Subdivision Stories: Sprague's Addition

Sprague's Addition to the village of Rochester was laid out in 1877, making it the third addition to the town's original 1826 plat. The property was owned by Dr. Rollin Sprague and his wife Adaline L. Cooper Sprague, who had made their home in the village after their marriage in 1839. The Spragues built and operated the "Old Stone Store" at the corner of Third and Main, the building we know today as the Home Bakery. They owned for a time a farm on South Hill that was more widely known in later years as the Butts Farm, and maintained a grand residence in the village, on a forty acre farm they owned on the north side of Fifth St. (now University Drive), just west of Main.

After Rollin Sprague died in 1872, his widow subdivided and sold most of her property on West Fifth St. The subdivision fronted Fifth St. and extended west from the family residence to Madison Ave., while Pine and Oak streets were extended northward through the new plat, ending at Sixth St. Lots in Sprague's Addition went on the market in May of 1878, and new houses were soon springing up on the former family farm.

Sprague's Addition celebrates its 133rd birthday this year.

Main Street Stories: Rollin Sprague Stone Store

The Rollin Sprague Stone Store at 300 S. Main Street, built in 1849, is the oldest commercial building in the city of Rochester, and is one of our community's greatest historical treasures. Thanks to a recently rediscovered tin type image of the building, shown here courtesy of the Melanie and Janet Swords Family Archive and with their generous permission, we have wonderful photographic evidence of the building's use and appearance about 1878.

Dr. Rollin Sprague ran the business as a grocery and general store until his death in 1872, and then his widow, Adaline L. Cooper Sprague, continued to operate it on her own until at least 1875. An 1875 Michigan gazetteer lists Adaline Sprague as the proprietor of the store, but the 1877 directory lists the business as Barnes & Goodison, the name seen in this tin type image. According to an 1891 history of Oakland County, partners William H. Barnes and Samuel C. Goodison started out as grocers, but "in 1878 added a stock of clothing, and subsequently one of boots and shoes, hats, caps and gents' furnishing goods."

The exact date that the Barnes & Goodison partnership ended is unknown. Samuel Goodison died in 1897, and Anna Barnes Goodison, his widow, continued to operate the store on her own until at least 1904. Later occupants of the Rollin Sprague building included the Frantz Cafe in 1925, a Hudson-Essex automobile dealership in 1929, and the Oakland Dairy in the 1930s. By 1949, the building housed Mac's Bakery, and by 1953, it was known as the Home Bakery.

The Rollin Sprague Stone Store is noteworthy for its coursed cobblestone construction, a technique not well known in Michigan at the time. An article published in the Rochester Clarion on May 18, 1923 gave the history of the Sprague family in Rochester and had this to say about the construction of the store:

Another memorial [to the family] is the stone store at the corner of Main and Third streets. This was erected seventy years ago at least and was occupied by the doctor as a sort of general store, wherein drugs, groceries, dry goods, etc., were handled. The structure itself is a wonder in some particulars and especially in view of the fact that it has withstood the wear of all these years and is today intact so far as the walls are concerned. Of course, this was built before cement was thought of as a possibility in this section. Quick lime was used, the cobblestone selected from the farm on the South Hill and the walls laid by an Englishman by the name of Thomas Anskom. Accounting for its solidity at this time, builders are inclined to think he must have had some process now unknown in the use of lime.

In the summer and fall of 1899, the stone store was remodeled. A new plate glass window was installed in front, and an ornate cornice was added to crown the building. In 1995, the storefront was restored to its appearance at the time of the 1899 renovation, which is why the 1899 date appears on the front of the building today.

The Rollin Sprague Stone Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, and celebrates its 161st birthday this year.

This image is provided courtesy of the Melanie and Janet Swords Family Archive and is used here with their permission.

Vanished Rochester: Smart's Auction

In the days before eBay, live auction sales were the usual method of disposing of goods and property, and sale barns were the place to seek an afternoon's entertainment, even if you weren't buying or selling. In the Rochester area, we had Smart's Auction, located on the north side of Tienken Road, just west of Rochester Road. Langley and Mildred Smart bought the 27 acre parcel, which included a farmhouse and five barns, in 1939. The previous owner, L.E. Pain, had been in the livestock auction business in the Rochester area for a number of years, and after selling to the Smarts, he agreed to stay on and run the livestock auction for them.

After World War II ended, farms in Avon Township were being subdivided to provide housing, and the livestock auction business was declining, so the Smarts transitioned their business to estate liquidation and antiques. As they became more and more interested in taking buying trips to acquire antiques and import items, they leased out their auction barn. Finally, Smart's Sale Barn closed in 1978 and the property was sold for development.

My mother has fond memories from her childhood of attending sales at Smart's with her own mother. She remembers the fun of sorting through a miscellaneous box lot, purchased for a dollar or less, to look for buried treasures. Did you visit Smart's auction? What was the most interesting item you ever bought there?

This photo of a sign from Smart's Auction is from the collection of Rod and Susan Wilson.

Pioneer Farmsteads: Lysander Woodward Residence

Have you ever driven up North Main Street and wondered about the stately Greek Revival home standing among the pines on the west side of the street at the city limits? This building, at 1385 North Main, is the former Lysander Woodward residence, and it is significant for its historic association with one of Rochester's most notable citizens, and with events that put Rochester “on the map” and shaped its economic history.

Lysander Woodward came to Michigan from the state of New York in 1838. He married Peninah Axford Simpson in Rochester in 1843, and the couple settled in the small village. Woodward purchased eighty acres in section 10 of the Township of Avon in 1844; the property lay west of Main and south of today's Tienken Road. This land was the beginning of a farm that would eventually grow to more than 300 acres, and was also the location of the Woodward family home.

The Woodward residence was likely built between 1845 and 1847, making it among the oldest – and possibly, the oldest – building within the city limits of Rochester. It even predates the Home Bakery building, our oldest commercial structure, which was built in 1849. Lysander and Peninah Woodward lived in the house for the rest of their lives and there reared their five children - including the renowned scientist and mathematician, Dr. Robert Simpson Woodward.

Lysander Woodward was a strong advocate of modern farming methods, and made his own farm and home a showplace to promote them. He was active in the Oakland County Agricultural Society and served for a time as its president. In 1867, his farm was one of three “model farms” awarded monetary prizes by the society, and a lengthy description of the Woodward operation, including the house, was published in the report of the secretary of the state board of agriculture in that year. Interestingly, the judges of the contest agreed that the farm was modern and prosperous and they also liked the house, but they felt that the yard was too small for such a grand mansion and recommended that it be expanded.

Local politics attracted Lysander Woodward in 1856 when he was elected Supervisor of Avon Township. He would go on to hold a number of public offices in his career, including justice of the peace, Oakland County Treasurer, member of the Michigan House of Representatives, and chairman of the Michigan constitutional convention of 1873. He also made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor of Michigan on the Greenback ticket in 1878.

His greatest legacy for Rochester, however, was Lysander Woodward's role in bringing the first railroad line through the village. He worked tirelessly to secure local funding and right-of-way for the Detroit & Bay City Railroad, which laid its track through Rochester in 1872. The railroad brought rapid transportation and communication to a sleepy village, and with it the economic prosperity that arose from a reliable connection to the outside world. Soon after the rails arrived, Rochester had a successful newspaper, a grain elevator, ready access to Detroit markets, and booming business. Lysander Woodward was named the first president of the Detroit & Bay City Railroad, which soon became part of the larger Michigan Central Railroad system.

When Lysander Woodward died in January 1880, his funeral was probably unlike any that had been seen in Rochester to that point – or possibly since. The Rochester Era reported:

The house was not only crowded, but many who could not get in gathered upon the outside, all anxious to pay their last respects to the honored dead. A beautiful casket with plate glass sides and top, and lined with white satin, contained all that remained of our respected townsman.
. . .
The cortege following the remains to the grave was nearly half-a-mile in length and every manifestation of sorrow was expressed upon all sides as it slowly moved towards our beautiful Cemetery, where all that was mortal of Lysander Woodward was tenderly laid to rest.

This funeral took place in the dead of winter – mid-January – and the cortege comprised horse-drawn carriages and people on foot, traveling the distance from the house on North Main near Tienken to Mount Avon Cemetery. That Lysander Woodward was held in high esteem by the citizens of Rochester is evident from this description.

The house at 1385 North Main remained in the control of the Woodward family until 1933, when the last of the Woodward children, Eva Woodward Parker, died and left her estate in trust for the support of her faithful employee, Mary Welters. Welters, an African-American woman, had been employed as a housekeeper by Eva Parker for twenty-eight years, and was affectionately known as “Aunt Mary” by people in the village. Parker's will stipulated that the income from her trust be used to support Welters for the rest of her life, after which a cash bequest would be paid to her nephew, and then the residue of her estate would be used to fund the construction of a new public library building for the community. Welters died in 1947, and in 1949, construction of the new library building was begun.

In the years since the death of Eva Woodward Parker, the Lysander Woodward house has been converted from a single-family dwelling into an apartment house, and some additions have been made to the rear of the building to furnish additional apartment suites. The original house structure is now approximately 163 years old and has watched the passing scene from its perch on North Main since James K. Polk was president of the United States. It has watched as Rochester evolved from a tiny hamlet into a thriving community and has seen traffic on the street before it change from horse and wagon to interurban streetcar to automobile. Next time you pass by on North Main Street, be sure to take time to admire the Lysander Woodward house.

This postcard view of the Lysander Woodward house was taken about 1915, during the time when Woodward's daughter, Emma Woodward Scott, and her husband were living there.

This Month in Rochester History

The Township of Avon (now Rochester Hills) established its first public park during the Great Depression, when federal funding to accomplish the work was available through New Deal programs. A fourteen-acre portion of the old John C. Day farm, lying along Paint Creek in the northwest section of the village of Rochester, was acquired for recreation purposes and opened to the public in the summer of 1935 as Avon Park (today's Rochester Municipal Park, off Ludlow St.).

The following summer, in June 1936, Rochester's Boy Scout Troop 39 undertook a project to beautify the new park and honor the twelve young men from the community who had earned the rank of Eagle Scout since 1927, the year in which Allen Wilson had become Rochester's first Eagle. During a Camporee program at the park on June 12, 1936, the boys of Troop 39, led by Luther Green, planted a pine grove with twelve young saplings - one pine tree in honor of each of the following Rochester Eagle Scouts:

• Allen R. Wilson (1927)
• Cecil O'Dell (1928)
• Ralph Easterle (1929)
• Marvin Terry (1930)
• Floyd Cross (1930)
• Maynard Aris (1930)
• Kenneth Fraser (1930)
• Donald B. Davidson (1932)
• William Aris (1932)
• Martin Marzolf (1932)
• Morley Russell (1935)
• Howard Lamphier (1936)

The pine grove still stands, east of the Community House, along the bank of Paint Creek. The little saplings that were planted 74 years ago this month are huge, tall trees now, and there are few people left who remember the ceremony with which they were placed. The story about the Eagle Scout pine grove faded into the pages of history until the summer of 2007, when the Rochester Avon Historical Society marked the trees with the names of the twelve original Eagle Scouts. The next time you visit the Rochester Municipal Park and walk among these pines, be sure to look up and take notice of the name plaque on each tree.

Memorial Day Parade

It's hard for me to believe, but the photo accompanying this post was taken 29 years ago, on Memorial Day 1981. At that time, the annual Memorial Day parade departed from the Rochester Municipal Building after a wreath-laying ceremony, and made its way to Mount Avon Cemetery, where a program was held. I remember listening to the RHS Falcon Marching Band (Rochester's First and Finest) as they entered the cemetery gate, stepping to a hushed cadence that was solemnly tapped out on the rims of their drums.

We'll have a Memorial Day parade this year, on Monday, May 31. The parade will depart from Mount Avon Cemetery at 10:00 a.m. and proceed down Harding Road to Livernois, ending at Veterans' Memorial Pointe, where a program will be held to remember the nation's honored dead. Please take time out of your holiday weekend to participate in this important community observance.

This photo shows the RHS precision drill team, the Rochester Falconettes, marching down University Drive in the parade. Any former Falconettes out there?

Main Street Stories: Thomas W. Hacker block

Thomas W. Hacker built a new brick building at 330 S. Main St. in the summer of 1886, to house his meat market. A description in the Rochester Era gives us a glimpse of what a state-of-the-art meat market looked like 124 years ago:

The new building is 20x70 ft., two stories high, with a fine cellar under all. The salesroom is 20x30 ft., with full plate glass front, and furnished with a marble-top counter. Just back of this room is the ice-box eleven feet square, where the meats for immediate use are kept, the contents being plainly visible through a plate glass front running the width of the box.

The business was known as the Palace Meat Market, and in an ad for the grand opening of the new store, sirloin steaks were offered for twelve cents a pound.
Four years later, there was major activity on the east side of Main, between Third and Fourth, where the Palace Meat Market was located. Charles A. Burr was building the Opera House block, and his brother Frank Burr was building a two-store block adjacent to the Opera House on the south. One lot stood between Frank Burr's new block and the Palace Meat Market, so Thomas W. Hacker tore down the small building that stood there and built another new brick store to fill in the block. The Era reported:

The Hacker brick building adjoining his meat market has been torn down to make room for a new one, which will be erected in connection with the Burr stores. When this full block is completed it will be an ornament and the pride of the village. Work on it is steadily being pushed forward, a full corps of workmen being employed thereon.

The new building bore the address of 332 S. Main. Over the years, occupants of the two Hacker buildings included Wiley & Bitters, the T.E. Nichols Furniture and Undertaking business, Bebout's restaurant, and Mitzelfeld's at 330, and Nichols Furniture, Pixley Furniture and Mitzelfeld's at 332. Once the Mitzelfeld block expanded to absorb the buildings at 330 and 332 S. Main, the storefronts became part of the Mitzelfeld facade and used the Mitzelfeld address number. After Mitzelfeld's closed, the buildings formerly known as 330-332 became 324 S. Main. O'Connor's Public House is currently located there.

This postcard view of the Hacker block from the collection of the Rochester Hills Public Library shows the buildings as they looked around 1912.

Vanished Rochester: Wood Dawn

Area residents are probably familiar with the Loren Andrus Octagon House in nearby Washington Township, but may not be aware that the Rochester area once had its very own octagon house, named Wood Dawn. The house disappeared from our local landscape decades before I was born, but fortunately one of the nineteenth-century pamphlets promoting Rochester carried this picture of it, so we have some idea what it looked like.

Wood Dawn stood on a farm just west of the village of Rochester, in the area that we know today as Great Oaks. According to a 1909 memoir by Samuel Harris that was published in the Rochester Era, the octagon house was built by Lyman Wilcox, who owned the property for a large part of the nineteenth century, and stood on the property during the tenure of subsequent owners including Rufus Schermerhorn and dairy farm operator John C. Day. Octagon architecture had become something of a minor sensation in the United States after an amateur architect named Orson Squire Fowler published a book in 1848 touting the benefits of the octagon house. Fowler claimed, among other things, that octagon homes were cheaper to build and heat, afforded more natural light, and provided healthier ventilation.

Rochester's octagon house was described in the Rochester Clarion in the spring of 1939, as it was being razed after Howard McGregor bought the property on which it stood for his Great Oaks Stock Farm. The Clarion said, in part:

One of the many improvements being made on the old J.C. Day farm, west of town, is the razing of the once beautiful stone mansion occupied by its former owner in days gone by.
The structure, octagon shaped, is over 100 years old, three stories high and had 42 rooms. There was a beautiful spiral stairway in the very center of the house leading from the basement direct to the glass enclosed turret three floors above, with two landings between each floor. Every piece of lumber used in the construction of the house was oak.

Wood Dawn was probably not quite 100 years old when it was torn down in 1939, despite the Clarion's claim, but it was definitely an interesting piece of Rochester's early history, now consigned to the pages of vanished Rochester.

Bygone Business: Rochester Packing

The building at 301 Hacker St., along the Clinton River, that housed the Rochester Packing Company was built in the summer of 1947 by Roy Mason. Mason slaughtered and butchered locally-raised cattle and hogs at his processing plant, and sold his meat at Mason's Market, his retail store at Fourth and West Alley, at the back of the D&C building.

Rochester Packing was later owned by Art and Al Gruener, who sold meat and meat products from a retail counter right at the plant on Hacker. The Grueners closed the business on May 3, 1988.

Anybody else remember taking a grade school field trip tour of the packing house and finding out how sausage is made, up close?

This ad for the Rochester Packing Company ran in the Clarion in 1964.

This Month in Rochester History

During the month of May, we look back at a milestone event in the history of the Rochester Hills Public Library. The library's roots as a public institution go back to 1924, when it was established as the Avon Township Free Public Library, and was housed in a couple of different locations on Main Street before moving into the former Charles K. Griggs home at 210 W. Fifth Street (northeast corner of Pine) in 1928.

One of the library's principal supporters in those days was Eva Woodward Parker, the daughter of Rochester's pioneer farmer and former legislator, Lysander Woodward. When Eva Woodward Parker died in 1933, she left money to the library to be used for the construction of a new building. This project was started in 1949, and on May 30, 1951, fifty-nine years ago this month, dedication ceremonies were held for the new building on the former site of the Griggs residence at Fifth & Pine.

The new building was christened Woodward Memorial Library in honor of Eva Woodward Parker's family name. It was built by Frank Rewold and was designed by a prominent Detroit architect, William Edward Kapp. Kapp had worked for many years with the firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls (the former incarnation of today's SmithGroup, which is the longest continuously operating architectural firm in the United States). While working for Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, Kapp designed Meadow Brook Hall for Alfred and Matilda Wilson, and also designed the Wilson Theatre (known today as the Music Hall) in Detroit. Both of these structures are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Kapp-designed library building in Rochester was expanded twice to accommodate the ever-growing collections and increasing demand for services. In 1992, the Rochester Hills Public Library moved to its current location on Old Towne Road and the Kapp building at 210 W. University was remodeled into boutique business suites.

This photo of the William E. Kapp-designed library building at 210 W. University was taken in 1985.

Everything New is Old Again

This past week the restored front of the business block at 415-417 S. Main was unveiled, after having been covered by scaffold for several months. Originally built by Louis E. Palmer in 1896-97 to house his jewelry business, the building was later the home of the House of Custom Color for about three decades. Fifty years ago, the building was remodeled and a faux-Colonial front replaced the original. In more recent years, the front sported plain siding, which completely covered the six windows and architectural details that once adorned it.

The new "old" storefront that we see here is the design of John Dziurman Architects, Ltd., and is only the latest in a series of facade improvements on Main Street that are returning downtown to its architectural roots. This building looks great, and I think Louis Palmer would be proud.

If you would like to know more about the historic buildings of downtown Rochester, join the Rochester Avon Historical Society for the first downtown walking tour of the season on Thursday, April 29 at 7:00 p.m. The tour will meet outside the Rochester Mills Brewery at Fourth and Water Streets (look for the man with the top hat). Wear your walking shoes, and plan to spend about two hours visiting sites, hearing stories and looking at historic photos. Cost is $5 per person, $3 for students and seniors (children under 12 free). The walking tours are a great way to get some exercise, meet your neighbors, and learn about the community's rich history.

Main Street Stories: Edward S. Barnes Building

The building at 309 S. Main began its life as a jewelry shop. Edward S. Barnes broke ground for his new store in the fall of 1903, and according to the Rochester Era, opened his doors to customers in time for Christmas:

E.S. Barnes has his neat new store nearly ready for business and will open next week with a fine new line of jewelry and be ready for the holiday trade.

Barnes was born in New Jersey in 1857, the son of Samuel and Ann Moore Barnes. He came with his parents to Avon Township and was employed for a number of years at the Barnes Paper Mill. He also learned telegraphy and worked as a telegraph operator and agent for the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1903, he decided to leave his former occupation and go into the jewelry business, and continued in that line until 1925.

In that year, Edward S. Barnes sold out to Frank M. Deschaine, who briefly continued the jewelry store. In 1926, Deschaine sold to A.D. Brown, who ran a paint and wallpaper store in the location. In 1929, Lloyd E. Hanna opened his barbershop at 309 and conducted it there for many years. By 1950, the building was home to Cameron's Barber Shop and the Clara-Ann Beauty Salon, and in 1953 it once again housed a jewelry store when Lloyd Lake opened his business there. Lake Jewelers was a fixture at 309 S. Main until the mid-1980s, and had the longest tenure in the building of any business to date, including Barnes himself. After Lloyd Lake's retirement, the building housed a number of businesses including Charlotte's Boutique and the current occupant, Legends Of Time Native American Gallery.

The Edward S. Barnes building celebrates its 107th birthday this year.

Subdivision Stories: North Hill

One of the biggest post-war housing developments in the then-village of Rochester was the North Hill Subdivision, approved in 1955. Located west of Rochester Road and south of Tienken, the subdivision lay partially in the village and partially in the Township of Avon. At the time, there was a huge demand for affordable housing for veterans seeking to relocate from the city to the suburbs, and in particular, housing north of the village was in demand because of its desirable proximity to National Twist Drill, the community's leading employer during the post-war era.

North Hill was planned as a $7 million dollar development which included 220 affordable ranch homes and a 160,000 square foot shopping center to be anchored by a Wrigley supermarket. The project was developed by Sam Frankel, executive vice-president of Wrigley's Stores, Inc., and Richard Reitman of the Beverly Construction Company. The homes were marketed by the Rose Hill Realty Company of Detroit.

The Rochester Clarion described the plans for the layout of the subdivision in May of 1955:

Taking advantage of the natural rolling countryside, the builder is erecting the homes on curvilinear paved streets, with each street elevated about the other to give the hillside community the striking appearance of an outdoor stadium.

Buyers were given their choice of ten possible exterior designs. Descriptions of the interior features and finishes give a glimpse of what was attractive to homeowners at the time:

In the spacious kitchen, knotty pine paneling forms a backdrop for the dining area. The large-sized cabinets are also finished in knotty pine with hammered copper hardware.
....
Buyers are given a choice of formica or tile counter tops and a choice of color in the floor linoleum which also covers the grade landing and basement stairs.
A shadow box above the basement staircase provides and unusual decorative effect, and a farm door at the grade landing prevents children from falling down the basement stairs.
A folding door separates the kitchen from the large living-dining room. A shadow box heightens the attractiveness of the vestibule entrance to the living room.

Apparently, these amenities were more than enough to bring in the buyers. The new homes in North Hill were priced from $15,690, and the terms were $790 down for veterans, $2190 for civilians. On the first weekend that the models were open in May of 1955, over 4,600 people visited the development and over half a million dollars of business was transacted in two days' time.

The North Hill subdivision celebrates its 55th birthday this year.

This advertisement for the North Hill subdivision ran in the Rochester Clarion in May of 1955.

The River Gang

When I was growing up, my family lived in the Albertson Addition and my playground was the Rochester Municipal Park. During our pre-teen years, we neighborhood kids would enter the park from the foot of Griggs St. with considerable trepidation. We had been told stories about a mysterious group of older youths who styled themselves the "River Gang." Their hideout, local wisdom warned, was on the north bank of Paint Creek, and we dared not trespass on their "territory" for fear of being beaten up - or worse.

We saw evidence of someone's presence along the river, in the form of graffiti and discarded beer cans, but we never came into personal contact with anyone who claimed to be a member of the much-feared River Gang. I began to wonder whether they were just the product of our collective imaginations, or perhaps an urban - make that suburban - legend. Then came a front-page story in the Rochester Clarion on September 28, 1972, in which city officials not only named the notorious River Gang as a serious problem in the park, but gave the group its fifteen minutes of fame:

Boys and girls who call themselves the River Gang have been joined by older teens and young adults from here, and from Royal Oak, Warren and Utica and elsewhere. They hide in the dark brush covered park "natural area" for all night parties in disregard of the park closing hour.
...
The thick brush easily within view of the Municipal Building hides a rotten, abused clearing and jungle stretch of Paint Creek bank that is said to be unsafe for women and children even in many bright daylight hours, and worse in the evenings and pre-dawn! Well worn paths lead in and out, making capture of the park closing hour violators next to impossible.
From 30 feet away, the nighttime miscreants cannot be seen, but nearby residents testify that loud obscenities and foul language are heard at distances of a half block from the spot.
The hidden place is littered with items of clothing, moldy blankets, beer empties and broken glass. There is evidence that park furniture and picnic tables have been dragged away and smashed to bits for firewood.

The article went on to say that city officials planned to evict the River Gang from its hangout by removing the undergrowth that screened its hiding place, and by turning the river bank into a recreation area that could be used by all. This was done, and the River Gang faded into oblivion. I took this photo a few days ago in the park and there is little resemblance to the bank as it appeared in the River Gang's outlaw days.

Bygone Business: Behm's Dairy

On May 23, 1936, Mrs. Edwin J. Behm held the grand opening of Behm's Dairy and Ice Cream Parlor at 311 S. Main St. The Behms had located their dairy business in Rochester in 1924, when they began operating a creamery in a small block building on N. Pine St., between Griggs and Albertson. When they expanded to Main St. in 1936, their retail store quickly became a popular place for teens and was a mainstay of the downtown for twenty-five years.

By 1961, Behm's Dairy was forced to leave 311 S. Main because the building had been sold and partially condemned. The new owners planned to demolish the rear portion of the building (which had been a furniture warehouse back in the days when the structure house a furniture and undertaking business), install a new front facade, and locate a gift store there.

The Behms decided to move their business to Port Austin, but they left Rochester with heavy hearts. In an interview with the Rochester Clarion in March of 1961, Mrs. Behm expressed her regret at saying farewell to the estimated 250 children per day that she served in her store, after telling them that the store would close on or about April 15 in that year.

'You never saw such bawling as when we told them about it,' Mrs. Behm said. 'They all sat here and cried.'

Did you hang out at Behm's Dairy? If you did, what was your favorite item on the menu?

This bottle cap from a Behm's Dairy product container is from the collection of Rod and Susan Wilson.

This Month in Rochester History

April is the month in which we mark the anniversary of the passing of a mass transit system that served Rochester for more than a generation - the Detroit United Railway.

The D.U.R. was organized in 1900 from a collection of smaller street railway lines operating in the city of Detroit. In 1901, the D.U.R. acquired a number of suburban lines, including the Detroit, Rochester, Romeo & Lake Orion Railway, or D.R.R. & L.O, which had laid track into Rochester in 1899. The D.R.R. & L.O. had been responsible for the first bridge from South Hill to the foot of Main Street, in the form of a wooden trestle built to carry the streetcars into town.

The D.R.R. & L.O. had also established a car barn and powerhouse in Rochester and was one of the principal employers in the village. When the D.U.R. took over, the company extended its line to Flint and beyond, and the Rochester powerhouse produced electricity for the entire Flint Division.

The D.U.R. was well-used and provided cheap and convenient mass transportation, but it fell victim to the rise of the automobile within a generation. As more people began to enjoy the freedom of driving their own cars, ridership on the interurban line decreased accordingly. At the same time, trucks were beginning to offer more flexible, cheaper freight service. The D.U.R. also had considerable legal trouble with its franchises within the city of Detroit, and by the mid-1920s, all of these factors had converged to bring the line to its knees financially. The stock market crash and resulting Great Depression dealt the final blow.

As far as Rochester was concerned, the end of the streetcar line came on April 25, 1931, the last day on which regular scheduled service was offered. Soon thereafter, the remaining rolling stock on the line clattered its way out of town. The trestle was dismantled and salvaged, the tall chimney at the former powerhouse was dynamited, and the streetcar era in Rochester closed for good, 79 years ago this month.

Rochester's Role in WWII

The Rochester Avon Historical Society will present the story of the area's participation in World War II at a public program on Thursday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m. Local historians Rod Wilson and Pat McKay will tell the stories of the work that was done at National Twist Drill and McAleer Manufacturing Company, and remember the service of the more than 1,100 men and women from the community who wore the nation's uniform during the war. Among the special guests for the evening will be several World War II veterans who will share their personal stories.

The free program will be held at the Rochester Hills Public Library, 500 Olde Towne Road. Everyone is invited to attend.

Pioneer Farmsteads: Abner C. Parker Farm

In Rochester Hills, we have only a handful of nineteenth-century farmhouses remaining to bear testimony to the agricultural heritage of the former Township of Avon. The best-known and best-preserved example is probably the Taylor-Van Hoosen farm in Stoney Creek, but if you look closely as you travel through Rochester Hills, you will spot some others. This occasional series will look at our remaining pioneer farmsteads.

The subject of this post is the Abner C. Parker farmstead, which was located on the east side of Crooks Road, north of Hamlin and south of the Christian Hills subdivision. A mid-nineteenth century farmhouse still stands on this property (currently in distressed condition), and is an example of the "upright and a wing" design that was a fairly common house style in its day.

Abner C. Parker was born in Wayne County, New York in 1814 and migrated, with his wife Eleanor, to Oakland County, Michigan about 1840. He purchased several tracts of land in Avon and in other places, but chose to make his home in Avon Township. On February 10, 1857, Parker purchased most of the southeast quarter of section 20, as well as a portion of section 21. This property included a sawmill along the Clinton River, according to the 1872 plat of Avon shown here. Abner Parker was also listed a the proprietor of a sawmill in Avon in the 1863-64 Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory.

Eleanor Parker died in 1864, and was buried in Mt. Avon Cemetery in Rochester. Abner Parker then married Rebecca DeMun, who died in 1880 and was also buried in the Parker plot in Mt. Avon. Abner's third wife, Nancy Smith, whom he married in 1881, survived him, as did several children of his first two marriages. Abner Parker died on July 24, 1884, at the age of seventy, and was buried in Mt. Avon near his first two wives. His children sold the property on Crooks Road to his widow, Nancy Smith Parker, for 900 dollars in September 1884.

As architectural historians date the house on Crooks Road to the mid-nineteenth century, and given that Abner C. Parker lived on the property from 1857 to 1884, it is likely that Parker built the house and that he may have sawed the timbers for its construction on site in the sawmill that he operated along the Clinton River. The next time you pass by this location, take note of this valuable remnant of Rochester Hills' agricultural past.

Subdivision Stories: Tienken Manor Estates

In 1961, the plat for the first Tienken Manor Estates subdivision was approved by the Avon Township board, and streets and houses began appearing on the former dairy farm of John Tienken. The son of German immigrants and Avon pioneers Henry and Meta Tienken, John Tienken was born on his parents' Avon Township farm in 1864. He raised Holsteins on a farm in the northwest quarter of section 9, south of Tienken Road and west of Livernois, from which he supplied milk to the leading dairies of Detroit. Another of his agricultural ventures was the Rochester Creamery Company, a dairymens' cooperative of which he served as a director. For twenty-five years, John Tienken was also a member of the school board of the Ross School, which was located just north and west of his farm on the northeast corner of Tienken and Brewster Roads (the school building, now a private residence, still stands).

John Tienken died in 1944, and his heirs, including daughters Clarabell Kitchen and Etta Curran, eventually sold the farm for development. Tienken Manor Estates No.1 was the first of thirteen subdivisions to open, and the last was Tienken Manor Estates No.13, which was approved in 1974.

The builder of the homes in Tienken Manor was R & C - Robertson Builders of Birmingham, and the company advertised that the subdivision was the perfect mix of natural beauty and modern amenities. Streets curved to accommodate the natural rolling terrain, utilities were placed underground, and a private park was provided for the recreational benefit of the residents. Introductory models were priced at $21,900, including the lot. Today, there are 263 lots in the thirteen Tienken Manor subdivisions.

This photo from the collection of the Rochester Hills Public Library shows the John Tienken dairy farm, looking west along Tienken Road.

Halbach Field

With spring training well underway and shouts of "play ball!" just around the corner, it seems like an appropriate time to look back on the history of Rochester's own baseball ground, Halbach Field.

The village of Rochester acquired the property on which Halbach Field stands, along Woodward St. near Paint Creek, after the Detroit Sugar Company demolished its factory at that location in 1906. Around 1923, local residents started using the vacant land unofficially as a ball park. In the spring of 1925, the village took steps to improve the field by grading, filling and seeding the property. In announcing that the new athletic field was almost ready for use, the Rochester Clarion championed the cause of organized baseball in the village:

Rochester has needed just such a field these many years, and now that same has been secured, it is to be hoped a good ball team may be formulated and maintained as in other years, thereby bringing to our city many visitors from neighboring villages of the county, as it is bound to do.
With the possibility of our business places all closing on Wednesday afternoons during the months of June, July and August, as is now planned, why not organize a first class ball team and hold games each Wednesday for the entertainment of those who now can get away to see a game and at the same time have a tendency to keep our people at home upon these half holidays, in which, as time rolls on our city is sure to benefit therefrom.

The field opened in June 1925, when the Rochester Independents defeated a team from Armada by a score of 4 to 2. In 1936, local civic leader and Detroit Edison supervisor Fred Halbach led a campaign to light the field and and install a grandstand so that evening softball games could be played. Despite the fact that the nation was still struggling through the Great Depression, townspeople contributed nearly $1,000 under Halbach's encouragement to make the improvements to the ball park. The dedication ceremonies were held on June 24, 1936, and in a surprise move during the festivities, the village fathers announced that the facility would be named Halbach Field in honor of Fred Halbach and all of his efforts to improve the field. Unfortunately, Halbach had very little time to enjoy the fruits of his labors, as he died unexpectedly just six months later.

This photo from the collection of the Rochester Hills Public Library shows the dedication ceremonies underway at Halbach Field on June 24, 1936.