Detroit Canals - Far Eastside

[Wheels]

There was alot of landfill done from all the Downtown construction going on in the 20"s. At least that is what I have read about the area of Greyhaven.

[kryptonite]

Oh and notice the formation of Greyhaven and the Riverside Parks, I would like to know where all this infill came from.

I don't know if this is exactly true, but I have been told that my neighborhood in the suburbs was a low swampy area that was filled in during the rapid expansion of Detroit's northwest neighborhoods. That dirt excavated when basement foundations were dug up was then transported by dump trucks to swampy areas and used to fill them in for future subdivisions. Maybe something like that was done on the riverfront areas also. I know I find some strange stuff in my yard every year when I dig up my vegetable garden: bricks, bottles, rocks, etc. And the soil is not well composted, so I suspect fill dirt was dumped in my lot 50+ years ago.

[Hermod]

The reason for its death in Florida is because these were screwing up the aquafers needed to sustain life. We have plent of fresh water in Michigan. We also have plenty of unused land that needs redevelopment. I am unsure why the Army Corps would care about a canal. They are mostly interested in mavigable bodies of water. Granted the arguement could be made that there is a small amount of pleasurecraft traffic on canals, but the same is true for local streets and I don't see US DOT getting involved in subdivision planning.

Any dredging comes under the purview of the CofE. The opposition and halt to canal dredging [[mostly along salt water) in Florida came from the loss of coastal swamps and other "wetlands".

[Hermod]

I don't know if this is exactly true, but I have been told that my neighborhood in the suburbs was a low swampy area that was filled in during the rapid expansion of Detroit's northwest neighborhoods. That dirt excavated when basement foundations were dug up was then transported by dump trucks to swampy areas and used to fill them in for future subdivisions. Maybe something like that was done on the riverfront areas also. I know I find some strange stuff in my yard every year when I dig up my vegetable garden: bricks, bottles, rocks, etc. And the soil is not well composted, so I suspect fill dirt was dumped in my lot 50+ years ago.

Except for some high ground around Royal oak, most of the land between 8 and 14 mile was an impassible swamp during the early days of Detroit. The settlers who settled Romeo, Utica, Washington, and Rochester could not get through the swamp and so went around on the lake and up the Clinton River to found those communities. The Chicago Drain [[along Chicago Road in Macomb County) was dredged to drain the swamp and many, many cubic yards of gravel were dug out of the glacial hills around Rochester and trucked down to southern Macomb and Oakland County to build all of those post war subdivisions. De Taverner and his double bottom rigs hauled a large percentage of the gravel.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Izzy
Outstanding research, thanks for the posting. When I was a kid growing up in the area I used to hunt old bottles on the banks of the canal from the Angel Park side facing Harbor Island, among the bottles was broken pottery shards, house hold items etc as if someone had dumped their trash there back in the day. If you look at old aerial photos [[link below) of the park just over the bridge from Tommy's Boat Marina you can see that it was once fully encircled with boat slips as late as the early 60's, you can also see that back in the late 40's early 50's the place was jam packed with water craft. Not sure when they stopped this though or why, it would be interesting to know.

http://www.clas.wayne.edu/photos/ap_index.htm#wayne

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

As long as we were in the neighborhood, got this from an old thread. Obviously waaaaay before it was the Dike Bar.

[ct_alum]

As long as we were in the neighborhood, got this from an old thread. Obviously waaaaay before it was the Dike Bar.

EASTSIDE: It is the Deck Bar, not Dike - BTW, I grew up on Ashland between Jefferson and Kercheval and lived in the Cabbage Patch in the early 70's.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

I stand corrected and I guess there was no pun intended with the "dike" slip up, its been a while since I lived in the "D". did you ever know a family by the name of Convery, they lived on Ashland just up from Jeff also and all the kids attended St Ambrose. I went to H.S. with one of em.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Izzy in the D
I have some interesting info on Greyhaven if you would like I can PM it to you.

[Smirnoff]

I would be interested in the Greyhaven info.....

[One Shot]

Is that the Garwood boathouse? Please post more pics if you have them!!!

[old guy]

Yes it is.

John Collier: Detroit, Grayhaven Island today. This the last of my photos taken on the spot the Garwood 43 room Mansion stood

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Smirnoff
Click on the link below to my post on pg9 #217, it gives some pretty interesting details about living on Grayhaven back in the day.


http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?13659-Detroit-s-wealth-of-architectual-talent!/page9

[Smirnoff]

Will do - thanks!!!

[Islandman]

I would be interested in the Greyhaven info.....

How recent is that picture? Would love to see more pictures as well.

[p69rrh51]

How recent is that picture? Would love to see more pictures as well.

That is an old image. The boat house is long gone.

[ronaldj]

The land surrounding Klenk Island and much of Detroit’s Far Lower Eastside was originally a great marsh called Le Grand Marais by the French. The marsh spanned nearly three miles along the Detroit River from Conner Creek to present day Cadiuex Road in Grosse Pointe. Le Grand Marais was a low, flat, marshy country with luxurious growth of wild grass. Fox Creek flowed through Le Grand Marais, but its point of origin was the Black Marsh, an area presently covered by St. Claire Shores, Harper Woods, and Grosse Pointe Woods. French and Native Americans navigated Fox Creek through Le Grand Marais to the Milk River in the Black Marsh to travel inward and north of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair.

In 1808 the U.S. government fixed the boundaries of the original land claims or ribbon farms awarded years earlier by the King of France. The portion of land containing present day Klenk Island was granted to Jean Baptiste Aloire di Lapierre, an Indian trader. Ten years later in 1818, Governor Cass established the Township of Hamtramck containing Le Grand Marais. Then in 1848, the Township of Grosse Pointe was formed, reducing the size of Hamtramck Township and encompassing present day Jefferson-Chalmers.

As farmers began settling in Grosse Pointe Township, they began draining the Black Marsh with ditches, clearing the land for cultivation. An 1876 Wayne County Atlas indicates Jefferson Avenue skirted the north side of Le Grand Marais and the marshland was owned by C. and W. Moran. It was Mr. William Moran who first began geological surveying Le Grand Marias in 1874. He discovered under the wet marsh was a solid clay foundation. He concluded that the land could be reclaimed with proper drainage. He began building earthen dikes and draining the lands. Soon his neighbors followed suit. It is believed that primary drainage ditches were dug by oxen-driven plows, then windmills and pumps moved the marsh water through pipes set in lateral ditches and eventually into the Detroit River. In 1880, the Wayne County Drain Commission authorized and provided the funding for the drainage of the area surrounding Fox Creek and the conversion of the creek to a canal. View the maps below to see the progression from 1870-1940:

1876
Attachment 11750

1904
Attachment 11751

1917
Attachment 11752

1921
Attachment 11753

1937
Attachment 11754

Due to transportation difficulties and private toll bridges over the Connor and Fox Creek the recently drained Grand Marias saw little development in the late 1800’s. It wasn’t until Detroit and Grosse Pointe extended their street car lines and Mayor Hazen Pingree forced out the greedy toll collectors that the newly reclaimed land saw much development.

In 1903, the Village of Fairview, at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Chalmers, extending from the boarder of Detroit at St. Jean Street to Cadiuex Road in Grosse Pointe Township, was incorporated. Fairview was only around for four years until it was annexed by the City of Detroit due to concerns of illness and disease from the Village dumping sewage into the Fox Creek where it would flow down the Detroit River and into the Connor Creek water pumping station which serviced Detroit with drinking water. Detroit only annexed the eastern half of Fairview; the remaining half would become Grosse Pointe Park.

The 1900’s saw development of industry along Connor Creek and north of Jefferson Avenue. The following decade, the first recorded structures were built on Klenk Island. Ten boathouses were built on the island from 1911 to 1917, including some accessory structures. The boathouses were modest in size and form. It is assumed, due to there being no listings for Klenk Avenue, prior to 1920, in City of Detroit Polk Directories many of them were designated as summer or secondary homes for fishermen and boatmen.

My house, built in 1920, shares its modesty with the prior dwellings on the island. The roaring 20’s brought significant development to the surrounding neighborhood. With this development some 1920 era bungalows and prairie style homes were constructed on the island.

Prohibition during the 1930’s, the Fox Creek Canal system became a major navigable water route for bootleggers smuggling alcohol from Canada. With its long and straight canals, multiple access points, proximity to Canada and many boathouses, bootleggers could quickly motor in and out of the canal with illegal shipments. Today some evidence still exists from the bootlegging "trade."

That is all I got for now... but I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can. Oh and notice the formation of Greyhaven and the Riverside Parks, I would like to know where all this infill came from.

As to your last question, the Grayhaven infill came from excavations for high rises in downtown that Edward Gray barged in. He made good money doing this "disposal" service and utilized it to full fill his dream. I have a picture of the first load dumped to create the island. The infill for the parks was during Fairview's day by Thomas Corby, a Fairview Village founder

There is a very decent history of the area, later to become Fairview Village in our newly released book, Horse Power, Men and Machines the book tells the story of Fairview, the race tracks and beyond. There is a chapter on Grayhaven too. Details about the book are listed in Detroit Connection

[southofbloor]

That is an old image. The boat house is long gone.

I think one of the only boathouses left like that is the one that was associated with the Albert Stephens house, now behind UAW on Jefferson.

[TKshreve]

Incredible thread here all!

1> The boathouse at Garwood. Very neat! Friends and I visited the grounds by way of Lennox St. and a brief swim across the canal to the Garwood remains. Jumped off that boathouse and spent the better part of the day just skipping around the grounds. Not long after...... GreyHaven took over and Garwood is now just a place you read about in a book.

2> Very neat insight into the formation of this part of the city, I knew it started out as a swamp, but had no idea there was so much info on the subject.

3> Eastside Cat: Can't wait to dive into the links you provided. Looks like it will take some time, but good reading is always a treat. Thanks!

[Wheels]

How recent is that picture? Would love to see more pictures as well.

Some pictures and history here.

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=128

[p69rrh51]

I think one of the only boathouses left like that is the one that was associated with the Albert Stephens house, now behind UAW on Jefferson.

Its one of 4 free standing boat houses left on the river if I remember correctly. The Packard Boat House, Manoogian Mansion and the house next the Manoogian are the other three. 450 Keelson has a boat house integrated in the home as well as the Fisher Mansion[[the boat house has been filled in). I cannot remember if the other two original homes on Keelson have attchached boat houses.

[Islandman]

Great thread. Thanks for the links!

[Smirnoff]

How recent is that picture? Would love to see more pictures as well.

Photo is from the early 70's......

[TKshreve]

450 Keelson has a boat house integrated in the home as well as the Fisher Mansion[[the boat house has been filled in). I cannot remember if the other two original homes on Keelson have attchached boat houses.

Believe it or not, the Keelson house is in fact an old rum-running house/speakeasy. My brother won an auction for a group of twenty to play a "Roaring Twenties" who-done-it murder mystery at that house. Why? Because the house was an original rum-runner drop spot complete with speakeasy in the basement. It's a perfect setup actually. the boathouse has a door which conceals the arriving boat. Inside the well, there is a crane which offloads the booze. It is carried ten feet into the house and stocked into the historically preserved speakeasy layout of the basement.

Very neat...... I guess they do this thing a couple times a year. Incredible house too! I'll look for pictures...... no guarantees though.

[p69rrh51]

Believe it or not, the Keelson house is in fact an old rum-running house/speakeasy. My brother won an auction for a group of twenty to play a "Roaring Twenties" who-done-it murder mystery at that house. Why? Because the house was an original rum-runner drop spot complete with speakeasy in the basement. It's a perfect setup actually. the boathouse has a door which conceals the arriving boat. Inside the well, there is a crane which offloads the booze. It is carried ten feet into the house and stocked into the historically preserved speakeasy layout of the basement.

Very neat...... I guess they do this thing a couple times a year. Incredible house too! I'll look for pictures...... no guarantees though.

The house is a C. Howard Crane design and I lived there for a little bit a few years ago. The interior is very cool!