The Boston–Edison Historic District is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

located in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. It consists of over 900 homes built on four east/west streets: West Boston Boulevard, Chicago Boulevard, Longfellow Avenue, and Edison Avenue, stretching from

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...

on the east to Linwood Avenue on the west.Sarah Klein,
Neighborhood Museum
" ''Metro Times'', 6/5/2002. It is one of the largest residential historic districts in the nation. It is surrounded by

Sacred Heart Major Seminary Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Detroit, Michigan. It is affiliated with the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 2016–2017, 107 seminarians, representing eleven dioceses and two religious orders were enrolled in cl ...

to the west, the Arden Park-East Boston Historic District and the

Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a Neo-Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. The metropolitan archdiocese for the Roman C ...

to the east, and the Atkinson Avenue Historic District to the south. The district was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1975.

Description

A substantial number of prominent Detroiters have lived in the neighborhood. Notable residents have included labor leader Walter P. Reuther, Rabbi Morris Adler, Detroit Tigers

Harry Heilmann Harry Edwin Heilmann (August 3, 1894 – July 9, 1951), nicknamed "Slug", was an American baseball player and radio announcer. He played professional baseball for 19 years between 1913 and 1932, including 17 seasons in Major League Baseball with ...

and

Dizzy Trout Paul Howard "Dizzy" Trout (June 29, 1915 – February 28, 1972) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from to , most notably as a member of the Detroit Tigers team that finishe ...

, Michigan Supreme Court justices Franz C. Kuhn and Henry Butzel, U.S. Representative

Vincent M. Brennan Vincent Morrison Brennan (April 22, 1890 – February 4, 1959) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1921 to 1923. Early life and education Brennan was born in Moun ...

, Michigan governor Harry Kelly, boxer Joe Louis, druggist Sidney Barthwell, Congressman Charles C. Diggs Jr.,Congressman George D. O'Brien,

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

record label founder

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

, Detroit Tiger

Willie Horton William R. Horton (born August 12, 1951), commonly referred to as "Willie Horton", is an American convicted felon who became notorious for committing violent crimes while on furlough from prison, where he was serving a life sentence without the ...

, and dentist and pioneering

WCHB WCHB (1340 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Royal Oak, Michigan, and serving the Detroit metropolitan area. It broadcasts an urban gospel radio format and is owned by Crawford Broadcasting. The station is a reporter to Billboa ...

radio station owner Wendell F. Cox.Arden Park-East Boston
from Detroit 1701. The District boasts the oldest continuous neighborhood association in the City, the Historic Boston–Edison Association, which was founded in 1921. The District received historic designation from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office in 1973, the Detroit Historic District Commission in 1974, and the

in 1975. Census data from 2000Census Tract 5323, Wayne County, Michigan
from US Census BureauCensus Tract 5312, Wayne County, Michigan
from US Census Bureau (which includes the surrounding streets of Atkinson, Clairmount, and Glynn Court) show Boston–Edison has both

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

and

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

residents. The homes are owned by people from diverse occupations and professions.

Architecture

History

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)."history" page
of the Historic Boston–Edison Association. 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, Voigt, foreseeing the growth of Detroit northward, platted out the Voigt Park subdivision, consisting of seven east/west streets between Woodward and Hamilton:Plat map of Voigt Park subdivision
from the State of Michigan. 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 the Boston–Edison neighborhood. The location of the neighborhood park was originally to have been between Chicago and Boston Boulevards, but was later changed to be situated between Longfellow and Edison Avenues. Voigt Park subdivision was immediately incorporated into the City of Detroit. Voigt platted spacious lots and set building restrictions that established the unique 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.Plat map of Boston Boulevard subdivision
from the State of Michigan. In 1915,

Henry B. Joy Henry Bourne Joy (November 23, 1864 – November 6, 1936) was an American businessman and President of the Packard Motor Car Company. He was a major developer of automotive activities as well as being a social activist. In 1913, Joy and Ca ...

platted the Joy Farms Subdivision between 12th Street and Linwood. This subdivision included lots on the same seven streets originally platted by Voigt.Plat map of Joy Farm subdivision
from the State of Michigan. Both of these subdivisions were annexed by the City of Detroit by 1915. The first homes built in the Boston–Edison Historic District were occupied in 1905,"History" page
from the Historic Boston–Edison Association. with the majority of the homes built between 1905 and 1925.Boston–Edison Historic District
from the City of Detroit Planning and Development Department. Each of the homes in the neighborhood is unique. Architectural styles represented include English Tudor revival, Roman and

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

, French Provincial,

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

, Italian Renaissance,

Prairie Style Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

, and

Vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

. These homes range in size from modest two-story vernaculars to massive mansions set on sprawling grounds.Detroit Historic Districts
from Cityscape Detroit Although the homes are unique in style, homes along the streetscape are generally uniform in roofline, scale, setback from the street, and in the use of stone, brick or wood construction. This uniformity creates a gracious suburban ambiance.

Original residents

One of the earliest residents of the Boston–Edison neighborhood,

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

, was also 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 at a cost of $483,253.Information on Henry Ford is fro
The Henry Ford House historical marker
, text available from Historic Sites Online, State of Michigan Historic Preservation Office. Ford and his wife, Clara, moved in the next year, living in the neighborhood until 1915, when they relocated to

Fair Lane Fair Lane was the estate of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Ford, in Dearborn, Michigan, in the United States. It was named after an area in Cork in Ireland where Ford's adoptive grandfather, Patrick Ahern, was born ...

, their estate in Dearborn. During the time that Ford lived in Boston–Edison, his introduction of the

Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...

methods, and wage-price theories revolutionized American industry. Above the garage (behind the house), Henry Ford built a machine shop for his son

Edsel Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effor ...

to support and encourage Edsel's interest in automobile design. A State of Michigan Historical Marker, describing the history and significance of the home, is located on the front lawn. Henry Ford was only the first of many automotive pioneers to live in the Boston–Edison community. Ford's early business partners and

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

stockholders James Couzens and

Horace Rackham Horace H. Rackham (June 27, 1858 – June 12, 1933) was one of the original stockholders in the Ford Motor Company and a noted philanthropist. Early life Rackham was born in Harrison, Michigan.Ross, Robert Budd; Catlin; George Byron, and Burt ...

also built homes near Ford's in Boston–Edison. (Two other Ford stockholders, John Dodge,Arden Park-East Boston Historic District
from the City of Detroit Planning and Development Department. and Alexander Y. Malcomson,Albert Nelson Marquis
''The Book of Detroiters''
1908, A. N. Marquis & Co., p. 312 lived in the adjoining Arden Park-East Boston neighborhood.) They were followed by other early and important Ford collaborators such as

Peter E. Martin Peter Edmund Martin (1882–1944) was a leading early production executive of the Ford Motor Company. Martin was hired by close Henry Ford associate C. Harold Wills on December 15, 1903, and at that time was the company's fifth employee. He was ...

, C. Harold Wills, and Clarence W. Avery."Historic Residents"
from the Historic Boston–Edison Association In addition, other early automobile pioneers such as Walter Briggs Sr. of Briggs Manufacturing Co, four of the Fisher brothers (of

Fisher Body Fisher Body was an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan. A division of General Motors for many years, in 1984 it was dissolved to form other General Motors divisions. Fisher & Company (originally Allo ...

), Charles Lambert of Regal Motor Car Co., John W. Drake of Hupp Motor Car Co., and

William E. Metzger William Ernest Metzger (September 30, 1868 – April 11, 1933) was an automotive pioneer and salesman from Detroit. He opened one of the first automobile dealerships in the United States, and participated in the early development of a number of e ...

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

and E-M-F. likewise built homes in Boston–Edison. Other prominent Detroit businessmen lived in Boston–Edison during the early years of the neighborhood, including Sebastian S. Kresge (founder of the S.S. Kresge Company—later

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

), Benjamin Siegel (founder of a major early clothing store), and J. L. Webber (nephew of J. L. Hudson). Other notable early residents included conductor

Ossip Gabrilowitsch Ossip Salomonovich Gabrilowitsch (Осип Сoломонович Габрилович, ''Osip Solomonovich Gabrilovich''; he used the German transliteration ''Gabrilowitsch'' in the West) (14 September 1936) was a Russian-born American pianist, ...

and his wife

Clara Clemens Clara Langhorne Clemens Samossoud, formerly Clara Langhorne Clemens Gabrilowitsch (June 8, 1874 – November 19, 1962), was a daughter of Samuel Clemens, who wrote as Mark Twain. She was a contralto concert singer and she managed his estat ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

owner

Frank Navin Francis Joseph Navin (April 18, 1871 – November 13, 1935) was the president of the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball for 27 years, from 1908 to 1935. He was part-owner from 1908 to 1919, and principal owner from 1919 to 1935. He also ser ...

, Detroit Tigers player

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

(on nearby Atkinson Avenue at Third), historian Clarence M. Burton, and Rabbi

Leo M. Franklin Leo Morris Franklin (March 5, 1870 – August 8, 1948)
(Franklin's entry) in the Archives of the Temple ...

. During the early history of Boston–Edison, three factors influenced the character of the community. First was a tendency for employees and business associates to live in a cluster, as early associates of Henry Ford did. In addition, six employees of S.S. Kresge lived in the neighborhood. Secondly, 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 adjacent Arden Park-East Boston neighborhood), a number of Benjamin Siegel's relatives lived in the neighborhood, as did a number of Wagner family members (owners of Wagner's bakery). A third factor was the construction of

Henry Ford Hospital Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) is an 877-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex at the western edge of the New Center area in Detroit, Michigan. The flagship facility for the Henry Ford Health System, it was one of the first hos ...

in 1915, only a mile south of the neighborhood. Twenty-three physicians built homes in Boston–Edison.

Education

Residents are zoned to schools in the

Detroit Public Schools Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States and high school students in the insular city of Highland Park. The district, which replaced the original Detr ...

district. Durfee K-8 and Loving and Thirkell elementary schools serve separate sections of the neighborhood for elementary school. All of Boston–Edison is zoned to Durfee K-8 for middle school. All residents are zoned to Central High School. Previously Hutchins Middle School served portions of Boston–Edison.Middle School Boundary Map
" ''

''. Retrieved on October 20, 2009.

References

External links

Historic Boston–Edison Association
neighborhood website

from Detroit Rising

from National Scenic Byways {{DEFAULTSORT:Boston-Edison Historic District Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Neighborhoods in Detroit Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Historic district contributing properties in Michigan Culture of Detroit