MotorCities National Heritage Area
On Mon., April 6, learn more about Dearborn’s role in the founding of this important Michigan regional treasure.
Historic Highlight
A Florist's House
This Colonial home on Windham Lane in the Springwells Subdivision was built in1943.
The Springwells Subdivision was at one time part of a ribbon farm. Gustav Zanger bought it in 1914 and planned to transfer ownership to the Detroit Zoo. When officials decided to develop the zoo in Royal Oak, he sold the property in 1927 to Henry Ford who then transferred ownership to the Ford Foundation.
The subdivision consists of five subdivisions. The first subdivision was platted in 1939. Sixty percent of the properties were developed by the beginning of World War II. Immediately after the war, another thirty percent were developed. Ten percent of the houses were constructed between 1960 and 1988. The houses were designed in the Colonial Revival style. The subdivision was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
This Windham Lane home was owned by Harry Miller. Miller had a florist shop at 14300 Michigan Avenue. The 1959 Dearborn directory touted it as being “One of America’s Most Modern Flower Shops—Air Conditioned.” Harry was a third-generation florist. His grandfather and dad had greenhouses and a flower shop in Pennsylvania. His dad opened the Dearborn business in 1938. In later years, Harry also opened a store in Farmington Hills.
His business had some 12,000 square feet and 40 employees.
Harry was heavily engaged in the florists’ profession. He was the president of the Michigan State Florist Association, the Allied Florists Association of Metropolitan Detroit and the Society of American Florists. He was in the Society of American Florists Hall of Fame.
He was the president of the Dearborn Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He was the chair of the Dearborn Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the Dearborn Boys Club and the Dearborn Tourists and Convention Bureau.
Harry founded the Dearborn Centurions and was president from 1963-65. He was a member of the Pioneers Club, the Dearborn Founders, the Moslem Temple, the Dearborn Country Club, the Fairlane Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, and the Loyal Order of the Moose.
Research by: Glenn O’Kray
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Stories From the Sidewalk
Book Features History of Arsenal and Riverbend Neighborhoods
Stories From the Sidewalk, a hefty hardcover book at nearly 380 pages published by the Museum Guild of Dearborn, is on sale now at the Dearborn Historical Museum gift shop or available online at https://thedhm.org/books.
To say the least it is an oversized stocking stuffer for the holiday season that every fan of architecture and devotee of history will treasure.
Three years in the making, it is the work of a passionate group of history buffs and researchers. This coffee table book documents over 360 houses and buildings in Dearborn’s Arsenal and Riverbend neighborhoods. With the belief that every house and building has a story to tell, the editors organized the book by neighborhood and street address along with a full-color photograph and details on the history and architecture of each historic resource.
Subtitled, A Walk Through 137 Years That Shaped Dearborn (1833 – 1970) the book is designed as a walking tour of these two charming and historic west Dearborn neighborhoods. It surveys and preserves for future generations the story of Dearborn’s growth from a village on the Chicago Road (Michigan Avenue) to a bustling and thriving city as the area became the automotive capital of the world and the manufacturing epicenter of the Ford Motor Company.
Co-authors and editors Christopher Merlo and L. Glenn O’Kray undertook this project with a sense of urgency to document and preserve the stories of these historically significant houses and buildings before they are either razed or drastically renovated – a fate that has befallen several houses and buildings in the Arsenal and Riverbend neighborhoods.
All income from the sale of the book will go to the Museum Guild of Dearborn.
