East River Road Historic District
Gothic Revival "Wedding Cake House" on East River Road[1]
East River Road Historic District is located in Michigan
East River Road Historic District
East River Road Historic District is located in the United States
East River Road Historic District
LocationE. River Rd., Grosse Ile, Michigan
Coordinates42°7′33″N 83°8′30″W / 42.12583°N 83.14167°W / 42.12583; -83.14167
Area18 acres (7.3 ha)
ArchitectGordon W. Lloyd
Architectural styleGothic 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]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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
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
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]

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

Further reading

  • Isabella E. Swan (1968), The ark of God: a history of the Episcopal Church, Grosse Ile, Michigan
  • Elizabeth P. Gannon; Grosse Ile Historical Society, Grosse Ile : Final Report: History of the Customs House and the Grosse Ile Historical Society, Grosse Ile Historical Society
  • Grosse Ile Historical Society (2007), Grosse Ile, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7385-5050-3
  • Isabella E. Swan (1976), The deep roots: a history of Grosse Ile, Michigan, to July 6, 1876, Swan
  • Woman's improvement association of Grosse Ile (1907), The treaty tree and memorial tablet, Grosse Ile, Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford company
  • Andrew Jackson Downing (1856), Cottage residences: or, A series of designs for rural cottages and cottage villas, and their gardens and grounds, adapted to North America (4 ed.), Wiley & Halsted
  • Andrew Jackson Downing (1856), The architecture of country houses: including designs for cottages, farm-houses, and villas, with remarks on interiors, furniture, and the best modes of warming and ventilating. With three hundred and twenty illustrations, Appleton
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