In the first two decades of the last decade Detroit went from 13th largest city to fourth due to tha auto industry.
The development of the Boston-Edison neighborhood paralleled that of the new industry. The rapid phase of growth in the industry began in 1903 with the establishment of the Ford Motor Company and accelerated phenomenally after the advent of the Model T in 1908 and even more so after the introduction of the moving assembly line in 1913/14. Thereafter, growth and profits became astronomical. The Voigt Park Subdivision was already in place to share in the burgeoning automobile-based economy, and significant Detroit residents began moving into Boston-Edison.
Truman Newberry and Henry Joy, major figures in the Packard Motor Car Company, initiated development of the Boston Boulevard and Joy Farms Subdivision, respectively. Boston-Edison became an enclave of automobile pioneers. When Henry Ford elected in 1908 to build his new home on Edison Avenue, other automobile pioneers followed. Mr. Ford's early partner, James Couzens, built a splendid Tudor mansion on Longfellow (1910). James Couzens served as Mayor of Detroit from 1919 to 1922 when he was appointed U.S. Senator; his son Frank, also a resident of the neighborhood, served as Mayor from 1933 to 1937. Four of the Fisher Brothers moved to Boston-Edison as did Charles Lambert (1911) of Regal Motor Car Co., John W. Drake (1911), president of Hupp Motor Car Co., and W. O. Briggs of Briggs Manufacturing Co.
Simultaneously, the Boston-Edison area was also finding favor with prominent members of the increasingly successful mercantile segment of the city's economy. Sebastian Kresge, founder of the S.S. Kresge Company, built a handsome house on extensive grounds in 1914. Subsequently, six other Kresge employees moved to the Boston-Edison area. J.L. Webber, nephew of J.L. Hudson and co-manger of Hudson's Department Store, lived on Edison Avenue.
Now its just sad.
My dad’s people, brothers and cousins, lived in this area and almost all worked for Ford. Some got out before the riots. All had moved away by 1970.
Sorry to say it, but this could be said of just about every inner city area that was once white until invaded by blacks. If we are ever allowed to once again tell historical truths in this country, some enterprising author is going to write the full story of what blacks have done to our once -beautiful cities.
That’s not racist. It’s racial — but not racist.