The Samuel L. Smith House is located at 5035

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 ...

in Midtown

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It was also known as the Schools Annex. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1986.

History

This house was built in 1889 for $17,000, for William C. WilliamsSamuel L. Smith Home
from Detroit1701.org by the architectural firm of

Rogers and MacFarlane Rogers and MacFarlane was an architectural firm based in Detroit, Michigan, founded in 1885 by James S. Rogers and Walter MacFarlane. The firm produced commissions in Detroit and southern Michigan from 1885 until 1912. James S. Rogers (born in ...

in what was then a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of Detroit. Williams was a Detroit businessman who was instrumental in organizing the

Detroit College of Medicine The Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM) is the medical school of Wayne State University, a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,500 students in undergraduate medical education, master's degree, P ...

, later incorporated into

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

. The next year, Williams sold the home to its most famous resident, Samuel L. Smith.Woodwared Avenue
website Smith was one of the most prominent citizens of Detroit at the time, having made his fortune in lumber, shipping, mining and railroad ventures. In particular, Smith's investments in the

Calumet and Hecla Mining Company The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company was a major copper-mining company based within Michigan, Michigan's Copper Country. In the 19th century, the company paid out more than $72 million in shareholder dividends, more than any other mining company ...

made him tremendously wealthy. He later financed many automobile ventures, most notably the

Olds Motor Works Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

in the late 1890s. Smith lived in the home for 27 years, after which it was purchased by the Detroit Music Conservatory. A few years later, the Conservatory built a two-story rear addition that connected the main house to the original carriage house. In 1960,

purchased the building to serve as the home for

WDET WDET-FM (101.9 MHz) is a public radio station in Detroit, Michigan. It is owned by Wayne State University with its studios and transmitter in the Cass Corridor neighborhood. WDET broadcasts shows from National Public Radio, Public Radio In ...

and WSU's Office of the Center of Instructional Technology. In 1979, the

Detroit Public Schools Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that serves Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, and high school students in Highland Park, Michigan. The district, which replaced the original Detroit Public Schools (DPS) in 2016, ...

bought the building, using it until 2003 when WSU repurchased it.

Description

The Samuel L. Smith House is a three-story, cross-gabled Queen Anne building with Romanesque and Colonial Revival elements. The house is square in plan, and constructed of red brick that has since been painted a light grey. A round corner tower is on one side of the facade, balanced by a Romanesque front entry arch. A bay window is located above the main entrance. The gable ends are decorated with windows, fanlights, and other designs. The center front gable end contains swag motifs and a Colonial style window, the south gable contains a Palladian window, and the north gable a large Colonial window with a fanlight. The interior of the house contains oak wainscoting and moldings, and many fireplaces throughout the building. A leaded glass window in the northers wall contains the coat of arms and the initials of William C. Williams. A two-story rear addition, dating from approximately 1920, connects the main house to the original two-story, red brick, cross-gabled carriage house.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Culture of Detroit Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Houses in Detroit Wayne State University Houses completed in 1889 National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Woodward Avenue Queen Anne architecture in Michigan