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Woodbridge, Detroit

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Woodbridge Neighborhood Historic District
Street scene on Avery, looking south from Willis
LocationDetroit, Michigan
 United States
ArchitectUnknown
Architectural styleSecond Empire, Queen Anne, Romanesque
NRHP reference No.80001931, 97001480 (boundary increase I), 08000225 (boundary increase II)[1]
Added to NRHPMarch 6, 1980, December 1, 1997 (boundary increase I), March 20, 2008 (boundary increase II)

Woodbridge is a historic neighborhood of primarily Victorian homes located in Detroit, Michigan. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, with later boundary increases in 1997 and 2008.[1] In addition to its historic value, Woodbridge is also notable for being an intact neighborhood of single-family homes within walking or biking distance of Detroit's Downtown, Midtown, and Corktown neighborhoods.

Description

The district as recognized by the National Register of Historic Places was originally bounded by Trumbull Street, Calumet Street, Gibson Street, Grand River Avenue, Rosa Parks Boulevard, West Warren Avenue, Wabash Street, Railroad Tracks, and the Edsel Ford Freeway. The boundaries of the District were increased twice: in 1997, 4304-14 Trumbull Street (private residences) and 3800 Grand River Avenue were added to the district, and in 2008 the southeast corner of Trumbull Street and Warren Avenue (Saint Dominic Roman Catholic Church) was added.

Most structures in the district are located on north-south streets. The irregularly-shaped district would include structures:

  • on the east side of Wabash street, on both sides of Vermont Street, and on both sides of Rosa Parks Boulevard from the Edsel Ford Freeway to Warren Avenue;
  • on the west side of Rosa Parks Boulevard from Warren Avenue to Grand River Avenue;
  • on both sides of Hecla Street, Avery Street, and Commonwealth Street from the Edsel Ford Freeway to Grand River Avenue;
  • on the west side of Trumbull Street from the Edsel Ford Freeway to Canfield Street;
  • on the east side of Trumbull Street at the south corner of Warren Avenue;
  • on both sides of Trumbull Street from Canfield Street to Grand River Avenue;
  • on both sides of Lincoln Street and the west side of Gibson Street from Calumet Street to Grand River Avenue;
  • the structure at 3800 Grand River Avenue (between Avery Street and Commonwealth Street).

History

Woodbridge is notable as an intact neighborhood of architecturally significant buildings, with an important effect on the history of Detroit.[2] The neighborhood has largely escaped the redevelopment efforts that have obliterated many of Detroit's other historical neighborhoods, standing as a rare survivor from the Victorian era.[2]

The former Eighth Precinct Police Station was redeveloped into lofts in 2013

The neighborhood is named for William Woodbridge, governor of Michigan in 1840-41, who owned a large farm on which much of the neighborhood was subsequently built.[2] Most of the structures within the neighborhood were built after 1870, beginning with modest cottages.[2] Larger structures were built later, including the James Scripps house (now demolished, and turned into a city park), built in 1879.[2] The Eighth Precinct Police Station, built in 1901, was architecturally designed to blend in with the lavish upper-class homes in the neighborhood.[2]

As the automotive industry boomed, there was an increased demand for housing in the city of Detroit, and new buildings and apartment houses were constructed behind and between the existing homes in the neighborhood. During World War II, owners rented rooms and divided homes into apartments to house defense industry workers.[2]

Redevelopment

After the war, residents began leaving the Woodbridge neighborhood for the suburbs.[2] New residents to Woodbridge were less affluent. In the 1960s, the city cleared areas adjacent to the neighborhood to support revitalization.[2] The residents of Woodbridge organized a Citizen's District Council to preserve the neighborhood, and successfully managed to stabilize and preserve many of the remaining homes. Recent activity has shifted perception of Woodbridge from that of an up-and-coming neighborhood to a hotbed of urban revitalization, with the few properties that come up for sale typically subject to bidding wars.[2][3]

Dick and Sandy Dauch Scout Center, headquarters of the Great Lakes Council, Boy Scouts of America

Dick and Sandy Dauch Scout Center

The Detroit Area Council, later becoming the Great Lakes Council for the Boy Scouts of America which serves the Detroit metropolitan area and covers all of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties chose to build its headquarters in Woodbridge. The facility holds both council and district staff, as well as the National Toyota Scout Shop. Dedicated in September 2003, the service center was largely paid for by the donations of the Dauches; Council Treasurer Irving Rose and his wife, Audrey; and Council Vice President Richard Marsh. The building cost nearly $6 million, including new furnishings, landscaping, and demolition of the old building [4]

Eighth Precinct Police Station Lofts

In early 2013, the historically-protected and once-vacant Eighth Precinct Police Station building, designed by Louis Kamper, was converted into lofts.[5]

Historic structures

Structures within the Woodbridge neighborhood that are also individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places are:

Notable Residents

Present

  • Kenneth Cockrel, Jr. - Detroit City Council member, former mayor of Detroit and City Council President
  • Rose Mary Robinson - Michigan State Representative, former member of the Detroit Charter Revision Commission (in 2009) and former Wayne County Commissioner (one of the first women ever elected, in 1970)
  • Sixto Rodriguez ("Rodriguez") - Folk musician and subject of Academy Award winning movie Searching for Sugar Man
  • Gary Schwartz - Academy Award nominated filmmaker, animator, artist and educator

Henry Cross -The Mayor Of Woodbridge

Past

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Woodbridge Neighborhood Historic District from the city of Detroit
  3. ^ "Detroit: A seller's market?". Crain's Detroit Business, August 11, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  4. ^ http://www.scouting.org/About/AnnualReports/PreviousYears/2003/finance.aspx
  5. ^ Beshouri, Paul (February 27, 2013).A Taste of the Castle Lofts. Curbed Detroit. Retrieved on December 30, 2013.
  6. ^ "Ty Cobb as Detroit". Grantland.com. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
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