Small Towns around Detroit

[Brock7]

Thanks. Are all the other red lines interurban routes as well?

[Just Amazed]

FYI Drayton Plains is gone since the new zip code change, but what in the world was Eames, I have been out in the Waterford area since the 50's and can't recall that city, Any one else remember, also note Lake Orion is only Orion on this map. There are a few others on there that I can't recall. Love looking at old maps. Thanks

[jcole]

From Michigan Place Names by Rumig
Attachment 6063

[MikeM]

Thanks. Are all the other red lines interurban routes as well?

No, most are traditional raillines.

[MikeM]

"Two-story building with vine-covered porch the length of the building. People standing and sitting on porch. Possible plank section of road. Scattered other buildings. Sign on hotel says: "Half-way House." Handwritten on mat back: "Halfway House on Gratiot Road, Erin Tp., Macomb Co., 10 miles from Detroit."




http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/imag...A1IC-X-DPA1184 DPA1184.TIF;quality=2;view=entry;subview=detail;cc =dpa1ic;entryid=x-dpa1184;viewid=DPA1184.TIF;start=;resnum=1

[Hornwrecker]

It's between 15146 Gratiot and 15170 Gratiot. That's Lucky's II and Taco Bell's addresses. It sits very close to Lucky's so I'm guessing the address is in the 15150-160 range. I wonder if the bar owns the property the house sits on.

Attachment 6070

Sanborn, vol 22, 1933, sheet 2333

Address looks to be 15142 Gratiot. This was the earliest map that I could find the house on. Earlier volumes don't cover that area of Gratiot, at least none that I could find.

[Hermod]

Thanks. Are all the other red lines interurban routes as well?

Traditional railroads.

Interurban lines from Detroit were:

Out Jefferson to Mt Clemens.

Out Gratiot to Mt Clemens, New Baltimore, Anchorville, Algonac, Marine City and Port Huron [[with a later "short cut" from Anchorville to Marine City).

Out Woodward to Pontiac with al ine from Royal Oak to Rochester, Oxford, Gooderich, and Flint [[with a spur from Rochester to Romeo and Imlay City)

Out Grand River to Northville with a spur from Farmington to Orchard Lake to Pontiac.

Northville to Wayne.

Out Michigan Ave to Wayne, Ann Arbor, and Jackson.

Out Fort Street to Toledo.

Out Stephenson to Warren.

The Detroit United Railway also ran the city streetcar systems in Detroit, Pontiac, Flint, Mt Clemens, and Port Huron.

[Hermod]

"Halfway" was half the distance from downtown Detroit to Mt Clemens. By horse or mule drawn cargo wagons over the roads of the day, it was a two day trip. The wagon teamsters would halt overnight at Halfway.

[hudkina]

Trenton was popular as being a midway point between Monroe and Detroit. The Grand Hotel was constructed in the late 19th century for travelers.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/michiganmoves/

[MikeM]

Is there any way someone could find out specific info on that old "farm-like" house on Gratiot we were discussing earlier? Year built? Original owner, etc? Looked like from the photo it's boarded up. It would be kind of a shame if they got rid of it.

You could probably find the year built at the city's property tax website. It was probably built before 1925, outside of the city limits at the time.

Some occupants of the house through the years:

1935 - 15142 - Lee Forbush
1940 - 15142 - Lawrence Peters
1949 - 15142 - Francis Boyle
1961 - 15152 - Francis Boyle
1967 - 15152 - Francis Boyle

At ome point during the 1950s the house was renumbered from 15142 to 15152.

[Hermod]

Stops on the Rapid Railway going from Detroit to Port Huron

Junction Line [[end of Gratiot street car service)
French
Connor's Creek
Ackley
Taylor
Grotto
Girard's
Fisher
Hund's
Warren T. Line
Gerlach's
Half-Way
Briniman
Kern
Roseville [[probably 11 mile road)
Utica Junction [[where Utica Road intersects Gratiot)
Champagne
Common's
Cushey
5-Mile House
Erin Town Line [[I would guess 14 mile road)
Quinn
Wolf's
Nunnelley's
Ingleside
Clinton River
Mt Clemens
Mt Clemens City Limits
Ross
Halls [[I would guess Hall Road)
Snovers
shoemaker
Chesterfield [[22 mile)
Fairchild [[23 mile and Gratiot, line leaves Gratiot and goes east on 23 mile)
Orrs
Donners [[about I-94 and 23 mile)
Holtz
Lusk
Little
Baycourt
New Baltimore [[route follows M-29 from New Baltimore)
Bower
Anchorville [[the "short cut" took off from here and went due east to M.C. Junction. there is a road called 'short cut road" following this line)
Bay View
Meldrums
Fair Haven
Rose
Fair Haven Mills
Perch Point
Crockerville
Dyke
Pearl Beach
Apple Grove
Pte Tremble
Randolph
Parkers
The Nook
Pte du Chene
Algonac
Oak Grove
Harrows
Robert's Landing
Evansmere
Broadbridge
Cherry Beach
M.C. Junction
Marine City
Woodworth Aveneue
Youngs
River Road
Recor Point
Rankin
Hammond Grove
Remer
Hawthorne
Harts
Jerome
McGregor
Duchene
St Clair Ship Yards
St Clair
Barrons
Yankee Street
St. Barnard
Burley
Idlewild
Westcott
Gravenhurst
Carltons
Cuttle
Marysville
Greenwood
Morton Salt
Bunce
Hagadorne
Ravenswood
Port Huron

[Danny]

I have seen small towns near the Metro-Detroit Area is becomming like the modern Levittownesque neighborhoods. Places like Milford TWP, Northville TWP, Plymouth TWP, West Bloomfield TWP, Commerce TWP, Brighton, Canton TWP, Bloomfield TWP, Waterford TWP, Shelby TWP, Macomb TWP, Clinton TWP, Ypsilanti TWP, Van Buren TWP, and Harrison TWP.

Those are really booming former small towns around Detroit.

[Hermod]

Starting just north of Algonac and running up to Marine City are "ribbon farms" extending from the river west to Marsh Road. These are platted prior to the township and section surveys.

[Danny]

Traditional railroads.

Interurban lines from Detroit were:

Out Jefferson to Mt Clemens.

Out Gratiot to Mt Clemens, New Baltimore, Anchorville, Algonac, Marine City and Port Huron [[with a later "short cut" from Anchorville to Marine City).

Out Woodward to Pontiac with al ine from Royal Oak to Rochester, Oxford, Gooderich, and Flint [[with a spur from Rochester to Romeo and Imlay City)

Out Grand River to Northville with a spur from Farmington to Orchard Lake to Pontiac.

Northville to Wayne.

Out Michigan Ave to Wayne, Ann Arbor, and Jackson.

Out Fort Street to Toledo.

Out Stephenson to Warren.

The Detroit United Railway also ran the city streetcar systems in Detroit, Pontiac, Flint, Mt Clemens, and Port Huron.

There was a interurban line that connect from Toledo to Dearborn River Rouge Plant. It was called the G.T.W. Railroad. The 'Pullman' rail car trolly was controlled a electric line holding up by pre-Gothic styled concrete and metal utility poles. You can all check it out from Allen Park to Taylor.

[Brock7]

http:**ajlambert.com*anderson*str~~~dr.pdf [[replace asteriks with slashes and the triple tilde with a single underscore)

GREINER:
John and Catherine Greiner moved to Detroit from Alsace Lorraine in1831. John was a schoolteacher and
later became a farmer. They brought with them their four children: John Paul, Nicholas, Andrew, and
Michael. Six more children were born to them in this country: Joseph, Catherine, George, Charles, Peter
Paul, and Caroline. The Greiners lived in a large frame farmhouse across Gratiot from the Church of the
Assumption. The family became prominent and gave their name to the area, the post office being
alternatively known as Conner’s Creek and Greiner, Michigan18. The post office was Michael’s and was
part of the brick house and store which he built south of his parents’ house on Gratiot. Nicholas preceded
Michael as postmaster and his house was north of Michael’s facing Seven Mile Road.

When Father Vandendriessche was appointed pastor, Nicholas Greiner invited him to live at this house
until he could build a rectory. Michael was married to Catherine Pulcher and their children were Mary,
Edward, Caroline, Josephine, Rose, Grace, James, Emma, and Martin Clestine. Mary became the wife of
David Trombly. Emma married Herman Mayer and, after her death, he married her sister, Rose. Joseph
Greiner, the brother of Michael and Nicholas, lived on a farm on Seven Mile and Pumpkin Hook[[Kelly Rd.).

A post office for the area was established in 1855 and designated “Conner’s Creek.� From 1893 until
1899, the name changed to Greiner. It was known as Conner’s Creek again until 1907.


EIGHT MILE HOUSE: Detroit, Michigan
Mary and Joseph Wirtz bought the building and land on the southwest corner of Seven Mile and Gratiot
from Dagobert Juif, in 1866. The tavern was built sometime between 1875 and 1880. The Wirtzes later
sold it to Pete Girard, and it became known as Girard’s Eight Mile House. The cross street at Gratiot,
called Girard, was later changed to Seven Mile Road. The “mile roads� were measured by their distance
from City Hall to their intersections on Woodward. The place where Seven Mile crossed Gratiot was
actually eight miles from City Hall; hence the name of the tavern. For a number of years, the Eight Mile
House alternated with Michael Greiner’s general store as the site of the Conner’s Creek post office.

The Eight Mile House was always busy. Besides offering food, drink, and relaxation to travelers, it was a
place of refreshment for hunters in the fall and horse-drawn sleigh-riders in the winter. In the summer, the
hotel made a picnic grounds and food available for picnickers.


Paul Schoenherr opened Schoenherr Road from Girard [[Seven Mile) to Pig Tail Alley, or State Fair. What
is now Kelly Road was first known as Pumpkin Hook after someone “hooked� Casper Salter’s
pumpkins. The Terneses, Grants, Diegels, Buckleys, Salters, and Kellys all lived there. The name
was changed to Kelly Road by John Kelly, a Gratiot Township justice of the peace, who lived
opposite the present site of Denby High School. He placed a sign on his barn which said “Kelly
Road� and the name took hold.

Greiner, or the Grotto Road, began at the junction of the Townline Road [[now Hoover). The community
there was known as “Smock Town� because the men – the Ackleys, Trombleys, Kettles, Metters,
Schroeders, and Gietzensall wore blue jackets when they farmed.

I geuss this means the Girard's stop on the Rapid Railway was at present day 7 Mile.

I wonder if Halfway House was at present day 9 or 10 Mile.

I found a picture of Fred Becker's Seven Mile House circa 1900 - I don't know what road this was on. I wonder if it could be Eight Mile House at a later date.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/imag...%5DDPA3122.TIF

[Brock7]

You could probably find the year built at the city's property tax website. It was probably built before 1925, outside of the city limits at the time.

Some occupants of the house through the years:
1935 - 15142 - Lee Forbush
1940 - 15142 - Lawrence Peters
1949 - 15142 - Francis Boyle
1961 - 15152 - Francis Boyle
1967 - 15152 - Francis Boyle

At some point during the 1950s the house was renumbered from 15142 to 15152.

How did you find the names of the former occupants?

At the city's property tax website you can only see the tax bills, and you have to pay to see any besides your own. There are two bills listed for the Lucky II Lounge at 15146 - One addressed to the Lucky II Lounge Inc. and the other one in a mans name. There's also a bill for a couple with the same surname as that man for 15142 which address should be south of the lounge. There are three bills for the gas station on the corner to the south. I don't know what to make of all that

By the way, underneath the exterior of the gas station I think still exists a nice little vintage gas station. It's not on the 1933 Sanborn map, but I think it would of been built not long after.

The house seems to be indicated by a dot south of the creek that crosses Gratiot near 8 Mile on this 1904 map you posted in a different thread. I made comparison measurements with a modern map and it's in the right spot. By the way can you tell me what the orange lines on the map below are meant to represent?

The chart is the September 1915 printing of the December 1905 edition of the Wayne Quadrangle based on a survey done in 1904.

[MikeM]

The names come from Polk directories which are similar to phone books, but have listings by address as well as by name.

The lines are elevation countours, i.e., 603 = 603' above sea level.

[econ expat]

http:**ajlambert.com*anderson*str~~~dr.pdf [[replace asteriks with slashes and the triple tilde with a single underscore)

GREINER:
John and Catherine Greiner moved to Detroit from Alsace Lorraine in1831. John was a schoolteacher and
later became a farmer. They brought with them their four children: John Paul, Nicholas, Andrew, and
Michael. Six more children were born to them in this country: Joseph, Catherine, George, Charles, Peter
Paul, and Caroline. The Greiners lived in a large frame farmhouse across Gratiot from the Church of the
Assumption. The family became prominent and gave their name to the area, the post office being
alternatively known as Conner’s Creek and Greiner, Michigan18. The post office was Michael’s and was
part of the brick house and store which he built south of his parents’ house on Gratiot. Nicholas preceded
Michael as postmaster and his house was north of Michael’s facing Seven Mile Road.

When Father Vandendriessche was appointed pastor, Nicholas Greiner invited him to live at this house
until he could build a rectory. Michael was married to Catherine Pulcher and their children were Mary,
Edward, Caroline, Josephine, Rose, Grace, James, Emma, and Martin Clestine. Mary became the wife of
David Trombly. Emma married Herman Mayer and, after her death, he married her sister, Rose. Joseph
Greiner, the brother of Michael and Nicholas, lived on a farm on Seven Mile and Pumpkin Hook[[Kelly Rd.).

A post office for the area was established in 1855 and designated “Conner’s Creek.� From 1893 until
1899, the name changed to Greiner. It was known as Conner’s Creek again until 1907

I haven't seen a post on this thread, but one of the Greiners has posted recently on other DY threads. Possibly descended from the settlers?

[Brock7]

Halfway is noted on this 1914 counties map.

[jcole]

Here's one that has always intrigued me:
From Mich. Place Names/Romig
Attachment 6089

[RickBeall]

That is fascinating! Mound Road was named after an Indian burial ground.

[Brock7]

That explains why there's a ghost there.

There's a very informative post by RickBeall about Norris Town in the "Obscure neighorboods of the City" thread.
http://detroityes.com/mb/showpost.ph...6&postcount=64

[FerndaleDamon]

I've seen that historical map section of the northeast side before with the dots showing a house. That was before we had this discussion about the house on Gratiot. That very well could be the house we were talkin' about. Good observation.

[Hermod]

It looks like the area east of Kelly was originally laid out as "ribbon farms" and not to the township and section system.

[jcole]

Hermod, here's a bit bigger and older look at those ribbon farms in Grosse Pte. Twp. that you mention above
Attachment 6095
The yellow line would be Kelly Rd and the red one approximates 7 Mile. The [[squiggly) blue would be Morang. The map is 1876