Boston-Edison, Alive And Well

Lest you think it's all bad news here in the Motor City, I'm here to say that Detroit still has some glorious neighborhoods that I would put up against anything anywhere in this country. My favorite is Boston-Edison, the former home of so very many famous people and luminaries you'd think I was lying if I told you all of them. Suffice it to say that at one time or another, anyone who was anyone in Detroit lived there. Here is a partial list of Boston-Edison residents over the years:


Henry Ford, president of Ford Motor Company.

Charles W. Avery, developer of the moving assembly line at Ford.

C. Harold Wills, the designer of the Model T.

Walter P. Reuther, labor leader with the United Auto Workers.

Sebastian S. Kresge, founder of S.S. Kresge (later K-Mart).

Berry Gordy, Jr., founder of Motown Records.

David Alan Grier, actor and comedian.

Fred W. Sanders, founder of Sanders Ice Cream.

Joe Louis, Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Ty Cobb, Tigers center-fielder.

Willie Horton, Tigers left-fielder.

Joanna de Tuscan, 1936 Olympic fencing team captain.

Leonard Wiggins, former Tuskegee Airman.

Edward Wagner, founder of Wagner Bakery & Wonder Bread.

Benjamin Siegel, women's clothing retailer.

Walter O. Briggs, Detroit Tigers owner (Briggs Stadium).

Frank Navin, Detroit Tigers owner (Navin Field).

Ty Tyson, first radio announcer for the Tigers.

Ira L. Grinnell, Grinnell Brothers music.

Sen. Carl Levin, U.S. Senator.

Hon. Sander Levin, U.S. House of Representatives.

George M. Read, Secretary-general of War Crimes Commission at Nuremberg.

Just about every member of the Fisher family.

Founders and presidents of many motor car compnaies most of which are now defunct: Grant, Studebaker, Hupp, Scripp, Regal, Model, Lincoln, Great Western, Federal, Durant, Cadillac, Liberty, Thompson, Electric, Packard, (imagine what their block parties would have been like).

Several Detroit mayors including James Couzens.

Horace Rackham, original Ford stockholder and philanthropist (Rackham Golf Club).


That's all great history, but the most amazing thing is that this neighborhood is just as vibrant today as it was back in the 1920's. It's huge, immaculate, and just reeks of money. The houses are of the type that would be unbuildable today, being stuffed with the best marble and wood the world had to offer in the golden age of the automobile.

This house is just one example of many, there are block after block of the most beautiful and carefully tended mansions to be found anywhere.