75th Anniversary of Grosse Pointe Woods
2025 marks an historic year for Grosse Pointe Woods: on December 11, 2025, the city will celebrate its 75th Anniversary!
Grosse Pointe Woods enjoys a rich history. Dating back to 1769, French farmers with names such as Marsac, Chovin, Reneau, and Bonhomme owned “ribbon farms” which extended 40 arpents (an old French unit of land area measurement equivalent to 1-½ miles) inland from Lake Sainte Claire (so named by Father Louis Hennepin in 1679). The portion of their land – which later became Grosse Pointe Woods – remained wilderness known only to the Indians and the “coureurs de bois” or French-Canadian traders.
By 1850, between Provencal Farm and Vernier Road were homesteads belonging to families with familiar names: Verniers, Allards, Tromblys, and Thibaults. Beyond Vernier Road lived the Reneaus (Renauds), Allards, VanAntwerps, and Robert-Johns. It was an established farming community and by the 1900s, farmland was being cultivated by longtime French, Dutch, and Belgian families (including the Beaufaits and Brys). In 1927, this community was incorporated as the Village of Lochmoor before becoming the Village of Grosse Pointe Woods in 1939, led by Alois A. Ghesquiere as President (Ghesquiere Park is named after him). Eventually, on December 11, 1950, the Village of Grosse Pointe Woods became incorporated as the City of Grosse Pointe Woods.
Seventy-five years of this charming city can be credited to the remarkable people who made it – and continue to make it – the most appealing place in which to live and do business in Michigan. From mayors to magistrates, proprietors to residents, and employees to volunteers, the city will proudly pay homage to the past – commemorating this milestone occasion with a variety of celebrations – and prepare for the next 25 years and beyond with continued community improvements.
In March, celebratory banners will hang from the colonial lampposts along Mack Avenue to mark the occasion and a 75th Anniversary Summer Celebration will be held in conjunction with the July Music on the Lawn event featuring live music, dancing, free food, and a special ceremony. At the Birthday Cake Reception on December 11 (the actual anniversary of the incorporation of Grosse Pointe Woods), the 50th year Time Capsule will be opened and a new 100th year Time Capsule will be commissioned. More anniversary tie-ins will be announced as plans are finalized.
Throughout 2025, everyone is invited to help celebrate the past 75 years and the best of what’s yet to come for the City of Grosse Pointe Woods!
Thanks to the city’s Historical Commission for tracing decades of historical events from the 18th up to the 21st centuries and documenting them in their book “Celebrating the History of Grosse Pointe Woods.”
