Postwar Growth
From 1950 to 1970, a population increase of 45% in the Pointes dictated the course of many community efforts. Numerous new schools ... public, private and church-oriented ... were built.
The chartering of the local League of Women Voters, the incorporation of Grosse Pointe Woods as a city, and the moving of the Children's Home of Detroit to Cook Road were events of 1950. In 1951, the Pointes' neighbor, Harper Woods, incorporated in anticipation of Eastland Shopping Center, then being planned for its community. A plaque at the War Memorial Center listed 105 names of Korean War veterans, 33 of whom died in the conflict. In 1953, the Grosse Pointe Symphony was founded. The Foundation for Exceptional Children was organized in 1954. A huge drain project was approved by Woods voters in 1958, so that building in that city could resume after a five year moratorium.
The generosity of residents has enhanced the quality of life in Grosse Pointe since its early suburban days. Examples are the Central Branch of the public library, the War Memorial Center and its adjoining Fries Auditorium (1961), the Neighborhood Club's 1966 building, and the community's Elworthy Field (1965). Several of the municipal parks also had their inception in generous gifts, or have been advanced by this means.
During the 1960s, the public school enrollment increased by 400 students a year and, by 1964, it was evident that a second high school was needed. The site chosen was the Vanderbush farm, one of the last working farms in the Pointes. North High School opened in 1968; the first senior class was graduated in 1970.
The historic day/boarding school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart ceased operation following graduation of the Class of 1969. By that autumn, the Grosse Pointe Academy had been organized to operate a Montessori pre-school through eighth-grade program in the former school facility.
