West Vernor–Springwells Historic District

	Springwells Village
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. Historic district
	North side of Vernor at Springwells, looking west.
Location	W. Vernor Hwy, vet. Honorah and Norman, Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates	42°18′44″N83°7′35″W / 42.31222°N 83.12639°W Coordinates: 42°18′44″N83°7′35″W / 42.31222°N 83.12639°W
Area	8 acres (3.2 ha)
Architect	Oscar C. Gottesleben, Diehl & Diehl
Architectural style	Early Commercial, International Style
MPS	West Vernor Highway Survey Area, Detroit, Michigan MPS
NRHP reference #	02001502 [1]
Added to NRHP	December 12, 2002

Last updated April 29, 2019

The West Vernor–Springwells Historic District is a six block long commercial historic district located along West Vernor Highway between Honorah and Norman in Detroit, Michigan. The district includes 80 acres (32 ha) and 28 buildings.^[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.^[1]

Detroit is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the largest United States city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of Wayne County. The municipality of Detroit had a 2017 estimated population of 673,104, making it the 23rd-most populous city in the United States. The metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area. Regarded as a major cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music and as a repository for art, architecture and design.

Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The state's name, Michigan, originates from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". With a population of about 10 million, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area, and is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

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. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

History

In the late 19th century, the area around this historic district was a small farming community. However, as Detroit expanded and industry moved into the area in the late 1880s, the farms began to be subdivided. Shortly thereafter, a few frame commercial buildings were erected along what is now Vernor Highway. In the 1910s and 1920s, the neighborhood grew rapidly as a result of the construction of the nearby Ford River Rouge Complex. At that time, a substantial number of brick commercial buildings were constructed along Vernor.^[3]

The Ford River Rouge Complex is a Ford Motor Company automobile factory complex located in Dearborn, Michigan, along the River Rouge, upstream from its confluence with the Detroit River at Zug Island. Construction began in 1917, and when it was completed in 1928, it was the largest integrated factory in the world.

In 1915, in response to the growing population of primarily German immigrants, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit established St. Gabriel's Church (located at Vernor and Norman). The Vernor/Springwells commercial district continued to grow through the 1920s and into the 1930s. In the 1950s, African Americans began moving into the neighborhood, and the 1980s saw an influx of Hispanic residents.^[3]

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne. It is the metropolitan archdiocese for the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit, which includes all dioceses in the state of Michigan. In addition, in 2000 the archdiocese accepted pastoral responsibility for the Roman Catholic Church in the Cayman Islands, which consists of Saint Ignatius Parish on Grand Cayman.

Description

The West Vernor–Springwells Historic District spans six blocks along West Vernor, centered on the West Vernor/Springwells intersection, but also containing the West Vernor/Central Avenue intersection. The district contains a high concentration of early twentieth century two-story commercial buildings. Some of these buildings are quite long, containing four to six storefronts apiece. The most visually striking structure is the former Rio theatre, designed by architect Cyril Edward Schley, at the northwest corner of West Vernor and Central Avenue^[3]

The district also the St. Gabriel's Church parish complex. This complex contains a 1916 Italian Renaissance style rectory, the original 1918 Romanesque Revival church designed by Oscar C. Gottesleben, which was later converted into the parish school, and the 1953 St. Gabriel Church designed by Diehl and Diehl. The church still serves Catholic parishioners in the neighborhood. The school operated as a Catholic school until the early 1990s, and in 1996 reopened as the Caesar CHavez Academy.^[4]

Renaissance Revival architecture is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes. Under the broad designation "Renaissance architecture" nineteenth-century architects and critics went beyond the architectural style which began in Florence and central Italy in the early 15th century as an expression of Humanism; they also included styles we would identify as Mannerist or Baroque. Self-applied style designations were rife in the mid- and later nineteenth century: "Neo-Renaissance" might be applied by contemporaries to structures that others called "Italianate", or when many French Baroque features are present.

Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, however, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to feature more simplified arches and windows than their historic counterparts.

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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 city's historic Art Deco skyscrapers blend with the post-modern neogothic spires of One Detroit Center. Together with the Renaissance Center, they form the city's distinctive skyline.

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St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church is a church located at the corner of Baldwin Avenue and St. Paul Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The church address is 1515 Baldwin Street; ancillary buildings are located at 1491 Baldwin Street (Rectory) and 1480 Townsend Street. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

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The Most Holy Redeemer Church is located at 1721 Junction Street in Southwest Detroit, Michigan, within the West Vernor-Junction Historic District. The church was once estimated as the largest Roman Catholic parish in North America. West Vernor-Junction Historic District is adjacent to Mexicantown and contains a growing Mexican community and resurgent neighborhoods.

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The Saint Paul Catholic Church Complex is located at 157 Lake Shore Rd. 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.

References

1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
↑ MICHIGAN - Wayne County - Historic Districts from www.NationalRegisterofHistoricPlaces.com
1 2 3 Marilyn Florek (September 2002), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: West Vernor/Springwells Historic District
↑ Ren Farley (June 2014), Cesar Chavez Academy Elementary School/St. Gabriel's Parish School

External links

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[nris-1] 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.

[nr-2] MICHIGAN - Wayne County - Historic Districts from www.NationalRegisterofHistoricPlaces.com

[nom-3] 1 2 3 Marilyn Florek (September 2002), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: West Vernor/Springwells Historic District

[det1701-4] Ren Farley (June 2014), Cesar Chavez Academy Elementary School/St. Gabriel's Parish School

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