detroiters lived in the neighborhood in later decades, including labor leader Walter P. Reuther, Rabbi Morris Adler, Detroit Tigers Harry Heilmann and Dizzy Trout, Michigan Supreme Court justices Franz C. Kuhn and Henry Butzel, US Representative Vincent M. Brennan, and Michigan governor Harry Kelly[14].

In the 1950s, the Lodge Freeway was built, running though the center of the neighborhood. A number of homes were destroyed in the process.

Also in the 1950s, African-Americans began moving into the neighborhood, as Boston-Edison had no covenents excluding them as some other neighborhoods did.[15] Prominent African-Americans attracted by the neighborhood included boxer Joe Louis, druggist Sidney Barthwell, Congressman Charles C. Diggs, Jr., record label owner Barry Gordy, Detroit Tiger Willie Horton, and dentist and pioneering WCHB radio station owner Wendell F. Cox[14].

The district today

Today Boston-Edison is a multi-racial neighborhood; census data from 2000[16] [17] (which includes the surrounding streets of Atkinson, Clairmount, and Glynn Court) show Boston-Edison is a primarily African-American neighborhood, but with a substantial white population. The homes are owned by people from diverse occupations and professions.[7]

The District boasts the oldest continuous neighborhood association in the City, the Historic Boston-Edison Association, which was founded in 1921.[7] The District received historic designation from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office in 1973, the Detroit Historic District Commission in 1974, and the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[8]

A street scape on Edison St. Note uniformity of home placement and size in spite of differences in style.

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  2. ^ a b Sarah Klein, "Neighborhood Museum," Metro Times, 6/5/2002.
  3. ^ Unless otherwise noted, information in the "History" section is from "history" page from the Historic Boston-Edison Association.
  4. ^ Plat map of Voigt Park subdivision from the State of Michigan.
  5. ^ Plat map of Boston Boulevard subdivision from the State of Michigan.
  6. ^ Plat map of Joy Farm subdivision from the State of Michigan.
  7. ^ a b c d e "History" page from the Historic Boston-Edison Association.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Boston-Edison Historic District from the City of Detroit Planning and Development Department.
  9. ^ Detroit Historic Districts from Cityscape Detroit
  10. ^ National Scenic Byways Program
  11. ^ a b c d e Information on Henry Ford is from The Henry Ford House historical marker, text available from Historic Sites Online, State of Michigan Historic Preservation Office.
  12. ^ a b Arden Park-East Boston Historic District from the City of Detroit Planning and Development Department.
  13. ^ Albert Nelson Marquis, The Book of Detroiters, 1908, A. N. Marquis & Co., p. 312
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h "Historic Residents" from the Historic Boston-Edison Association
  15. ^ Arden Park-East Boston from Detroit 1701.
  16. ^ Census Tract 5323, Wayne County, Michiganfrom US Census Bureau
  17. ^ Census Tract 5312, Wayne County, Michiganfrom US Census Bureau
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