History

The Russell Woods - Sullivan Area consists of two subdivisions platted nine years apart by two different developers. The first, Russell Woods, included property bounded by Livemois, Davison, Cortland and the west side of Petoskey Avenue. The property was platted in 1916 and sold to the Russell Woods Company, founded by Henry Russel and Charles H. L’Hommedieu. The second phase of development began with the property on the east side of Petoskey Avenue and extended eastward to Dexter Boulevard. This tract of land was platted in 1925, and developed as a separate area by Daniel Sullivan.

Henry Russel was a prominent corporate attorney whose professional and business career thrived along with Detroit’s industrial growth and expansion. Bom in Detroit in 1852, Russel attended Detroit public schools. He graduated from the University of Michigan with honors in 1873. Two years later in 1875, he received his law degree. Russel started his professional career working in the law office of Alfred Russell, one of the city’s most noted attorneys. Throughout the greater part of his career Russel devoted his attention to the area of corporate law. In 1877, he was appointed assistant attorney of the Michigan Central Railroad Company by George V. N.

Lothrop, then general counsel for the railroad company. In 1912, Russel was appointed vice president of the Michigan Central Railroad Company. Determined to give more time to the city’s efforts to expand the rail lines, Russel resigned his partnership from the law firm of Russel, Campbell, Bulkley and Ledyard.

According to early newspaper accounts, "Mr. Russel had much to do with the making of the railroad map in Michigan, particularly in the neighborhood of Detroit." He understood that, in order for Detroit to become a center of industry, trackage had to be provided on which to conduct its transportation operations. Under his leadership, the Michigan Central Railroad began the construction of the Detroit Railroad belt line which resulted in the opening up of new manufacturing areas along several of its routes. Russel was instrumental in the development of the city’s southwestern manufacturing district, which at the time was considered one of Detroit’s *       choicest industrial locations.

Henry Russel played a primary role in the establishment of several business enterprises which had a direct bearing upon the history and development of the city and region. He served as president of the Olds Motor Company, president of the Cass Farm Company, director of the Michigan State Telephone Company, and director of the River Rouge Improvement Company. Throughout his business career, Russel acquired large tracts of farm land for future speculative purposes. In 1916, he and his former law partner, Charles H. L’Hommedieu, established the Russell Woods Company.

Daniel A. Sullivan and his brother Jeremiah were the developers of the Sullivan’s Subdivision. Bom in Ireland in 1843, Daniel Sullivan was brought to America when his family immigrated to New York in 1847; they settled in Detroit two years later. Although his obituary described him as a "retired fanner and real estate operator," Daniel Sullivan graduated from Detroit College with a degree in literature. He began his professional career as a clerk with the Western Union

Telegraph Company; he later entered the wholesale grocery business and was employed by the National Grocery Company. In 1916, Daniel Sullivan became a partner in the firm of Sullivan and Driggs, which specialized in food products.

Jeremiah Sullivan was born in Detroit on the family farm located at Dexter and Davison. It appears that the family farm became the foundation of the brothers’ real estate dealings in the area. According to his obituary, Jeremiah was a realtor who "spent many years operating and ' buying and selling farms in that section of the city."

The Russell Woods-Sullivan Area reflects Detroit suburban settlement patterns as the city boundaries continue to push in a northwest direction. While most of the houses in the Russell Woods area were built in the 1920s and 1930s, the houses in the Sullivan area were not constructed until the 1930s and 1940s. The houses in the area represent several architectural styles of the period, including Neo-Tudor, Colonial Revival, and Modeme. Many of the city’s more established contractors and developers acquired lots in the area. The list of contractors who built houses in the Russell Woods and Sullivan subdivisions included Charles A. Owen, Miller Storm and Walter O. Briggs. Leslie F. Crane, president of L. F. Crane Company, purchased sixty lots in the Sullivan Subdivision, making him the largest investor in the area.

From its inception the Russell Woods-Sullivan area has been considered a desirable place to live for Detroit’s middle class. Initially, Anglo and Jewish families purchased houses in the area; however, by the late-195 Os many of the original residents had moved to the suburbs. African Americans began to move into the northwest section of Detroit, and into the Russell Woods- Sullivan neighborhood by the late 1950s. The area has a remarkable history which is similar to many of the early residential developments in Detroit. Located in the heart of the city, the Russell Woods-Sullivan Area continues to provide an atmosphere of peaceful spaciousness for urban residents, many of whom have made a positive impact upon our city. They include Dudley Randall, Poet Laureate of Detroit and founder of Broadside Press; Carl Owen, internationally known artist; Brazeal Dennard, composer and founder of Brazeal Dennard Chorale; and Florence Ballard, Diana Ross and Mary Wilson, former members of the "Supremes."

Physical Description: The Russell Woods/Sullivan Area consists of a tree-lined grid system of streets comprised of eight north-south streets between Cortland Avenue and West Davison intersected by four east-west streets and two major commercial thoroughfares, Dexter Boulevard and Livemois Avenue. Russell Woods Park, a rectangular city park featuring winding walkways and mature trees, is located between Old Mill, Broadstreet, Leslie and Fullerton in the western end of the neighborhood. With the exception of Broadstreet Boulevard, the residential structures in the area face the north-south streets with garages, where they exist, reached by means of a side driveway; most of the alleys are now closed. On Broadstreet Boulevard, where the street is wider and house lots are larger, houses face Broadstreet, an east-west thoroughfare. On its southern end are Winterhalter School and Broadstreet Presbyterian Church, both anchors in the community.

The residential buildings in Russell Woods are among the finest examples of middle class, builder-designed residential architecture in the City of Detroit erected between 1920 and 1949.

Their designs often combine practical, modem floor plans with an Arts and Crafts aesthetic that result in superb vernacular building types from that period. While most of the buildings are single-family residences, two-flat residences and income properties are common on Cortland, Buena Vista, Tyler and Waverly Avenue, and some multiple-unit dwellings exist on the comers of Petoskey Avenue and the southern end of Broadstreet.