The East Ferry Avenue Historic District is a historic residential district in Midtown

Detroit 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 t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. The nationally designated historic district stretches two blocks from

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a 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 bisects th ...

east to Brush Street; the locally designated historic district includes a third block between Brush and Beaubien. The district includes the separately designated Col. Frank J. Hecker House and the Charles Lang Freer House. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1976 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 ...

in 1980.

History

In 1856, the Ferry Seed Company was founded in Detroit; the company established a large farm at the corner of East Ferry and Woodward to grow the seeds that were sold nationwide.East Ferry Street Historic District
from Detroit1701 In the mid-1880s, then-owner D. M. Ferry platted the farm into residential lots along East Ferry Avenue.East Ferry Avenue Historic District
from the city of Detroit At the time Woodward was an upscale residential street, so lots facing Woodward were quite expensive (as is the Col. Frank J. Hecker House, on Woodward and Ferry). Lots on the side streets were less expensive, and East Ferry was quickly settled by prosperous middle and upper middle class Detroit residents. Prominent early residents of the district include Col.

Frank J. Hecker Frank J. Hecker (July 6, 1846 - 1927) was an American businessman in the railroad-car manufacturing business. Hecker was from Detroit, Michigan. Early life Frank J. Hecker was born in Freedom, Michigan (in Washtenaw County) on July 6, 1846.

, colonel in the Union Army and founder of the

Peninsular Car Company The Peninsular Car Company was a railroad rolling stock manufacturer, founded by Charles L. Freer and Frank J. Hecker in 1885. In 1892, the company merged with Michigan Car Company, the Russel Wheel and Foundry Company, the Detroit Car Wheel C ...

;

Charles Lang Freer Charles Lang Freer (February 25, 1854 – September 25, 1919) was an American industrialist, art collector, and patron. He is known for his large collection of East Asian, American, and Middle Eastern Art. In 1906, Freer donated his extensive col ...

, Hecker's partner and noted art collector; William A. Pungs, founder of the Anderson Carriage Company; Herman Roehm, co-owner of Roehm and Weston hardware store; John Scott, a prominent architect; and Samuel A. Sloman, of M. Sloman & Co. furrier.East Ferry Avenue Historic District
from Cityscape Detroit Woodward Avenue since redeveloped into primarily commercial property, but a group of mansions and upscale housing on East Ferry survives. Around

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a number of professionals and business people found they could purchase homes on East Ferry. The Omega Psi Phi fraternity and the

Lewis College of Business Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design is a private, historically black college in Detroit, Michigan. It was also the first and only historically black college in Michigan. Founded in 1928 as the Lewis College of Business by Violet T. ...

still remain on East Ferry. After World War II, the Merrill Palmer Institute (housed in the Charles Lang Freer House) purchased several homes along East Ferry, hoping to expand their operations. However, Merrill Palmer was unable to expand and in the late 1960s sold the homes to the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...

for their proposed expansion. The DIA eventually realized the property on East Ferry would not be useful to them, and re-sold them in the mid-1990s. Four of these homes were turned into The Inn on Ferry Street, a successful

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

, others are now residential. Recently, new homes have been constructed in the neighborhood, architecturally congruent with the designs of the 19th century homes already there.

Architecture

Houses on East Ferry are built close together on small lots, set back from the street. Many of the matching carriage houses still exist. In general, the neighborhood consists primarily of Queen Anne homes, built of brick and sandstone, with bay windows or turrets and wide front porches. There are some

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) 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, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

, and

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 archit ...

designs.East Ferry Avenue Historic District
from the State of Michigan Homes on East Ferry are some of the best current examples of residential commissions from Detroit's leading 19th century architects, including John Scott,

Louis Kamper Louis Kamper (March 11, 1861 – February 24, 1953)Louis Kampeat Find-A-Grave Retrieved on July 8, 2009 was an American architect, active in and around Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, in the United States. Project range In the early 20th ...

Malcomson and Higginbotham Malcomson and Higginbotham was an architectural firm started in the nineteenth century and based in Detroit, Michigan. A successor firm, Malcomson-Greimel and Associates, still exists in Rochester, Michigan as of 2010. History Architects William G. ...

, Rogers and McFarlane, Mortimer Smith,

Donaldson and Meier Donaldson and Meier was an architectural firm based in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1880 by John M. Donaldson (1854–1941) and Henry J. Meier (1858–1917), the firm produced a large and varied number of commissions in Detroit and ...

, Joseph E. Mills, A. E. Harley, and Smith, Hinchman & Grylls.

Gallery

Image:East Ferry Avenue Historic District 2 - Detroit Michigan.jpg, Restored Victorian homes on East Ferry Image:East Ferry Avenue Historic District 3 - Detroit Michigan.jpg, Newer along with restored homes on East Ferry Image:Hecker House - Detroit Michigan.jpg, Col. Frank J. Hecker House Image:Charles Lang Freer House.jpg, Charles Lang Freer House

Notes

References

External links

*
East Ferry Avenue Historic District
from the Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS MI-311
The Inn on Ferry StreetThe Inn on Ferry StreetMerrill Palmer Skillman InstituteFerry-Morse Seed Company
{{Detroit Midtown Detroit Historic districts in Detroit Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit 1880s establishments in Michigan