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Grosse Pointe (commonly known as the Pointes) is a group of five adjacent suburbs in the Metro Detroit on the shore of Lake St. Clair, immediately east of the city of Detroit. It includes the cities of Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Shores, and Grosse Pointe Woods.
The terms "Grosse Pointe" or "the Pointes" are ordinarily used to refer to the group of five communities, which have a total population of about 46,000. The Grosse Pointes altogether are 10.4 square miles, bordered by Detroit on the south and west, Lake St. Clair on the east and south, Harper Woods (in Wayne County) on the west of some portions, and St. Clair Shores on the north. The cities are in eastern Wayne County, except for a very small section in Macomb County. The Pointes begin northeast of downtown Detroit and extend several miles northeastward, in a narrow swath of land, to the edge of Wayne County. The name "Grosse Pointe" alludes to the size of the area, and its projection into Lake St. Clair.Farmer, Silas (1890). History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan, p. 129. Munsell & Co.
Grosse Pointe is a suburb in Metro Detroit, sharing a border with northeast Detroit's historic neighborhoods. Grosse Pointe has many famous historic estates along with remodeled homes and newer construction. Downtown Grosse Pointe, along Kercheval Avenue from Neff to Cadieux, nicknamed "The Village," serves as a central business district for all five of the Grosse Pointes, although each of them (except Grosse Pointe Shores) has several blocks of retail. Downtown Detroit is just over west of this downtown area, accessed by Jefferson Avenue, or several other cross-streets.
The north–south area along Lake St. Clair generally coincides with the boundaries of the two public high schools. The southern areas (basically south and west of Moross Road) feature retail districts.
The Grosse Pointes were first settled by French people farmers in the 1750s after the establishment of the French Fort Pontchartrain. Members of the British Empire began arriving around the time of the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Grosse Pointe continued to be the site of lakefront : long narrow farms that each adjoin the lake, useful for irrigation and early transportation needs. Beginning in the 1850s, wealthy residents of Detroit began building second homes in the Grosse Pointe area, and soon afterward, hunting, fishing, and golf clubs appeared. Some grand estates arose in the late 19th century, and with the dawn of the automobile after 1900, Grosse Pointe became a preferred suburb for business executives in addition to a retreat for wealthy Detroiters. By the 1930s, most of the southern and western areas of Grosse Pointe contained established neighborhoods, with remaining gaps and the northern sections such as Grosse Pointe Woods developing after the 1930s.
In 1960, it was revealed that realtors in suburban Grosse Pointe ranked prospective home buyers by using a point system with categories such as race, nationality, occupation, and “degree of swarthiness.” Southern Europeans, Jews, and Poles required higher rankings than Northwestern European people in order to move into the community, while Asians and Blacks were excluded from living in Grosse Pointe altogether. Private detectives were used to investigate potential residents’ backgrounds. The revelation of this practice moved the state corporation and securities commissioner to issue a regulation to bar the licensing of real estate brokers who discriminated on the basis of race, religion, or national origin. Public hearings brought the national attention to the real estate discrimination situation in Detroit, which resulted in the expansion of open housing activity in the city.
A passenger Rail transport line that connected Detroit to Mt. Clemens along the shore was operational by the late 1890s, making Grosse Pointe more accessible. As the automobile became the primary method of transportation and the rail line was decommissioned, the vista of what became Lake Shore Drive gradually improved. Lakeside estates are accessed from Lake Shore Drive and Jefferson Avenue.
Over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, Grosse Pointe has gained a reputation as a notable American suburb; entrepreneurial leadership, recreational activities afforded by the Great Lakes waterway, an international border with Canada, and a focus on quality of education contributed to the successful development of the region. The Russell Alger Jr. House, at 32 Lake Shore Dr., serves as the Grosse Pointe War Memorial community center. Grosse Pointe contains fifteen recognized Michigan historical markers.
The recreational lifestyle historically associated with Grosse Pointe has given rise to many private clubs. The Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms has a golf course, tennis, and traditional amenities. The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, at the intersection of Vernier Road and Lakeshore Drive on Lake St. Clair, is an acclaimed boating club. The Grosse Pointe Club, also called the "Little Club," is a highly exclusive, historic club on the lakefront, on a site where wealthy Detroiters and Grosse Pointers have gathered for recreation since its organization in 1885,Farmer 1890, p. 340. when Grosse Pointe was a cottage-town. The Lochmoor Club in Grosse Pointe has a golf course and other amenities. The Hunt Club, an equestrian club in Grosse Pointe, has horses and stables.
Many prominent Detroiters have lived in Grosse Pointe, including members of the Ford family, including Edsel Ford (son of Henry Ford) and his wife, Eleanor Clay Ford, and Henry Ford II (grandson of Henry Ford). The Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, at 1100 Lake Shore Drive, is open to the public for guided tours.
Each city has at least one municipal park along Lake St. Clair. The landlocked Grosse Pointe Woods has its park at the southern tip of St. Clair Shores, next to Grosse Pointe Shores. The municipalities bar nonresidents from the parks, drawing occasional dissent from residents of Grosse Pointe and other neighborhoods in Metro Detroit. Jefferson Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Detroit, becomes Lake Shore Drive between Grosse Pointe Farms and Grosse Pointe Shores, and is the scenic carriageway of all five Grosse Pointes, after skirting the eastern neighborhoods of Detroit. Lake Shore Drive was featured on HGTV's television program Dream Drives and in the films Grosse Pointe Blank and Gran Torino.
The region is home to University Liggett School, Michigan's oldest independent school, and two public high schools: Grosse Pointe South High School and Grosse Pointe North High School, which are the termini of the Grosse Pointe Public School System.
and community organizations generally serve all five cities, as do the public library and school system, but municipal services are separate. The weekly Grosse Pointe News and the semi-weekly Grosse Pointe Times provide local news, as do the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.
A developer bought Rose Terrace and demolished it in 1976 to create an upscale neighborhood, galvanizing local preservationists. The Dodge Art Collection from Rose Terrace is displayed at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Italian Renaissance styled Russell A. Alger House (1910), at 32 Lake Shore Drive, by architect Charles A. Platt serves as the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. Grosse Pointe War Memorial, the Russell A. Alger Mansion. Retrieved on November 24, 2007.
Many noted architects designed works in Grosse Pointe including Albert Kahn, Marcel Breuer, Marcus Burrowes, Chittendon and Kotting, Crombie & Stanton, Wallace Frost, Robert O. Derrick, John M. Donaldson, Louis Kamper, August Geiger, William Kessler, Hugh T. Keyes, George D. Mason, Charles A. Platt, Leonard Willeke, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Field, Hinchman, and Smith, William Buck Stratton, and Minoru Yamasaki.
| Grosse Pointe Academy | 1928 | 171 Lake Shore Dr. | Tudor Revival | William Schickel, Magginnis and Walsh | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Formerly known as the Academy of the Sacred Heart. | |
| Country Club of Detroit | 1927 | 220 Country Club Dr. | Tudor Revival | SmithGroup | ||
| Russell A. Alger Jr. House Russell A. Alger Jr. House . Michigan Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved on December 6, 2007. | 1910 | 32 Lake Shore Dr. | Italian Renaissance | Charles A. Platt | Grosse Pointe War Memorial. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. National Register of Historic Places - Michigan: Wayne County. National Park Service. Retrieved on December 12, 2007. | |
| Beverly Road Historic District | 1911 | 23-45 Beverly Rd. | Colonial, Neo-Renaissance, Tudor | Albert Kahn, Robert O. Derrick, Raymond Carey, and Marcus Burrowes, et al. | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | |
| Ralph Harmon Booth House | 1924 | 315 Washington Road | Tudor, Jacobean | Marcus Burrowes | Originally home of U.S. Minister to Denmark, Detroit Institute of Arts Philanthropist, and brother of George Gough Booth, . | |
| JP Bowen House | 1927 | 16628 East Jefferson | French colonial | Wallace Frost | A lakefront estate. | |
| Buck-Wardwell House | 1840 | 16109 East Jefferson, at Three Mile | Colonial | William Buck | The oldest extant brick house in Grosse Pointe, a large colonial home. | |
| Christ Church Chapel | 1930 | 61 Grosse Pointe Rd. | Neo-Gothic | Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | |
| Defer Elementary School | 1924 | 15425 Kercheval | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | |||
| Charles A. Dean House- "Ridgeland" | 1924 | 221 Lewiston. | Mediterranean, Tuscan order | Hugh T. Keyes | A hillside estate. | |
| Paul Harvey Deming House "Cherryhurst" | 1907 | 111 Lake Shore Dr. | Tudor Revival | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Michigan State Historic Preservation Objects .Deming, Paul Harvey, House. Retrieved on April 5, 2008. | ||
| C. Goodlee Edgar House | 1910 | 880 Lake Shore Dr. | Colonial Revival | Albert Kahn | ||
| Benson Ford House- "Woodley Green" | 1934 | 635 Lake Shore Dr. | Georgian | Hugh T. Keyes | The house is the former home of Benson Ford, grandson of Henry Ford. Also known as the Emory W. Clark House. | |
| Edsel and Eleanor Ford House Edsel and Eleanor Ford House . Michigan Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved on December 6, 2007. | 1927 | 1100 Lakeshore Dr. | Cotswold stone | Albert Kahn, Jens Jensen | President of Ford Motor Company, son of Henry Ford, the estate is open to the public for guided tours. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in Macomb County. | |
| Henry Ford II House | 1957 | 160 Rd. | Georgian | The mansion has and is the former home of Henry Ford II, chairman and CEO of Ford Motor Company, grandson of Henry Ford. | ||
| Grosse Pointe South High School Grosse Pointe High School . Michigan Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved on December 11, 2007. | 1928 | 11 Grosse Pointe Blvd. | Georgian | George J. Haas | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | |
| Grosse Pointe Memorial Church | 1927 | 16 Lake Shore Dr. | Neo-Gothic | William E.N. Hunter | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | |
| Grosse Pointe Yacht Club | 1929 | Lake Shore Dr. at Vernier | Venetian | Guy Lowell | ||
| Henry B. Joy House Henry B. Joy House. Grosse Pointe Historical Society. Retrieved on December 6, 2007. | Lake Shore Dr. at Kerby | Albert Kahn | "Fair Acres" estate, home of the President of the Packard. | |||
| J. Bell Moran House- "Bellmoor" | 1928 | 15420 Windmill Pointe Drive | Tudor | Robert O. Derrick | A lakefront mansion, the centerpiece of the Windmill Pointe strand of mansions. | |
| Purdy-Kresge House | 1929 | 1012 Three Mile Drive | Tudor | Leonard Willeke | A house along a notable row. | |
| Saint Paul Catholic Church St. Paul Roman Catholic Church Complex . Michigan Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved on December 11, 2007. | 1899 | 157 Lake Shore Dr. | Gothic Revival | Harry J. Rill | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | |
| Murray Sales House | 1917 | 251 Lincoln | Neo-Renaissance | Louis Kamper | A white-stucco estate designed by the famed Washington Blvd. architect. | |
| Carl E. and Alice Candler Schmidt House | 1904 | 301 Lake Shore Rd. | Tudor Revival | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | ||
| William B. and Mary Chase Stratton House | 1927 | 938 Three Mile Dr. | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | |||
| "Kasteel Batavia" R.W. Judson House | 1927 | 15324 Windmill Pointe Drive. | Tudor | Wallace Frost | A lakefront mansion, Original site of the Windmill with one of the only remaining original French missionary pear trees. Home of the President of Continental Motors. | |
| John T. Woodhouse House | 1920 | 33 Old Brook Ln. | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | |||
| Sutton Residence | 1931 | 175 Merriweather Road | Colonial | Louis Kamper | The smallest family home by Kamper; built for his niece Paula Kling Sutton, and husband John R. Sutton Jr. | |
| F. Caldwell Walker House | 1929 | 211 Vendome Rd | Colonial | Robert O. Derrick | F. Caldwell Walker, grandson of distiller Hiram Walker, commissioned the mansion.Cox, Sarah and Jessica J. Trevin (September 26, 2011). Sunday Mansion Touring. Detroit.curbed.com, Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 27, 2012. |
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