USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 37
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This made a great addition to the size of the city.
ABORTIVE ACT OF 1873
By an act of April 12, 1873, the city limits were extended easterly to Con- nor's Creek. The northerly line of this extension was Jefferson Avenue in that part lying easterly of the line between Grosse Pointe and Hamtramck (the east line of the present Henry Gladwin park). Between Pennsylvania Avenue and Mt. Elliott Avenue the line ran along Fremont Street. Another act for the same purpose was passed April 29, 1873. Belle Isle was not included in the annexed district.
The new addition was called the twelfth ward and city officers were elected to represent it. They were: James Holihan, alderman, long term; Richard S. Dillon, alderman, short term; Henry Russel, school inspector, long term; James Dwyer, school inspector, short term; James A. Visger, estimator, long term; Peter Desnoyer, estimator, short term; William C. Mahoney, collector ; Michael Maloney, constable.
A suit was begun to test the constitutionality of the acts of annexation and they were declared illegal by the Supreme Court. It was proposed to establish a great park on the river front in this ward, but the decision of the Supreme Court relegated the lands to farm purposes and it was some years before any other effort of annexation was passed.
By the act of May 3, 1875, a tract of more than two square miles was taken from Greenfield, Hamtramck and Springwells townships and annexed to De- troit, bringing the incorporated area up to fifteen square miles. Belle Isle was purchased by the city in 1879.
In 1885 the limits were extended eastwardly to Baldwin Avenue, northerly to Mack Avenue on the annexed district and then following the Boulevard to St. Aubin Avenue, northerly along that avenue to Pallister Road, westerly to Woodward Avenue. West of Woodward Avenue the line followed the Boule- vard and extended to the westerly line of private claim 266; thence southerly to Toledo Avenue; thence easterly to private claim 39 and thence to the river. Belle Isle was included in the city boundaries by this act.
KRESGE BUILDING
RECREATION BUILDING
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CITY OF DETROIT
Large additions were made in 1891 and Palmer Park was added in 1894. Since then the growth of the city has been almost phenomenal. A small tract was annexed in 1905. The next year the area was increased by nearly seven square miles and the city was divided into eighteen wards. In 1907 the suburb of Fairview and portions of Greenfield and Hamtramck townships were taken into the city. Another tract in Greenfield Township was annexed in November, 1912. During the next three years about seven square miles were added and twenty-four square miles were annexed in November, 1916. Two years later St. Clair Heights became a part of the City of Detroit.
Something of the marvelous growth of the city may be learned from the following table :
SQUARE MILES
Total area in 1806
0.33
Total area in 1815
1.36
Total area in 1827 2.56
Total area in 1832
4.17
Total area in 1836
5.26
Total area in 1849
5.85
Total area in 1857
12.75
Total area in 1875
15.00
Total area in 1879
16.09
Total area in 1885
22.19
Total area in 1891
28.14
Total area in 1894 28.35
Total area in 1905
28.75
Total area in 1907
39.93
Total area in 1920
75.62
CHAPTER XIV
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
COUNCIL HOUSES-THE FIRST STATE CAPITOL-THE FIRST COUNTY BUILDING- THE PRESENT COUNTY BUILDING-THE OLD CITY HALL-THE PRESENT CITY HALL-STORY OF ITS SITE-THE GOVERNMENT BUSINESS-THE FIRST POST- OFFICE BUILDING AND ITS SITE, POSTMASTERS-THE PRESENT BUILDING.
COUNCIL HOUSES
In the annals of Detroit, reference is made to three different council houses which existed before the town came to have a building of public character.
The first of these council houses, a wooden building, was in the old town near the river and was burned in the great fire of 1805.
The second council house was on the southwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street and served as a meeting place for a great variety of unofficial as well as official bodies until it was destroyed by fire in the year 1848. The building was originally one story in height, constructed of stone, but about 1827 a second story was added by the Masons, who used wood instead of stone. Numerous documents and letters indicate that the council house, as well as the lot upon which it stood, was considered as government property, both under the British and American control. The exact date of the building of this house is not known, but it was within two years after the fire of 1805, as the district court for Huron and Detroit met there May 4, 1807.
The third council house was first a military hall located on Fort Street, but passed from government to city hands in 1827. In that year Fort Street was opened from Woodward to the Cass farm and the building was moved to the rear of the First Protestant Society Church on the northeast corner of Woodward Avenue and Larned Street. In 1833 the First Protestant Society sold their building on the corner of Woodward and Larned to the Catholics, who wanted to build a new church on this lot. This necessitated the removal or destruction of the council house and it was removed to the rear of the Methodist Church on the northeast corner of Woodward and Larned. Six years later the colored Methodist Episcopal Church received the building from the council and once again it was moved, this time to the north side of Fort between Brush and Beaubien streets. After this removal it was utilized for church services until 1848, when it was demolished.
THE FIRST STATE CAPITOL
As early as 1806, the governor and judges received authority to build a court house and jail from the proceeds of the sale of town lots not needed in satisfying the claims of the inhabitants who lost property in the 1805 fire, and also from the proceeds of the sale of the land in the ten thousand acre tract. The governor and judges immediately decided to locate the courthouse on Grand Circus Park, but it was seventeen years afterward before the officials
348
OLD STATE CAPITOL, AFTERWARD RE- MODELED FOR HIGH SCHOOL, ON SITE OF PRESENT CAPITOL PARK, HEAD OF GRISWOLD STREET
LE EŁ ŁE LE EL EE
MUNICIPAL COURT BUILDING
351
CITY OF DETROIT
progressed as far as letting the contract, July 25, 1823, to David C. Mckinstry, Thomas Palmer and DeGarmo Jones, for $21,000, and then the building was located at the head of Griswold Street. The corner stone of the building was laid by members of Masonic lodges on September 22, 1823, but not until May 5, 1828, was the structure first occupied, then by the legislative council. The building was 60 by 90 feet in dimensions, with a tower 140 feet high, and was for many years the most conspicuous building in the settlement. The con- tractors took in payment for their work 6,500 acres of land in the 10,000-acre tract north of the town at $2.12 an acre, and 144 city lots at $50.00 a lot. There was some criticism of the deal at the time, because the location for the building was "so far out of town." The building was first occupied, as stated, by the
territorial or legislative council, then by the state legislature and officials.
It served as the capitol when Michigan was admitted as a state and so continued until the capitol was moved to Lansing in 1847. It afterward became the property of the Board of Education as the Capitol Union School. Within its walls were organized the first high school classes and here also for a time was housed the first public library. In 1875 a three-story front was erected for the sole use of the high school and the whole went the way of the old council houses in the fire of 1893. The site is now known as Capitol Square, and is very appro- priately adorned with a statue of Stevens Thomson Mason, the first governor of the state.
THE FIRST COUNTY BUILDING
It was a long time after the court for this judicial district was organized before it and the accompanying county officers had a comfortable home of their own. The court itself passed through a number of transformations, and the county was exceedingly flexible in respect to its boundaries. From 1796 to 1805, Northern Ohio, the northern portions of Indiana and Illinois, all of Mich- igan and the eastern part of Wisconsin were included in the County of Wayne. The judicial system of the Northwest Territory was operative over the whole area, and included the supreme court, common pleas, probate and orphan courts, and quarter sessions. Sessions of the supreme court were held in Detroit by the territorial judges. In 1805, the Territory of Michigan was organized under the anomalous rule of the governor and judges, the whole territory having been included at first in the County of Wayne. In the governor and territorial judges all the legislative powers were centered, while the three judges con- stituted the supreme court, thus having the unique power of passing upon the validity of laws which they had shared in adopting. There were various changes in the style and functions of the intermediate courts until 1825, when the circuit courts were established by name, but they were still held by judges of the supreme court. Under the constitution of 1835, separate circuit courts and courts of chancery were established, but it was not until after the constitution of 1850 was adopted that the present form of circuit court was adopted, with judges elected for terms of six years and with chancery powers.
Meantime the court in its various forms had been a movable body. Under territorial rule, it met in the council house, wherever at the time that chanced to be, then in the old capitol building, then for one year in a privately owned block at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Bates Street, and for eight years (1836-44) in the old city hall on Cadillac Square. In 1845 it moved into the newly-completed, two-story brick county building, at the southeast corner of
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CITY OF DETROIT
Congress and Griswold streets. On the first day of that occupation a resolution of thanks was given by the bar to the contractors and builders "for its tasteful and commodious arrangement, neatness and simplicity of style, and its per- manent and substantial character as a public and fire-proof building." This was very high praise considering the size and appearance of the structure. It was 32 by 80 feet in dimensions, two stories in height and might have been dumped bodily into the corridor of the present county building. County offices occupied the lower floor and the court and judges' room the floor above. The court room was not, according to modern ideas, either elegant, commodious or comfortable, but for twenty-six years it witnessed the trials and triumphs of members of the bar considered among the ablest and most brilliant in the West, including such men as HI. H. Emmons, James A. Van Dyke, Theodore Romeyn, James F. Joy, George V. N. Lothrop, Alfred Russell, William Gray, Charles I. Walker and others equally prominent. The last bar meeting in the old building was held there May 31, 1871. In that year the court and county offices moved into the new city hall, where they remained, paying an annual rent of $12,000. until the present county building was completed in 1902.
THE PRESENT COUNTY BUILDING
When the city hall was built it was expected that it would supply ample accommodations for both city and county for many years. However, as the number of judges increased, the large court room was divided into three and finally a fourth was made out of the judge and jury rooms. When a fifth and sixth were added, they had to go outside for court rooms. A number of propo- sitions were made for relief, among them one to put a fourth story on the city hall, another to put an addition on the Woodward Avenue front, and still another to tear it down and put up a new building to cover the whole. Finally the difficulty of securing harmonious action with two such large bodies as the common council and the board of supervisors was recognized, and the latter body wisely decided to go its own gait. Consideration of site, plans and kind of stone to be used each took considerable time and progress was slow. The site for the new county building was purchased in 1895. Ground was broken for the excava- tion in September, 1896. The contract for the building was let in the Spring of 1897 to R. Robertson & Company, with the agreement that it should be ready in two years. However, labor troubles and changes of plan lengthened the time. The corner stone of the building was laid October 20, 1897; the exterior was not completed until the Fall of 1900. A portion of the building was occupied in July, 1902, by the general county offices, and the courts moved in later. The building was not ready for the dedication until October 11, 1902. The cost of the site was $550,000 and of the building and furnishings $1,635,000, making a total investment of $2,185,000.
The county building, as it is commonly called, was, at the time of its com- pletion, not only the most imposing public structure in the city, but the most ornate in its interior finish and furnishings of any public building in the state. There is in the interior an abundance of tasteful and varied ornamentation. In the woods used for finishing and furniture are mahogany, oak, birch, maple and sycamore, the first named predominating. The marbles are in great variety of color and texture, including Sienna, English vein, White Italian, Alps green, Verona, and red and yellow Numidian. Of the domestic marbles, there are dark and light brown, pink and green Tennessee, and five colors of Vermont.
WAYNE COUNTY BUILDING
Vol. 1-23
355
CITY OF DETROIT
The use of ornamental woods and marbles in the circuit court rooms is especially noteworthy, and Room No. 6, occupied by the presiding judge, is a marvel of rich decoration. When the courts and county offices were first moved to the new building, there were many vacant rooms, but it is now crowded, and the addition of another story is contemplated to relieve the congestion.
THE OLD CITY HALL
The first city hall long antedated the first county building. It stood where the westerly end of what was then Michigan Grand Avenue, now Cadillac Square, now meets Woodward, was 50 by 100 feet in size and cost approximately $15,000. John Scott was the name of the contractor. This building was first occupied November 18, 1835. Payment was made by the proceeds of lots sold by the city on the military reserve. The lower story of this building, which was half basement, was cut up into stalls and rented as a meat market. In- cidentally, it became a center of political wiles and guile, for the butchers were active in politics in those days. Silas Farmer, in his "History of Detroit," states that the second story was occupied only by the city clerk and collector, while the mayor, sewer commissioners, surveyor, and assessor, in 1857, were in the old female seminary building on the site of the present city hall, and that from 1866 until 1871 some of the city offices such as surveyor and sewer com- missioners were located in the Williams Block on Monroe Avenue. The upper floor of the old city hall was mainly taken up with the council chamber, which was also used for citizens' meetings, as a theatre, as a church and for other miscellaneous gatherings. The building was vacated by the city in July, 1872, and in the following November was torn down. A three-story structure for a public hall and markets, called the Central Market Building, was erected on the same site and opened in August, 1SS0. The second story of this building was occupied by the board of health, also the poor and park commission, in 1SS1, and the third story was used by the Superior court in 1883 and for a few years thereafter.
THE PRESENT CITY HALL
The site upon which the present city hall stands has had a checkered history. When the military reservation was platted in 1830, there was a large lot left between Griswold and Fort streets, Michigan Avenue and the Campus Martius. It was the only part of the military reservation which was east of Griswold Street. This lot was 283 feet long on the Griswold Street side, twenty feet front on Lafayette Avenue and twelve feet on Fort Street; the easterly side was the Campus Martius of 245 feet, and the lot had a Michigan Avenue frontage of 144 feet.
The Association for the Promotion of Female Education requested the city authorities to give them this lot and they erected on it a large three-story brick building fronting on Griswold Street, and in it maintained a school or seminary for young ladies for some years. The deed to the association is dated March 29, 1830. The school was not a success and the association leased the building and lot to the University of Michigan for 999 years. The formal lease was executed March 30, 1843. At this time there was an engine house, No. 2, erected in 1836, belonging to the fire department, on the south end of the lot on the Fort Street corner. In the lease to the university, it was provided that the city could retain the engine house site as long as it desired.
356
CITY OF DETROIT
There was a time in the history of the city when the people and the news- papers encouraged the introduction and extension of railroads as of benefit to the town. The Detroit & St. Joseph Railroad, now called the Michigan Central, wanted a central location for depot grounds, and the western portion of the Campus Martius was selected as the proper place to locate the buildings.
On August 4, 1836, Edmund A. Brush, in behalf of the railroad, wanted to lay the track down Michigan Avenue and also asked permission "to occupy so much of the public ground adjacent to the female seminary as might be necessary for a terminating depot." Permission was granted to lay the track on the south side of Michigan Avenue. The road was also allowed to use all that it needed of that part of the Campus lying west of Woodward Avenue. At this time the railroad was owned by a private company, but in the early part of 1837 the legislature provided for the organization of a state commission of internal im- provements and in May of that year the commission acquired the railroad, and thenceforth it was known as the Central Railroad. Justus Burdick was the first president of the commission and David C. Mckinstry was the aeting commissioner of the Central road.
The first track was laid down Michigan Avenue and around the west side of Woodward Avenue to Fort Street. A petition of the citizens was presented to the common couneil in January, 1838, asking that the track be continued down Woodward Avenue to the publie wharf at the foot of the street. The petition was referred to a committee consisting of the mayor, Henry Howard; recorder, Ross Wilkins, and aldermen John MeDonell and Thomas Chase. A plan was prepared which was submitted to the council with the report of the committee favorable to the project. The resolution, which was adopted February 5, 1838, outlined the plan for this work as follows:
"Resolved, That permission be, and it is hereby given to the state or others to make, in accordance with the plan on record, a cut in the center of Woodward Avenue, fourteen feet wide and as deep as may be found necessary, commencing as near the crossing of Congress Street and terminating at or below the erossing of Atwater Street, as shall be found praetieable, but so as in no wise to interfere with or injure the grand sewer, for the purpose of laying down a railway track from the depot at the Campus Martius to the water at the foot of Woodward Avenue. Provided, however, that the state or parties constructing the same shall sceure the sides of said cut with a stone wall or with timber, and shall cover over in the same way all of said eut that can be so covered without ob- structing the passage of the ears which may be employed in transporting goods on said track, preserving through the whole line the grades of the several streets and so constructing the crossings as not to present any obstructions or impedi- ment to the free passage of said streets, or of the water course thereof. And to construet a good and sufficient rail on both sides of said eut as shall not be covered, and at the erossings of the same, except at the commencement and termination of said eut, and to put lamps at convenient distances and to keep them lit during the night, and to make the whole of said work safe and seeure and also to keep the same always in repair.
"Provided, also, That none of the expense of constructing said work, nor for keeping the same in repair shall be paid by said corporation (the city).
"Resolved, That the use of steam engines or locomotives is expressly for- bidden on the traek, the construction of which is authorized by these resolu- tions."
OLD CITY HALL. CAMPUS MARTIUS, 1870
TROR
OLD CITY HALL AND SURROUNDINGS IN 1862
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CITY OF DETROIT
The plan was accepted by the state with the provision that the lighting of the subway would not be insisted upon. A profile of the grade was submitted and accepted in June following. This did not include much of a cut, for the grade was made to correspond with Bates Street. The track was laid to Atwater Street and consent was given to extend it on either side to the city limits, but as the state did not want to bear this expense, private land owners were permitted to lay tracks along Atwater Street to connect with the road. Advantage was not taken of this permission and the road was but little used. The commissioner of internal improvements in 1840 reported that the work had been completed, "but no use had been made of it, and the apathy manifested by those for whose convenience it had been constructed, seems strongly to indicate the fact that as a public thoroughfare, it is perfectly useless." The track was then taken up and that part of the route abandoned March 26, 1844.
The city leased to the state for 999 years, from August 19, 1837, all of the campus lying west of the line of Woodward Avenue and cast of the lot occupied by the seminary. The provision in the lease was that the land should be "used for a depot and the general stopping place for cars carrying passengers on the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad and for no other purpose." The lease was to cease when the premises were abandoned as depot grounds. At the same time the city gave to the railroad a lease of the central portion of Cadillac Square, extending westwardly from Bates Street to the old city hall and market, which was in the center of the street fronting on the Campus. The lease permitted the railroad to run a track across Woodward Avenue to connect with the tracks at Bates Street. The Cadillac Avenue grounds were intended for freight yards. Two of the residents on Cadillac Square (then called Michigan Grand Avenue) were David Cooper and Charles Jackson. Upon their petition, the court enjoined the railroad from proceeding with their work, and the supreme court decided that the city should not lease or dispose of a street in the manner at- tempted. The result was that the railroad established its freight yard and buildings on the south side of Michigan Avenue, a short distance west of Gris- wold Street.
After the railroad passed into the hands of the Michigan Central Railroad Company in 1847, the depot was established at the foot of Third Street. The Campus depot ceased to be used for that purpose in 1848, but the state con- tinued in the ownership of a portion of the buildings for some years. The university conveyed the seminary building to the state in 1854 and some of the state offices were maintained in the building. In 1853 a portion of the old depot building on Griswold Street was leased to Andrew Ladue and Francis E. Eldred. This building is referred to in the deed from the university to the state as "the main structure of the large wooden building originally erected for a warehouse of the Central Railroad." The seminary building is here referred to as "The Yellow State Building." The state sold everything-lease, lot and buildings, to the city January 23, 1856, for $18,816.66.
Agitation for a new city hall had begun before this time, but now, as the city was sole owner of the property, it was proposed to proceed with the new building.
Proceedings were begun in 1859 to vacate so much of the Campus as lies west of Woodward Avenue in order that the land might become the city hall site. Guy F. Hinchman and Sarah Abbott, executors of the will of James Abbott, whose home was on the site of the present Hammond Building, at-
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CITY OF DETROIT
tempted to restrain the city from excavating the Campus and from erecting the city hall at that place. It was stated that those connected with this movement wanted the city hall built on the Grand Circus. Mr. Hinchman's suit was begun May 31, 1860. Although he failed in the suit, the institution of it delayed the work of building for that year, and in the succeeding year, 1861, the War of the Rebellion coming on, prevented further work for some years. The suit begun by Mr. Hinchman in the court of chancery is numbered 1750.
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