West Canfield Historic District

The West Canfield Historic District is significant as an intact area of substantial Late Victorian single family homes with neighborhood serving businesses which reflect, as few other inner city neighborhoods do, the early residential development of the streetcar suburb days of the 1870 and 1880s. In fact, West Canfield is one of the few intact streets of High Victorian, single-family houses left in Detroit. The West Canfield Historic District is located approximately one and one-half to two miles north of the Detroit River and was one of the places where the first wave of self-made, wealthy Detroiters built their homes outside of the city and neighborhood serving businesses located along streetcar lines to serve the new residents. The district also includes the Sheridan Court Apartment Building, an important example of the larger-scale apartment buildings constructed throughout the Cass Farm Survey Area.

The West Canfield Historic District covers approximately 50 acres and includes twenty-five properties located on West Canfield- a National Register historic district- Second Avenue, and Third Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. West Canfield, paved with granite bricks, is lined with mature trees and late 19th and early 20th century brick and frame residential buildings; some with rear carriage houses. Second Avenue includes a multi-family building and a commercial building. Third Avenue includes a mix of residences and commercial buildings. The primary architectural styles represented within the historic district are Late Victorian styles. The character of the streetscapes is that of a streetcar suburb; houses and buildings tend to outscale the size of the lots. Along West Canfield, the houses are consistently set back from the street with individually landscaped front yards. The remaining buildings along Second and Third Avenues extend to the sidewalk. The buildings display a variety of architectural styles and materials as well as a high degree of stylistic decoration and craftsmanship.

In 1818 Territorial Governor Lewis Cass took possession of the tract of land in Detroit that was to be known throughout the rest of the century as the Cass Farm. The property, fronting on the river and extending back several miles in a long, narrow ribbon, followed the land-ownership pattern established by the French settlers in the eighteenth century. Cass's career was undoubtedly the most illustrious of any of his Michigan contemporaries. He served not only as governor for eighteen years but was Secretary of War under Andrew Jackson, United States Senator for two terms, Minister to France, and Secretary of State in the Buchanan administration. In 1848 he was the Democratic nominee for the presidency. Cass's farm was located in what is now the heart of Detroit. The eastern boundary of his property is now Woodward Avenue, the main north-south thoroughfare of the city. Upon his death in 1866 the property was portioned among his heirs, and a few years later subdivision began. Mary Cass Canfield, daughter of Lewis Cass, subdivided block 100 of the Cass Farm in 1871. Mrs. Canfield was the widow of Captain Augustus Canfield, a graduate of West Point and one of the principals in the construction of the ship canal at Sault Ste. Marie. As early as 1839 he had undertaken canal surveys at the Soo, and in 1853- he represented the State of Michigan as chief engineer during the early phases of construction. Canfield Avenue, the south boundary of block 100 and the center of the West Canfield Historic District, is named in his honor. In the early 1870s West Canfield was one of the newly developed streets at the northern border of the rapidly growing city. Elegant brick houses in the Queen Anne style were constructed on the spacious 50 by 190 foot lots, and the plat specified that there was to be a 30 foot setback for 'sidewalk, shrubbery, and ornamental purposes.' Horse-drawn streetcars were soon available on the neighboring north-south streets to ease transportation to the central business district, two miles away. A city history published in the 1880s referred to the district as 'Piety Hill', supposedly because of alleged social and moral character of the inhabitants.

The West Canfield Historic District is a one-block area of West Canfield Avenue comprising the southern lots of block 100 of the Cass Farm and the northern lots of block 98 of the same subdivision. It extends between Second Boulevard and Third Street. Over thirty buildings and structures, predominantly of brick and in the extant Queen Anne Style, are included within the district. Fifteen historic houses were built in this block between 1871 and 1894, and there has been little intrusion by more recent buildings. An 1893 view shows that both street and sidewalk are paved, and there is a line of trees on each side of the street between the sidewalk and curb. A few of these trees still remain. Many of the buildings still display the original slate roofs and carriage houses at the rear of the deep lots are prevalent. West Canfield is a part of the large slum community surrounding Wayne State University. Until recently the buildings in the district were rapidly deteriorating, as was the whole neighborhood. In the past few years the trend has been reversed. A history of the area has been published, and several of the residences have been restored. Plans are being formulated for the eventual renovation of the entire block.