Recent History
Grosse Pointe in the 1800s:
New Neighbors, Diverse Influences
Most of the new Americans who came to the Detroit area following the War of 1812 were from the predominantly Protestant states of the east. When Governor Cass asked for a Protestant missionary, the call was answered by the Rev. John Monteith, a young Presbyterian of Scottish lineage. Reverend Monteith and Father Richard ignited a spark which resulted in the founding of the University of Michigan in 1821. Elementary schools in Grosse Pointe have been named for both pioneer educators.
Despite its swamps, Grosse Pointe was thought of as a healthful place. For this reason, Pierre Provencal came out from the city in 1819. He married soon afterward, and the couple's buildings, at today's Provencal Road near the lake, accommodated church services and a school.
In 1825, a chapel was built, described as "a small log hut on the bank of the lake on the old Reno farm, which is just a few hundred feet north of Vernier Boulevard." Thus wrote Miss Clemens La Fleur, who recalled that, because of the mud, people came barefooted, washed their feet in the lake, and donned their shoes before entering the chapel. At some point, a burial ground was in use nearby.
The Erie Canal was opened in 1825, and immigration to and through Detroit increased markedly. French continued to be the predominant language of the Detroit market place until Civil War times, but the village was rapidly losing its original French character.
The Presque Isle lighthouse was built in 1838. Passing ships counted upon farmers and Indians paddling out to sell farm produce and fish from laden canoes.
In 1832, a cholera epidemic took 96 lives in Detroit. The final victim was Fr. Gabriel Richard. The Provencals at Grosse Pointe raised some 24 children, most of them orphaned during the epidemic. The one child born to the Provencals married Judge James Weir; their cottage, moved far back from the lake in later years, still stands at 376 Kercheval.
In 1837, Michigan was admitted to the Union; Detroit remained the capital until 1847.
By the 1840s, some Belgian names were heard in Grosse Pointe. Soon Belgian priests were serving many churches throughout the Detroit area, including St. Paul's, which opened a new edifice in 1850. This was a small frame building on its present site. At the rear was a sizable cemetery.
In 1848, Grosse Pointe Township was carved from Hamtramck Township; it extended to Waterworks Park. At that time, there were at least two district schools in what has remained Grosse Pointe. An 1876 map shows a school on the shore at about present Lochmoor Boulevard. By 1860, "District No. 2 School" stood near the lake between present Kerby and Moran Road. The Sauer Atlas of 1891/93 shows the original Vernier School where Michaux Lane now joins Vernier Road. The Cook School, "District No. 9," was built on Mack Road around 1890.
