History of Wyandotte, Michigan
In the begining at Maquaqua
The village of Maquaqua stood on land that would someday become known as Wyandotte, Michigan. The main village extended from approximately Oak Street to Eureka Road and from Biddle Avenue to the Detroit River. The trails used by the Wyandot Indians in their travels to Detroit and throughout the area became the main thoroughfares in the downriver communities today. The French called the Wyandot Indians "Huron" because of their unique way the braves styled their hair. The French name for Maquaqua was "Monguagon".
Maquaqua was one of several small Wyandot Indian villages along the Detroit River and Lake Erie. The closest village was at Gibraltar. It was there that the elders and chiefs would gather at the long lodge in council when tribal matters were important. Maquaqua was home to Chief Mey-ye-ra (Walk-in-Water) and his family. Life had been good along the Detroit River. Food was plentiful, furs traded at Fort Detroit brought the whiteman's world to his home and the French habitant farms nearby provided work for his village.
The Wyandot Indians had not always lived on Michigan lands. Nor had they always been under the watchful eyes of the British. But in 1776 they were well establish on lands that would someday be known as Michigan, and the British Commander at Fort Detroit very much influenced their daily lives.
Looking back over the centuries, the history of the Wyandots was filled with both glory and tragedy. Prior to the coming of the whiteman, the Wyandots made their home in Canada in the Georgian Bay are and were one of North America's most advanced civilizations. The Wyandots were excellent farmers. Corn was their main crop and they grew great fields of it. new varieties were developed by them that would ripen far in the north. So successful were the Wyandots at raising corn that they became a great trading nation because of this one crop. Tribes throughout North America came to barter with the Wyandots.
Besides excellent farmers, the Wyandots also were noted as trappers and could hunt well. They traveled the entire length of the Great Lakes for food and furs. For their long journeys, the Wyandots developed the birch bark canoe to its highest point of perfection. When the French met the Wyandots in Canada in 1535, they found a nation over 30,000 strong enjoying a rich and glorious life. By the mid 1600's, the chance encounter with the whiteman had turned to tragedy for the Wyandots. Smallpox and measles epidemics had killed off thousands. The Iroquois Indians, jealous of their allegiance with the French, warred on the remaining weakened Wyandots and reduced their numbers to helpless scattered bands.
When Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac founded Detroit in 1702, some of these remnant bands of Wyandots joined their old friends to build a fort. The Wyandots Indians needed the protection of the French and welcomed again the opportunity to gather furs and food for the whiteman. By 1732, one small band of Wyandots had built their own village of Maquaqua not far from Fort Detroit. Since then, they enjoyed the secure life of hunters and farmers.
The British had recently taken over Fort Detroit from the French in 1760. The Wyandots were greatly upset with the political changes that were forced on them. The former treaties and understandings enjoyed with the French meant little or nothing to the British at Fort Detroit. through the relationship between the Wyandots and the British at first was not pleasant, the last few years were good ones for the Indians. The British were now offering quality goods in exchange for furs. In addition the British depended on the Wyandot Indians for food supplies, firewood and labor to serve their military garrison stationed at the fort. This year, new iron chisels, metal awls, kettles, and lace-trimmed coats were the most popular trade items among the Wyandots.
For several years the Wyandots had lived under British rule in the shadow of Fort Detroit. Suspicion and mistrust had been a part of that relationship. So by 1776 signs were much in evidence that heightened that suspicion even more. One evening Roundhead and Splitlog (elders from the Gibraltar village) had come to Maquaqua to council with a friend.
As the hours wore on, the three talked of many important matters. The British Fort was alive with strange activity. Troops were seen moving in and out in large numbers. Recently, traders were encouraging both Frenchmen and Indians to join British military units being assembled to fight a war far away in the east. New regulations had been posted that restricted Indian movement in and around the Fort. Indians were being searched upon entering, and at sundown, with bugle sounding, all Indians were sent out of the Fort by force. Father Potier, Catholic missionary to the Wyandots, had been warning the Indians not to accept British rum or the pleas to join their armies. The French Priest was proclaiming that the whiteman's "fire water" would ruin the Wyandots and eventually destroy their Catholic faith. Also of concern to three that evening was the panis and negro slaves owned by the villagers.
Wyandots, like any other Indian tribe, did gather slaves for tribal use. Traditionally, the Indians would return with captured young children to replace any lost members of a family from a hunting or war party skirmish. Occasionally, tribes had white, black, and Indian children in their care. Families of the tribe would adopt and raise these children as their own. Later the "slave" could be sold or used as a labor in the village.
Generous offers were being made to the chiefs for the slaves of their village. Slave services were much in demand on French farms and on the British fort. Perhaps now was the time for the Wyandots to build a grist mill or a sawmill. Selling slaves was one way for a village to accumulate the wealth needed for a major industry. These were the matters discussed by the three Wyandots that evening long ago.
As Mey-ye-ra bid their two guest farewell the next morning, they knew that great decisions would soon be made. The Wyandots of Maquaqua and other villages nearby sensed that their way of life was changing rapidly in 1776. Mey-ye-ra hoped that those changes would shape a better life for his people.
Maquaqua remained an Indian village until 1818, when by treaty the Wyandots ceded their cite to the United States Government in exchange for 4996 acres of land in nearby Huron Township. Mey-ye-ra became a great chief for his people for his leadership in the War of 1812, and his negotiations between the whiteman and the Indian. In 1843 the Wyandots were relocated to Kansas, and by 1867 the tribe was moved to Oklahoma where the descendants of these proud people live today.
100 Years
Shortly after 1818, Major John Biddle purchased the land on which Maquaqua stood. He built a large, beautiful mansion along the waterfront and enjoyed his wilderness estate for several years. In 1854 the entire tract of land, plus additional acreage, was purchased by Captain Eber Ward, a Detroit industrialist. The Detroit Industrialist built a major industry and platted a village that he named Wyandotte. The land was platted into lots for homes, and the Eureka Iron Company was founded on the very site where Wyandot Indians once had their village. The land purchased by the Eureka Iron Company went beyond the village limits. Some sections were in present day Southgate and Taylor. The deed to the village recorded the area as being one mile square.
Wyandotte, Michigan was an important part of the industrial revolution. the Eureka Iron Company and the Wyandotte Rolling Mill Company stretched out along the Detroit River from Eureka to Elm Streets. Both industries were much in the news in 1876.
While America was celebrating the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and Wyandotte, Michigan was there. On display was the largest piece of iron boiler plate ever rolled in the country. Americans from all 37 states and visitors from all four corners of the earth marveled at the Eureka Iron Company exhibit at the Exposition. The 400 plus workers who labored in dust and smoke boasted that bigger and better iron plate was on the way from their blast furnaces and rolling mills.
Further down the Detroit River other industries were also making news for Wyandotte. The Detroit Dry Dock Company shipyards and the Star Mineral Company extended between Cherry and Orchard Streets on the South side of Wyandotte. Over thirty hulls had already had been launched at the yards since their founding in 1871. The Mineral Company was the only silver smelter west of Pittsburgh. Ore from the famous Silver Isle Maine of Lake Superior was brought by boat to Wyandotte. From the stone buildings of the smelting works, silver ingots were cast for the nation's mints and jewelers.
In 1876, Wyandotters worked along the Detroit River, and their homes were nearby. The residential community was centered between Biddle Avenue and Fifth Street and from Plum Street on the south to Walnut Street on the north side of town. The city high school stood all alone near the railroad tracks at Oak and Sixth Streets. Not too many homes were in sight as one looked west across the railroad tracks. A new subdivision had been surveyed between Eureka and Vine Street (now called Vinewood to avoid confusion with Pine) and the railroad tracks to Fifteenth Street. This section was called Wilkinson Post and Hurst's Subdivision. One day the area would be referred to as New Jerusalem and eventually Glenwood.
The North of the city lay Woodruff's Subdivision. To the south were lands owned by the Eureka Iron Company. Surrounding the City of Wyandotte were farms owned by such pioneer families as Clark, Thon, Heintzen, Gardner, Schafer, Le Blanc, and Labadie.
By 1876, Wyandotte was the industrial center of the area. The Iron Works, Rolling Mill, Shipyard, and Smelter provided the majority of work for the young city. However, all was not well for the community as the year began. The work at the rolling Mill had slowed down and rumor was abounding that things would get worse. The depression of 1871 had left the Mills in a weakened financial position. Captain Eber Ward had died in 1875 and the company was floundering through lack of capital and administrative guidance. With money scarce, the company issued script to pay the workers. Since local merchants were worried about the company's ability to redeem this specially issued currency, the paper was discounted considerably, much to the discouragement of the mill workers. "Shinplasters", the script was jokingly referred to by Wyandotters.
Fortunately, The Eureka Iron Company was still financially strong and work was steady for the hearty Wyandotters who labored near the blast furnaces along the Detroit River. The ingots that left the city went by railcar down Eureka Road. The Canadian Southern Railroad sent the city's iron products to the entire nation. The Eureka Iron Company of Wyandotte was a major contributor to the 2,944,524 tons of iron ingot produced in Michigan during 1876.
The city's newspaper, The Wyandotte Enterprise, was sold each Friday to interested citizens who wished to keep abreast of both local and national events. Henry Griffen and Morgan Bates published the small but informative paper that served the downriver community. The year was of special interests to Wyandotters who were concerned of the national scene. Political scandals, oil shortages, impeachment proceedings against the President, and the Philadelphia Exposition were a few of the important issues discussed around lunch pails at work and the corner grocery store.
In spite of important national events taking place during 1876, The Wyandotte Enterprise kept citizens informed of local events as well. Wyandotters were serious about their city and what was happening along Biddle Avenue demanded their immediate attention.
An issue of importance to the city was the need for fire protection. The memories of the tragic Detroit and Chicago fires still lingered in the minds of Wyandotters in 1876. The Mayor and other civic minded citizens campaigned vigorously for a public owned fire engine. On April 10, Wyandotte's first fire bond issue for $6000 was passed and a new pumper became a reality.
Transportation throughout the city was simple. Walking to work, church or school was the main mode of going to places. Local merchants delivered goods to homes and business by horse and wagon.
When Wyandotters journeyed to Detroit by stage coach along the old Military Road (Biddle Avenue or West Jefferson), they passed the small community of Grand Port. In 1876, the village was also known as Ecorse. A sawmill was that major industry there and much of the lumber used in Wyandotte homes was brought in from this mill.
Four miles to the west of Wyandotte stood the small settlement of Taylor. The farmers of that area were common sights along the muddy roads leading into Wyandotte. The wagon filled with garden produce, milk and meat, were welcomed to the markets of the city. For many Wyandotters, the river was the safest and most available transportation out of town.
In 1876, public schooling for most Wyandotte children meant the Old Brown School at Chestnut and Biddle. The city had built a new high school in 1869 and to date a total of five girls had graduated from "Central High School".
As the centennial year drew to a close, Wyandotters looked back with pride at the fine community they had built. Men and women of many faiths and nationalities had come together, joined hands, and fashioned a great city.
Annexations
History records that Wyandotte’s city fathers gave serious thought to the matters of expanding Wyandotte’s borders. The opportunity for annexing additional lands was weighed heavily of the responsibilities of providing services and facilities to new citizens. Over the years not all proposals faced by the city officials were met with approval. Some of these decisions still make interesting debate when Wyandotte’s senior citizens get together for an evening of reminiscing.
The village of Maquaqua was truly the beginning of the present community. That small site became the nucleus of the City of Wyandotte, Michigan. Historians tell that the Wyandots built their village in 1732.
Ecorse Township Formed
The City of Wyandotte was incorporated from a section of Ecorse Township. The entire township was originally 54 square miles and was formed by an act of the Michigan State Legislature on April 12, 1827. Eight other Townships were formed in Wayne County at that same time. Ecorse Township included all the area from the Detroit River west to Telegraph Road, and form Pennsylvania Road to the Rouge River. The name of the original township was taken from the “Riviere Aux Ecorces” (Bark River). The river was so named by the early French settlers in the area because of the old Indian custom of wrapping their dear in birch or elm bark and burring them along the mouth of the Detroit River in sand dunes.
The Village of Wyandotte Chartered
The streets of the village were planned according to the Philadelphia pattern, which originated with William Penn. He designed one boundary line Front street as his beginning point. Streets running parallel to this Front Street were named according to numbers from First to the extent of the territory involved. Streets running horizontal to the numbered streets were named for trees and plants.
The plat of the village thus assumed a checkerboard effect. The system became a truly American pattern which spread throughout the New England and Midwestern states. The focal point became the Detroit River and the first street parallel became Front Street. This street was eventually extended and renamed Van Alstyne Boulevard in 1921.
City of Wyandotte Incorporated
On April 8, 1867 the Village of Wyandotte was incorporated as a home rule city. At the time of incorporation, Wyandotte was a flourishing industrial community. The Eureka Iron Company and the Rolling Mills dominated the Detroit riverfront and the residential community was spreading out westward to the railroad tracks. The new city boundaries extended from Grove Street on the South to Northline Road, and from the Detroit riverfront to the rail road tracks bordering the west.
South Detroit Subdivision Annexed
A small unincorporated portion of Ecorse Township lay to the south of Wyandotte. The section extended from Grove Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, and eastward from the railroad tracks to the Detroit riverfront. During the 1890’s land promoters had planned the site as a future residential park. Riverboat excursions and promises of tax amnesties lured home buyers to the subdivision.
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing and Michigan Alkali Company were the principal industries in the subdivision. After an annexation vote of 30 yeas to 10 nays, the small unincorporated section became a part of Wyandotte on June 15, 1904.
The Village of Glenwood Annexed
The Village of Glenwood lay to the west of Wyandotte. It truly was the area on “the other side of the tracks”. Wyandotters often referred to the section of scattered homes and farm houses as “New Jerusalem” because of the majority of its working class citizenry had immigrated from middle eastern Europe. The ducks and geese running freely among the tethered cows along the roadways did not at first generate warm feelings between the communities on both sides of the railroad tracks.
The area became incorporated as the Village of Glenwood in 1900. the village boundary extended from Eureka to Northline Road (Ford) and from the railroad tracks to approximately Seventeenth Street. As their population grew, officials realized the utilities and municipal services of nearby Wyandotte were desperately needed. A fire, starting at the Vinewood Bakery, had gutted several other buildings and citizens demanded fire protection and a reliable water supply. The community petitioned to be annexed with Wyandotte. The citizens voted 125 yeas to 42 nays. On December 1, 1905 Glenwood became a part of Wyandotte.
In 1926, the city of Wyandotte purchased property on the west side to be used as a park. In honor of the former village it was called Glenwood Park. Later the name was changed to Pulaski Park.
The Village of Ford City Annexed
The most exciting and controversial annexation to Wyandotte took place in 1922. The Village of Ford City lay to the north of Wyandotte. The annexed area extended from Northline Road to the Ecorse Creek, and from the Detroit River to approximately Seventeenth Street.
In 1902, the village was named in honor of J. B. Ford, President of the Michigan Alkali Company (now BASF Wyandotte) and prominent citizen in local affairs. All was not going well in Ford City during its years of growing. The Michigan Alkali Company had spread out along the Detroit River into both Ford City and Wyandotte. Each municipally assessed and taxed the chemical company differently. Certain necessary services and utilities readily available in Wyandotte were not available in Ford City. The Michigan Alkali Company had strongly sought tax relief and expanded utility services and suggested merging the two communities. As inducement to the annexation, the Michigan Alkali Company offered to build a new public hospital for the new unified company.
The elections to annex Ford City to Wyandotte took place in Ecorse Township (Ecorse and Lincoln Park), Wyandotte and Ford City. Totals from the three areas were 3,263 yeas with 362 nays. On December 19, 1922, Ford City became the northern section of Wyandotte.
First order of business was to change Northline to Ford Avenue. The newly enlarged city of Wyandotte now had 4-1/2 miles of frontage on the Detroit River and a population of 20,000. In 1926, the Michigan Alkali Company deeded to the city the beautiful Wyandotte General Hospital.
Unincorporated Ecorse Township Annexed
During a period of feverish merger and annexation activity in the metropolitan Detroit area, foresighted citizens of Wyandotte looked west to an unincorporated section of Ecorse Township. The area extended north of Eureka Avenue to Seventeenth Street to Fort Street, and from Pennsylvania north to Goddard Road. This village of Lincoln Park was wooting the citizens of the area and wanted very much to add them to their growing community. Wyandotters realized the wisdom of extending their western boundary to include land for future residential housing. Election totals showed 3,066 yeas to 573 nays in the merger issue. On April 14, 1924 large section of Ecorse Township was annexed to Wyandotte.
Fort and Pennsylvania Street Additions
The widening of Fort Street in the 1930’s placed the 1924 city boundary line within the northbound lane of traffic. This fact led to many jurisdictional traffic difficulties between Ecorse Township and Wyandotte. To correct the matter, a state statute was jointly approved by the Wyandotte City Council and the Township Board. The resolution called for the boundary of the City of Wyandotte to be extended to the center of Fort Street.
Life on the Detroit River
In 1854 the Detroit River served as the highway the brought men and materials to build Wyandotte industries and homes. However, in the years that followed, the river proved to be much more than just a convenient waterway passing the community.
Generations of Wyandotters would depend on the river for food and fresh water. They would also learn to enjoy it’s changing seasonal face, and they would soon realize how important the Detroit River truly was as it shaped their city and greatly influenced their lives.
Schools
Since 1855 twenty-five separate public school buildings have served our community. Each of those schools was unique and played an important role in the educational program available to Wyandotters.
Many of those facilities are only memories, with newer structures standing on their sites. Some have lost their original faces long ago because of additions and renovations that were made to meet the expanding needs of a growing city.
Theodore Roosevelt High School
Perhaps no single school building has made such a dramatic impact on the community, or changed the public school program as radically as did “Old RHS.” The huge building that was dedicated in 1923 ushered a new spirit into the City of Wyandotte. The Theodore Roosevelt High School stood as one of the most modern and impressive educational facilities in the State of Michigan.
For the first time in the community, such facilities as a print shop, library, auditorium, natatorium, lunchroom, music and public speaking rooms, and science laboratories were a part of every high school student’s day. Manual training and college preparation had finally become a reality in Wyandotte. In addition, with the high school classes removed form other buildings in the city, the elementary and junior high schools also expanded their programs. Beginning in 1923, the Wyandotte Public Schools offered a complete Kindergarten through twelfth grade modern curriculum for all students.
The new spirit that was evident in the community, because of the new Roosevelt High School, did not come about easy or overnight. Years of bitter debate, name calling, and violent arguing preceded the rebuilding of Wyandotte’s public school system. As early as 1910, Superintendent H. C. Dailey was wrestling with the problems facing the Wyandotte schools. One of the main concerns was the over crowding of classrooms. At the time, only three public schools were serving the city, The Lincoln (Oak and Sixth streets), the Garfield, and the McKinley. Census figures there were projecting even greater enrollments for the already bulging schools. A bad housing problem would soon become a disaster if new facilities were not provided.
Public support to build additional classrooms was sought. The School Board offered proposals that ranged from remodeling and enlarging existing classrooms to the building of new schools. Most proposals were not accepted by the community. One plan for a new high school ($100,000) was soundly turned down by voters in 1912 as being too costly. Through a renovation of McKinley was approved in 1914, which alone did not solve the major problems closing in on the public schools. And with the nation at war, it was difficult to interest citizens in building schools.
The Theodore Roosevelt High School was truly an impressive facility to build for a city as small as Wyandotte. In 1921 when the cornerstone was laid, there were approximately 500 high school students in the community and the new school was being built to accommodate 1400. The $1,140,000 total cost was a staggering amount of money to spend on one building. Citizens had authorized three separate bonding issues to finance the new school ($315,000 – $380,000 - $350,000).
The Old Brown School
In 1855 the Eureka Iron Company donated a lot on Chestnut Street just west of Biddle Avenue and built a school for the new village of Wyandotte. The one-room frame building was called the First Ward School. It was there that the earliest children of Wyandotte received their education. As the enrollment grew, additions were made to the original single room so that the structure eventually doubled in length and expanded with a short wing to one side.
The early school house has often been referred to as “Wyandotte’s first temple of learning”, but most citizens affectionately remember her as the Old Brown School. Pioneer families have kept alive the beautiful memories from the first old school, and stories abound in many homes recalling those days of slate boards and hickory sticks.
In 1887 the last classes were moved to the First Ward School on Superior Avenue and the Old Brown School officially ended its career as an educational facility. However, the building continued to serve the community for many years as a council hall, an opera house, a skating rink, a pop factory, a storage barn, and as a meeting place for various church and civic organizations. In 1910 the building was sold Fred Harrington to make room for the present Masonic Theater. In time, the old school house was cut in two and moved to Third Street near Northline Road. Each section was made into two apartments.
The building of Roosevelt High School and the Old Brown School were truly important milestones in the history of Wyandotte’s Public Schools. The Old Brown School was the beginning of formal education in the young Village of Wyandotte. The Theodore Roosevelt High School greatly influenced the design and program of every public school built in the city since 1923.
First Ward Schools
Garfield Elementary School
The present Garfield Elementary School is the third public school building on the site. The first was a small two-room frame building that replaced the Old Brown School. The building was completed in 1887. Two rooms were added to the rear of the building in 1896, but even the enlarged school soon proved inadequate for the increasing enrollment in the First Ward. The building was razed and a two story brick school took its place in 1898. The new school contained eight more rooms and two basement classrooms. During 1900 to 1904, high school students were assigned to the basement rooms. A school board resolution in 1901 changed the named of all three Wyandotte public schools to martyred presidents, and the First Ward School became the Garfield Elementary School. The present Garfield Elementary School, dedicated February 3, 1933, was built when additional classrooms were needed and the older facility could not be expanded.
Second Ward Schools
Central Union High School
The city’s first high school was built in 1869 on the site of the present Wyandotte Board of Education Administration Building at Oak and Sixth Streets. The Eureka Iron Company had again donated a section of land for the purpose of locating a school. The three story brick building was of the New England style and consisted of six rooms with a seating capacity of 340 students. There were separate entrances for boys and girls. The high school was named the Central Union.
The school stood out alone near the tracks in swampy land that abounded with thistles and pollywogs. Raised wooden sidewalks approaching the school allowed students some protection from the mud and water so often present in the area. The first class graduated in 1875 to five proud girls. In 1899, the board of education removed the high school students and sent them to the First Ward School basement. The noise from the railroad nearby apparently had made study impossible for the older students. In 1901 the building was renamed the Lincoln School.
The Old Lincoln School
The city continued to grow and soon additional classrooms were needed to a house a bulging enrollment. The original building was torn down on 1905 and the new Wyandotte High School was dedicated on the same sight. The brick two story building also had separate entrances for boys and girls. The entire lower level was occupied with elementary classes. The second floor was used by high school students. The building was utilized this was until 1923 when the Roosevelt High School was opened. The school was renamed the Lincoln Junior High School and was used to house the intermediate grades until the present new Lincoln Junior High School was dedicated during 1956. The old Lincoln Junior High School was torn down and in 1958 the present Board of Education Administration Building was constructed on the same site.
Third Ward Schools
McKinley Elementary School
On July 20, 1872, the first Third Ward School in Wyandotte was dedicated. The small frame two story building stood on the site of the present McKinley Elementary School. The school contained four rooms, a central hallway, and unfortunately a boiler underneath the stairwell that officials would someday declare unsafe. The school housed grades 1-4 and in later years Kindergarten was added. Slate boards were used by students to practice their writing and do their arithmetic.
In 1902 the building was razed and a larger eight room school was constructed on the same site and dedicated as the McKinley School. Four additional classrooms were added in 1914. The old McKinley School was torn down in 1939 and a new modern building erected in its place. On March 11, 1940, the present McKinley Elementary School was dedicated.
Ford City Schools
During 1923, the three schools within former Ford City became a part of the Wyandotte Public School District. They included the Antoine Labadie, Woodruff and the J. B. Ford Schools
Antoine Labadie School
The Antoine Labadie School was opened in 1921 and replaced a school that had been built around 1883. Labadie had housed Kindergarten through twelfth grade programs. Due to declined enrollments in the city, the building was closed in June of 1976.
Woodruff Elementary School
The first Woodruff School was built in 1903 to relieve the overcrowding at the old Labadie. By 1918, the facility was inadequate for the growing community and a new Woodruff Elementary School was built on its site. Additions were made to the school in 1922, 1930, and 1952 when a gymnasium and auditorium were built.
J. B. Ford School
The J. B. Ford School was built on the original site of two small frame school buildings. The brick building was dedicated on January 10, 1913. With the opening of newer schools during the 1950’s, the old J. B. Ford was no longer serviceable as a school. The building was sold to the Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation (now BASF) and razed in 1957. All Ford City schools were named after prominent citizens in the community and Wyandotte’s officials retained those names after the annexation in 1922.
George Washington Elementary School
During the 1920’s, West Wyandotte only had a few portable classrooms serving the children of the area. Those were located on Superior Boulevard near Fourteenth Street. The rapid growth of homes in the area necessitated that a school be built. In June of 1930 the present George Washington Elementary School was dedicated. In 1953 the portable classrooms were replaced with a large addition.
School’s of the 1950’s
World War II had ended and the baby boom was on in the earl 1950’s. Within a few short years, the citizens of Wyandotte were called upon to support a major school building program. Six new school buildings were constructed as the population explosion hit the community.
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
The beautiful new Thomas Jefferson Elementary School was dedicated on October 22, 1950. Total cost of the large school was $1,153,317.
James Madison Elementary School
On January 10, 1954, the James Madison Elementary School was opened to the public. Building costs for the modern elementary school were $756,400.
James Monroe Elementary School and Abraham Lincoln Junior High School
The James Monroe Elementary School and Abraham Lincoln Junior High School completed the major building program on the southwest side of Wyandotte. The Monroe School was dedicated on April 8, 1956, at a total cost of $736,932.16. The new Lincoln Junior High School was dedicated on November 13, 1956. The Cost of the beautiful facility was $2,246,825.
Woodrow Wilson Junior High School and William Howard Taft Elementary School
To meet the needs of the north side of the city, two schools were built and opened almost simultaneously. The Woodrow Wilson junior High School was dedicated on November 4, 1956. The huge facility cost $2,996,936 and was recognized nationally as an outstanding architectural design for a school building. The William Howard Taft Elementary School was dedicated on November 11, 1956 and completed the multi-million dollar building program of the 1950’s.
Wyandotte Parochial Schools
Through the public schools have shouldered the major responsibility of educating the youth of Wyandotte since 1855, several churches have joined the task of providing a formal education program for their parishioners. Parochial schools in the city date back to approximately 1855 when St. Patrick’s Church first organized a school. Other churches followed with schools of their own. They included Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Joseph, St, Helena, St. Stanislaus Kostka, Trinity Lutheran, and St. Elizabeth.
Recent population trends within the city have brought about a merger of some parochial school programs. Several parishes are participating in the Wyandotte Catholic Consolidated Middle School and the Gabriel Richard High School in Riverview, Michigan. The parochial schools of Wyandotte have added much to the educational programs of the community.
Ethnicities
Wyandotte, from its earliest beginnings, has felt the impact of the foreign born. Many nationality groups have settled downriver and each in their own way have helped make our community unique, interesting, and truly more than a typical American city. Several of these groups have distinguished themselves over the years because of their large numbers and their distinct contributions to the city’s growth and development. They include German, Polish and Italian communities.
Early French Influences Downriver
The French settled Detroit in 1701 when they established a fort to extend their fur trade empire into the Great Lakes region. They brought a military social organization and a definite French way of life with them. Evidences still remain of this early French influence downriver. Streets and boundary lines, measured long ago in arpents to establish habitant farm grants, are in use today in Detroit and nearby Ecorse, Michigan. Early French family names as Labadie, Bondy, LeBeau, Reaume, and Langlois are still common in the area and are reminders that the French flag once flew over downriver.
The most important contribution of the French was the introduction of the Roman Catholic Church to Detroit. The churches of St. Anne and Assumption and the efforts of such religious leaders as Father Gabriel Richard and Father Xavier Dufaux have faithfully kept alive the early French culture and way of life that touched the downriver shores many years ago.
The Immigrant comes to Michigan
It is interesting to look back to the early 1800’s when the Territory of Michigan was considered as land for Indians and disease, but not much else. The infamous report by U.S. Surveyor General Edward Tiffin in 1815 portrayed the Territory as a land of swamps and lakes not fir for human habitation. As a result of this biased and inaccurate study, the western movement of settlers and the industry that always followed simply bypassed Michigan.
However in 1820, Territorial Governor Lewis Cass instated a new survey that reported that Michigan land was indeed rich in natural resources, most suitable for farming and convenient waterways for transportation were to be found everywhere. With steamships on Lake Erie, land offices opened downriver and new federal roads from Ohio; Michigan soon became more attractive to the prospective settlers.
The earliest influx of settlers into Michigan land came during the years 1830 to 1837 when over 140,000 came to the Territory prior to statehood. The majority of these were foreign born seeking farmland. In a matter of a few short years, industry would develop in the state. New villages and cities would be established and a need for laborers would bring many more thousands of settlers into Michigan. So great would the need be for workers at the new mills, mines and manufacturing centers, that immigrants from the world over would soon be invited to settle in Michigan.
The Irish American in Wyandotte
During the 1800’s, Ireland was controlled by a land system that had divided farm plots so small that it was almost impossible for a family to exist. Even a good harvest kept the average peasant family at a bare subsistence level. In 1845, disaster struck the Emeralds Isle when the potato rot destroyed the nation’s entire crop. Thousands of Irish died of starvation. Survival was only possible by mass migration out of the country. America was beckoning with land and jobs, so the Irish came in droves.
With the start of the Eureka Iron Company and Rolling Mills in 1855, Louis Scoffield traveled east to hire workers who wished to settle in the new Village of Wyandotte. A large group of men and their families was assembled from Trenton, New Jersey and Troy, New York. Many were Irish immigrants who had come from farming communities and were accustomed to hard physical work. Other Irish in the group had worked in textile mills and understood manufacturing and merchandising. All were devout Catholics. Their skills and strong hands were needed and welcomed in Wyandotte and they worked hard to make a new life for themselves.
In following their Christian endeavors, the early Irish families had to journey to Ecorse, Michigan to attend St. Francis Xavier Church. This was the closest Catholic Church to the new village of Wyandotte. Not only was this an inconvenient, but very tiresome in the days when roads were bad and travel was done with a horse and buggy or on foot by most. It soon became important to the Irish in Wyandotte that they have a church of their own. In 1857 a new church building was commissioned and built. St. Charles Roman Catholic Church was erected on land deeded to Right Reverend Lefevere by the founding French Fathers in Ecorse. This building was the first formal church structure in Wyandotte and it became the focal point of the Irish community in the city.
The determination of the early Irish settlers to provide a rich Christian life for their families extended itself well beyond the first simple frame church. A larger brick church was begun in 1873, but tragedy struck and severely set back the efforts of the Irish community. The new cornerstone had been laid and the walls of the new structure were almost complete when a violent storm toppled them into a worthless heap of rubble. At the same time, financial disaster swept over the town as a depression hit the Iron Mill and hundreds of Irishmen were out of work. It was not until 1884 that the church was finally completed and dedicated. But Irish determination had won out and Wyandotte’s Catholic’s had a new beautiful church. A grade school was organized in the old church building in 1885 and by 1906 a large brick school building provided a Catholic education from primary grades into high school. St. Patrick’s first high school graduation class received their diplomas in 1916.
The Irish were proud of their fine church, school and the city they helped build. During the early 1860’s, the Irish were the dominant immigrant group in Wyandotte.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians, a fraternal organization for men of Irish decent, was popular in the city. Through the A.O.H., many Wyandotters were encouraged to enter politics and business, and become active in civic affairs. As a result, many Irish families’ figures prominently in the history of Wyandotte, Dr. John C. Cahalan opened his first drugstore in the city in 1879. In addition to his pharmacy interest, he served on the school Board, promoted the municipally owned water and electric plants, and was the spokesperson in the downriver area for the Democratic Party. Continued in the tradition and spirit of their grandfather, William Cahalan served as Wayne County Prosecutor and Leo Cahalan was on the bench as Circuit Court Judge.
Countless other Irish families have added to our city’s history. The McGlaughlins were physicians, businessmen, city officials and priests. Good Irish families like Sullivan,Melody, Bryan, Kane, Drennan, Broughton and Corrigan and the list could go on. They all contributed their talents and services to make Wyandotte a better town. Each St. Patrick’s Day we are again reminded of the rich legacy left Wyandotte by the Irish of Wyandotte.
The German American in Wyandotte
Among the early laborers at the Eureka Iron Company and Rolling Mill were a large group of German immigrants. Like their Irish neighbors, the adjusted well to their jobs and new life in the Village of Wyandotte. Captain Eber Ward, the Industrialist who founded Wyandotte, was a very religious man and insisted that workers in his employ be God-fearing family men. That first group of immigrants hired at the mill by Louis Scoffield was just what Eber Ward had desired.
The German migration into Michigan was in two distinct waves. The first mass settling was between 1830 and 1845 when persistent crop failures combined with political unrest in Germany made life insecure for the average peasant farmer. Vast acreage of inexpensive farmland in the Territory of Michigan attracted the first German settlers and colonies grew at Ann Arbor, Michigan and Frankenmuth, Michigan. A second wave of German immigrants came to Michigan in the years following the 1848 liberal revolts in Germany when again millions were forced out of their homeland. From this group came Wyandotte’s earliest German community. Other cities throughout Michigan were also encouraging German immigrant to settle. By 1890, of the 543,880 foreign-born in the state, the Germans were the largest group number 135,509.
It was not long after their arrival in Wyandotte that the Germans of Lutheran faith desired a house of worship where the sacraments and services were offered in their own native tongue. During 1861, a group of determined families organized Trinity Lutheran Church. Within one short year, a new church-school building was dedicated to serve the German Lutherans of Wyandotte.
The early German Catholic families had attended St. Charles for several years, but they too longed for church services in their native tongue. In 1871, the St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church was built. Other churches for the German community followed as Wyandotte grew. St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed United Church of Christ was dedicated in 1872. Immanuel Lutheran Church was organized in 1894. It was in these churches and schools that Wyandotte’s German families diligently labored to satisfy their religious needs and educate their children.
Over many years, the German community in Wyandotte provided much social life to the city. The Arbeiter Society (Worker’s Society) was organized in 1872 to foster fraternalism among the German citizens of Wyandotte. The society proved extremely popular and membership was extended to any who enjoyed the camaraderie of the organization. The famous Arbeiter Hall was dedicated in 1891, and for many years served as Wyandotte’s civic center for club meetings, weddings, dances, and athletic events. Wyandotters enjoyed world famous lectures, theater productions, concert artists, musical groups, sporting contests through the sponsorship of the Arbeiter Society. The most festive events organized by the German Society were parades. Any occasion seemed reason enough to organize a colorful and bounteous march through Wyandotte. In short order the Arbeiter Society could have 500 farmers on horseback, several wagonloads of Marx beer, bands aplenty, and countless merchants ready to display their wares from decorated wagons. The Society disbanded in 1938, but the spirit of that early German organization was recently rekindled again with the formation of the Downriver Germania Club in 1969 and the opening of Hans’ Schnitzelbank in downtown Wyandotte.
Many prominent Wyandotte families can trace their beginnings to the early German immigrants who made a new start for themselves in the city many years ago. They labored hard to build homes, churches, schools, and businesses. They served as teachers, mayors, lawyers, doctors, and ministers. Family names of Thon, Gertner, Warmbier, Mehlhose, Behm, Kreger, Brohl, Megges, Juchartz, Engfehr, Haubrich, and Schultz remain to remind all Wyandotters of the many contributions made by the German community in our city.