East River Road Historic District

Last updated

East River Road Historic District
EastRiverRdHDGrosseIleMiHouseC.jpg
Gothic Revival "Wedding Cake House" on East River Road [1]
USA Michigan location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationE. River Rd., Grosse Ile, Michigan
Coordinates 42°7′33″N83°8′30″W / 42.12583°N 83.14167°W / 42.12583; -83.14167
Area18 acres (7.3 ha)
Architect Gordon W. Lloyd
Architectural style Gothic Revival, Swiss Chalet
NRHP reference No. 74001003 [2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPAugust 13, 1974
Designated MSHSJune 16, 1972 [3]

The East River Road Historic District is a historic district located along East River Road near the Grosse Ile Parkway in Grosse Ile, Michigan. The district is a small island community composed of eleven structures, including seven houses, two outbuildings, St. James Episcopal Church, and the Michigan Central Railroad depot. [3] [4] The district stretches from St. James Episcopal Church on the south to Littlecote on the north. [5] The district was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1972 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. [2] [3] The historically significant 1870s customs house was moved into the district in 1979. [6]

Contents

Houses

The East River Road Historic District contains several homes built between 1840 and 1870, many of them by Gordon W. Lloyd. The houses in the district are all situated along East River Road facing the Detroit River with pleasant views and large yards. [7] They are primarily Gothic Revival and Swiss Chalet in style, [3] of both limestone and wood, and heavily ornamented with gingerbreading. [7]

These homes were built for Detroit's affluent families, who sought clean and peaceful locations to spend the summer out of the unhealthy city atmosphere. [7] Lloyd's Gothic Revival designs contributes to the ambience of the island, making it an attractive location for many of Detroit's most prominent 19th century families. [3] The residents and architects who built these houses were strongly influenced by Andrew Jackson Downing and his publications Cottage Residences and The Architecture of Country Houses. [8]

Among these houses are: [1] [5]

Dallas Norvell House

Dallas Norvell House DallasNorvell.jpg
Dallas Norvell House

This house was constructed of native stone from the quarry on Grosse Ile in 1851 for Dallas Norvell, [5] the son of Michigan U.S. Senator John Norvell. Dallas Norvell (July 28, 1825, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – March 5, 1888, Amerstburg, Ontario) attended the University of Michigan and was later a gentleman farmer on Grosse Ile. He served as supervisor of Monguagon Township (1856, 1860–1866). He also served as Deputy Postmaster of Detroit. About 1870 he moved to Canada, as he felt the Island was becoming too crowded with "City Folks" from Detroit. [9]

Samuel T. Douglass House

Samuel T Douglass House EastRiverRdHDGrosseIleMiHouseA.jpg
Samuel T Douglass House

The Samuel T. Douglass House, also known as "Littlecote," was built in 1859 for Judge Samuel T Douglass and his wife Elizabeth Campbell Douglass. [8] It is a Gothic Revival cottage designed by Gordon W. Lloyd. [1] The house is constructed of grey stone, and has an ornamental chimney, intersecting gables with pierced bargeboards, numerous porches, and an oriel window. [8]

Anthony Dudgeon House

Anthony Dudgeon House EastRiverRdHDGrosseIleMiHouseD.jpg
Anthony Dudgeon House

The Anthony Dudgeon House was built in 1859. [5] It is a Gothic Revival structure designed by Gordon W. Lloyd. [1] Shipping tycoon William Livingstone also lived in this house, calling it "Rio Vista." [1]

Samuel Lewis House

Samuel Lewis House EastRiverRdHDGrosseIleMiHouseC.jpg
Samuel Lewis House

This house was built in 1859 [5] for Samuel Lewis, a prominent Detroit banker. [8] It is one of Michigan's finest examples of a Gothic Revival villa. [8] The house is built of brick with a wooden board and batten veneer exterior. [1] It has an ornamental chimney, intersecting decorative bargeboards, and a large veranda. [8] Formerly known as "The Lilacs" due to a lilac hedge on the property, it is now known as "the Wedding Cake House." [1] After Lewis, Detroit mayor Kirkland C. Barker lived in the house, after which it passed to Frank Osburn. The house has never been remodeled. [1]

Frederick Anderson House

Frederick Anderson House EastRiverRdHDGrosseIleMiHouseB.jpg
Frederick Anderson House

This house was built in 1881 [5] for Dr. Frederick Pope Anderson and his wife Mary Campbell Douglass (the daughter of Samuel T Douglass). [1] It is a stick-style Victorian house, and boasts a secret passage and hidden bedroom. [1]

St. James Episcopal Church

Facade of church showing Tiffany window StJamesEpiscopalChurchAGrosseIleMi.jpg
Facade of church showing Tiffany window

St. James Episcopal Church was constructed primarily with funds willed for the purpose by Lisette Denison Forth, a former slave. [10] Forth had worked for some time in the household of Detroit mayor John Biddle and become friends with Biddle's wife Eliza. [10] The two women, sharing an Episcopalian faith, made a vow to eventually build a chapel. [10] [11] When Lisette Forth died, she left the bulk of her estate, some $3000, to build a church. [12] Eliza Biddle's son William, knowing his mother's wishes, supplemented Lisette's contribution with some of his own and some of his mother's money. [10] William's brother James donated the land for the chapel, [10] and the two hired architect Gordon W. Lloyd to design the structure. [12]

The resulting church is a front-gable, Carpenter Gothic frame structure. [12] The walls a vertical board and batten, and pierced bargeboards line the gables. [12] The entrance is located on one side under a gable, and a frame steeple tops the church. [12] The building has stained glass lancet windows, including the 1898 Tiffany window, Angel of Praise, which measures 11 feet by five-and-a-half feet. [13] In the years since its construction, the church has undergone several repairs and had multiple additions, but the main structure remains substantially original and in excellent condition. [12] The red doors of the structure are dedicated to the memory and benevolence of Lisette Denison Forth. [11]

Michigan Central Railroad Depot

Grosse Ile Depot, Canada Southern / Michigan Central Railroad Depot
EastRiverRdHDGrosseIleMiDepot.jpg
Michigan Central Railroad Depot, 2010
Built1904
DesignatedMay 20, 1982 [14]

In 1873, Canada Southern Railway established a freight system across Grosse Ile, ferrying goods and passengers from nearby Amherstburg, Ontario to Stony Island, then transporting them via rail across Grosse Ile along a track laid where the present-day Grosse Ile Parkway runs and thence to the mainland. [15] Canada Southern built a passenger station and other facilities on Grosse Ile, on land purchased from the widow of Senator John Norvell, Isabella Hodgkiss Freeman Norvell and her son Dallas Norvell. However, the railroad soon ran into financial difficulties, and about 1880 the Michigan Central Railroad purchased Canada Southern. [15] Michigan Central already operated a ferry service in Detroit, and phased out the operation in Grosse Ile. However, the population of affluent residents on Grosse Ile was growing, and the railroad expanded its passenger service, running as many as three round trips form Detroit to Grosse Ile. [15]

In 1904, the Michigan Central Railroad constructed this depot to replace the earlier frame structure. [14] [15] The depot is built of yellow brick with contrasting base, window surrounds, and quoins made of red brick. [14] The depot has been used since 1967 by the Grosse Ile historical Society. [6]

The location of the station is cited upon land originally belonging to Isabella Hodgkiss Norvell, wife of US Senator John Norvell of Michigan.

U.S. Customs House

U.S. Customs House
EastRiverRdHDGrosseIleMiCustomsHouse.jpg
U.S. Customs House, 2010
Built1871
DesignatedMay 20, 1982 [16]

The Customs House was built in 1871 at what is now 7799 Macomb Street [17] to service the ferry and freight line being constructed by Canada Southern Railway. [16] With the stoppage of freight traffic, the customs house closed in 1883. The building later served as Grosse Ile's first post office, [17] and in 1904 it was converted to a private house. [16] In 1979, it was restored and moved to its present location behind the depot. The Customs House was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1982, [16] and the building is currently used by the Grosse Ile Historical Society. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grosse Ile Township, Michigan</span> Civil township in Michigan, United States

Grosse Ile Township is a civil township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,777 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodbridge, Detroit</span> United States historic place

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. In addition to its historic value, Woodbridge is also notable for being an intact neighborhood of turn-of-the-century homes within walking or biking distance of Detroit's Downtown, Midtown, New Center, and Corktown neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colchester, Ontario</span> Place in Ontario, Canada

Colchester is a community and unincorporated place in Southwestern Ontario, the southernmost settlement on mainland Canada, and the southernmost point with the exception of Point Pelee National Park. It is located on the north shore of Lake Erie, approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of the town of Harrow. Colchester was formerly part of the Township of Colchester South and is now a part of the amalgamated Town of Essex within the County of Essex. Colchester shares its postal code with Harrow as N0R 1G0.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpenter Gothic</span> Architectural style

Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters. The abundance of North American timber and the carpenter-built vernacular architectures based upon it made a picturesque improvisation upon Gothic a natural evolution. Carpenter Gothic improvises upon features that were carved in stone in authentic Gothic architecture, whether original or in more scholarly revival styles; however, in the absence of the restraining influence of genuine Gothic structures, the style was freed to improvise and emphasize charm and quaintness rather than fidelity to received models. The genre received its impetus from the publication by Alexander Jackson Davis of Rural Residences and from detailed plans and elevations in publications by Andrew Jackson Downing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon W. Lloyd</span> Architect

Gordon W. Lloyd was an architect of English origin, whose work was primarily in the American Midwest. After being taught by his uncle, Ewan Christian, at the Royal

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of metropolitan Detroit</span> Architecture style of Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, USA

The architecture of metropolitan Detroit continues to attract the attention of architects and preservationists alike. With one of the world's recognizable skylines, Detroit's waterfront panorama shows a variety of architectural styles. The post-modern neogothic spires of One Detroit Center refer to designs of the city's historic Art Deco skyscrapers. Together with the Renaissance Center, they form the city's distinctive skyline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Woodward Congregational Church</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The St. John's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is a church located in Detroit, Michigan. It was built as the North Woodward Congregational Church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph's Episcopal Church, 1926 (Detroit, Michigan)</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

St. Joseph's Episcopal Church, now known as St. Matthew's-St. Joseph's Episcopal Church, is a historic Episcopal church located at 8850 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, and is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Spier, Rohns & Gehrke was a noted Detroit, Michigan architectural firm operated by Frederick H. Spier and William C. Rohns, best remembered for designs of churches and railroad stations. These were frequently executed in the Richardson Romanesque style. F.H. Spier, W.C. Rohns and Hans Gehrke were authors of the Detroit Chamber of Commerce, tallest building in the city at the time of construction (1895). Hans Gehrke's well known structures include the Fire Department Headquarters on Larned Street in Detroit, and residence of Robert C. Traub in Arden Park residential district of Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Church Chapel</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The Christ Church Chapel is a religious building located at 61 Grosse Pointe Blvd. in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. It is also known as the Christ Church Grosse Pointe or the Christ Episcopal Church. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1992 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Paul Catholic Church (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan)</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The Saint Paul Catholic Church Complex is located at 157 Lake Shore Road in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. The group includes a French Gothic-style church, a Neo-Tudor rectory, a Colonial Revival parish hall, a Neo-Tudor school building, and an Elizabethan Revival convent. The complex was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1992 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisette Denison Forth</span>

Elizabeth "Lisette" Denison Forth was an African-American landowner and philanthropist from Michigan. Forth was born with slave status, and worked as a maid before becoming a landowner. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. James Episcopal Church (Grosse Ile, Michigan)</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The St. James Episcopal Church is a church located at 25150 East River Road in Grosse Ile, Michigan, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piety Hill Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Piety Hill Historic District is a historic district located in downtown Lapeer in Lapeer County, Michigan. It was designated as a Michigan State Historic Site and also added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 26, 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ypsilanti Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Ypsilanti Historic District is a historic district located along several blocks on each side of the Huron River in the center of Ypsilanti, Michigan. The original portion of the district was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978; additions to the district were nationally listed in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsea Commercial Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Chelsea Commercial Historic District is a historic district located along both sides of Main Street from Orchard to North Street in Chelsea, Michigan; the district also includes the adjacent 100 blocks of Jackson, East Middle, and West Middle Streets, as well as structures on Park, East, and Orchard Streets. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southside Historic District (Racine, Wisconsin)</span> Historic district in Wisconsin, United States

The Southside Historic District is a large, prestigious historic neighborhood in Racine, Wisconsin, including over 500 contributing structures in various architectural styles. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarkston Village Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Village of Clarkston is located in the southern part of Independence Township, Michigan along M-15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dibbleville-Fentonville Historic District</span> United States historic place

The Dibbleville-Fentonville Historic District is a primarily residential historic district roughly bounded by Shiawassee, Riggs, Holly and George Streets in Fenton, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Grosse Ile Historical Society (2007), Grosse Ile, Arcadia Publishing, pp. 82–83, 125, ISBN   978-0-7385-5050-3
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "East River Road Historic District". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  4. ↑ Beth Blenz (1981), Encyclopedia of Michigan, Somerset Publishers, p. 566, ISBN   0-403-09973-0
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "GROSSE ILE TOWNSHIP MASTER PLAN" (PDF). GROSSE ILE TOWNSHIP. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 "main page". Grosse Ile historical Society. p. 30. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 Ren Farley. "East River Road Historic District". Detroit1701.org.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Eckert, Kathryn Bishop (1993). Buildings of Michigan. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 121. ISBN   978-0-19-509379-7.
  9. ↑ Woman's improvement association of Grosse Ile (1907), The treaty tree and memorial tablet, Grosse Ile, Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford company, pp. 50–51
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Elizabeth (Lisette) Denison". Elmwood Historic Cemetery. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  11. 1 2 Nancy C. Curtis (1996), Black heritage sites: an African American odyssey and finder's guide, ALA Editions, p. 461, ISBN   0-8389-0643-5
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Saint James Episcopal Church". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  13. ↑ Grosse Ile Historical Society (2007), Grosse Ile, Arcadia Publishing, pp. 96, 97, ISBN   978-0-7385-5050-3
  14. 1 2 3 "Grosse Ile Depot, Canada Southern / Michigan Central Railroad Depot". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Ren Farley. "Michigan Central Grosse Ile Depot". Detroit1701.org. Archived from the original on September 21, 2010.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "U.S. Customs House". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  17. 1 2 1871 Customs House Project LRP - 76 Grosse Ile Township (PDF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2011, retrieved September 1, 2010

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.