Three State Parks, Detroit Financial District Among Other Sites Nominated

Sept. 22, 2009

The State Historic Preservation Review Board today announced the nomination of nine sites to the National Register of Historic Places, including the Idlewild Historic District, three state parks, the Detroit Financial District and other properties in Detroit, Grosse Pointe Farms, Ludington and Macomb County.

"Our historic places are among Michigan's most treasured assets," said Michigan Historical Center Director Sandra Clark. "This group of nominees illustrates the diversity and wealth of historic resources that enable us to capitalize on the past by rehabilitating these buildings and promoting them as tourist destinations."

The Idlewild Historic District's nomination was prepared as part of the Governor Jennifer Granholm's Idlewild, Michigan Transformation Initiative, which has involved multiple state departments. The Department of History, Arts and Libraries' office of Cultural Economic Development and the State Historic Preservation Office led the effort. The initiative aims to revitalize Idlewild, located in Lake County, one of Michigan's most economically depressed areas. Earlier this month five Michigan Historical Markers were dedicated in Idlewild amid hundreds of spectators.

"The dedication of five state historical markers, in one community, on one day is unprecedented," said Laura Ashlee, coordinator of the state's historical marker program.

The National Register of Historic Places first recognized Idlewild in 1979, but according to State Historic Preservation Officer Brian Conway, the earlier nomination included only a part of Idlewild and provided inadequate descriptive and historical information by today's standards.

"With funds from the National Park Service's Preserve America Program we were able to hire Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group of Jackson to thoroughly document Idlewild and its nationally significant history," Conway added. "The district will now include 1,301 structures on 2,535 acres, nearly four square miles in three townships."

Idlewild was built up as an African American resort by four white developers beginning in 1915. What began as a quiet, idyllic, lake resort that attracted black intellectuals like novelist Charles Chesnutt evolved into an entertainment mecca from the 1930s to the 1960s. Idlewild's nightclub scene, which featured top black entertainers, drew the attention of national magazines like Ebony and vacationers from throughout the country. Idlewild's popularity declined following the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as African Americans chose to vacation at resorts that had previously been closed to them due to segregation, but many cottages have been used by the same families for several generations.

Since the dedication of the historical markers, and in anticipation of the national register designation, interest in Idlewild has increased. Gwen Rogers of Idlewild's heritage committee noted that people continue to drive through Idlewild to see the markers.

"There is a steady stream of traffic coming into Idlewild. People are stopping to take their picture standing in front of the markers and they are driving around getting a feel for the place," Rogers said. "Best of all, people who haven't come here for several years have returned and are expressing interest in buying property."

As Elaine Robinson, the consultant who wrote the nomination, put it, "Idlewild is unique, even among African American resorts. Generations of resorters in Idlewild know this to be true, and now their story can unite past and present visitors with those about to explore the Idlewild Historic District for the first time."

The State Historic Preservation Review Board also approved nominations for three state parks developed during the early 1920s:

• Orchard Beach State Park, 2064 Lakeshore Road, near Manistee;
• P. H. Hoeft State Park, 5001 US-23 North, in the Rogers City vicinity; and
• Onaway State Park, 21041 Bonz Beach Highway, north of Onaway.

All three parks are significant, in part, for structures and landscapes constructed by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps.

In addition, the board approved nominations for the following sites:

• Wolcott Mill, 63841 Wolcott Road, Ray Township, Macomb County, in the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority's Wolcott Mill Metropark
  A grist and flour mill built around 1847, Wolcott Mill was operated by the Frederick Wolcott family from 1878 to 1967. It is one of few 19th-century grist and flour mills in Michigan that retains its historic milling equipment in operating order. The complex includes the Greek Revival mill building, storage and fertilizer barns, part of the millrace and the millpond.



• Charles J. and Ingrid V. (Frendberg) Koebel House, 203 Cloverly Road, Grosse Pointe Farms
  Renowned architects Eliel and Eero Saarinen designed the Koebel House in a Modernist style, with final plans by J. Robert F. Swanson. The house, with its strong horizontal lines, is part of the landscape, and the interior design and furnishings represent the best of Modernist design.



• Detroit Financial District, generally bounded by Woodward and Jefferson avenues and Lafayette and Washington boulevards
  Banks began locating near Detroit's Jefferson/Griswold intersection as early as the 1830s. By 1884 Silas Farmer, author of History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan, noted that Griswold was "the Wall Street of Detroit." The review board is recommending that the district be acknowledged as significant at the state level because it contains some of Detroit's most recognizable buildings, including the Penobscot, Guardian and Buhl Buildings and the work of nationally significant architects such as Daniel H. Burnham & Company; McKim, Mead and White; and Minoru Yamasaki.



• Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse, 882 Oakman Blvd. (aka 14300 Woodrow Wilson), Detroit
  The former Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse, with its large "Yellow Pages" sign is a familiar sight to those traveling the Lodge freeway in Detroit. The telephone first came to Michigan in July 1877, just sixteen months after Alexander Graham Bell's demonstration in Massachusetts. The first switchboard began operating in Detroit in 1878. The former Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse was built in 1929-30 as a warehouse, garage, and office space. Western Electric used the space as its Michigan headquarters until 1958. The Yellow Pages operation moved into the building in 1959-60, and the building continued to serve Michigan Bell until 1999.



• Ludington United States Coast Guard Station, 101 S. Lakeshore Drive, Ludington
  The winter of 1870-71 was devastating to shipping on the Great Lakes, with 214 known shipwreck-related deaths. In 1871 Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury, under the Revenue-Cutter Service, to employ paid life-saving station crews as needed. Three years later Congress authorized a large expansion in the number of life-saving stations nationwide, including ones on the Great Lakes. The Ludington Coast Guard station was one of four on Lake Michigan established in 1878. The Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad came to Ludington in 1874, and steamer service across lake Michigan began the following year. The coast guard station was important to both passenger travel and commercial shipping on Lake Michigan.

The State Historic Preservation Review Board considers nominations to the register three times per year. The review board forwards nominations to the keeper of the National Register, Department of the Interior. In Michigan the National Register Program is coordinated by the State Historic Preservation Office. For information on the National Register of Historic Places and other programs of the State Historic Preservation Office, visit www.michigan.gov/shpo, or call (517) 373-1630.

The State Historic Preservation Office is a division of the Michigan Historical Center, part of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan heritage, and fostering cultural creativity, the department also includes the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, the Library of Michigan, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Photos from the dedication ceremonies of the five Michigan Historical Markers in Idlewild are available for download at: www.flickr.com/photos/mishpo/sets/72157622432418828.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).