New Center

Welcome to New Center

New Center is a commercial and residential historic district located uptown in Detroit, Michigan, adjacent to Midtown, one mile (1.6 km) north of the Cultural Center, and approximately three miles (5 km) north of Downtown. The area is centered just west of the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Grand Boulevard, and is bounded by, and includes the Virginia Park Historic District on the north, the Edsel Ford Freeway (I-94) on the south, John R Street on the east and the Lodge Freeway on the west. New Center, and the surrounding areas north of I-94, are sometimes seen as coterminous with the North End, while in fact separate districts.

The heart of New Center was developed in the 1920s as a business hub that would offer convenient access to both downtown resources and outlying factories. Some historians believe that New Center may be the original edge city—a sub-center remote from, but related to, a main urban core. The descriptor "New Center" derived its name from the New Center News, an automotive-focused free newspaper begun in 1933 that continues to operate under the name Detroit Auto Scene. From 1923 to 1996, General Motors maintained its world headquarters in New Center (in what is now Cadillac Place) before relocating downtown to the Renaissance Center; before becoming a division of GM, Fisher Body was headquartered in the Fisher Building. Both Cadillac Place and the Fisher Building are National Historic Landmarks. In addition to the government and commercial offices along Woodward and Grand Boulevard, New Center contains the Fisher Theatre, the Hotel St. Regis, the Henry Ford Hospital, restaurants, and residential areas.

 

The Arden Park District is a neighborhood in the City of Detroit, Michigan, bounded on the west by Woodward Avenue, on the north by East Boston Boulevard, on the east by Oakland Avenue, and on the south by Arden Park Boulevard. The area is immediately adjacent to the much larger and better-known Boston-Edison Historic District, which is on the west side of Woodward Avenue, and also close to the Atkinson Avenue which is just south of Boston-Edison. There are 92 homes in the district, all on East Boston or Arden Park Boulevards. Arden Park Boulevard and East Boston Boulevard feature prominent grassy medians with richly planted trees and flowers. The setbacks of the homes are deep, with oversized lots. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Although the neighborhood was first platted in 1892, most of the homes built in the community date to the first two decades of the Twentieth Century. This time period coincided with an economic boom in Detroit, and many newly minted millionaires hired architects to design prestigious dwellings in the neighborhood. Architectural styles represented in Arden Park–East Boston include Italian Renaissance, Colonial Revival, Tudor, Bungalow style and Prairie Style.

 

Atkinson Avenue was named in honor of William Francis Atkinson. Held prisoner by the Confederacy, Atkinson courageously escaped and rose to the rank of captain before leaving the service in 1886. Captain Atkinson had a commendable war record. Long after the Civil War, he studied law and was admitted to the bar.

In its entirety, Atkinson Avenue begins at Woodward Avenue and travels westerly to Linwood Avenue, where Atkinson Avenue abruptly stops. Atkinson Avenue resumes at Savery Avenue and continues traveling westerly to its final terminus at McQuade Avenue, just west of Dexter Boulevard. For a time, during the 1890s, that portion of Atkinson Avenue situated between 12th Street and "Crawford" Street (later renamed "Hamilton"), actually constituted a part of the boundary of Detroit's city limits.

Atkinson Avenue consists of parts of six subdivisions, specifically Joy Farm, Lewis Park, Jackson Park, Voigt Park, Boston Boulevard, and Guerold's Subdivision. The adjacent Boston-Edison Historic District is composed of the same subdivisions. When Atkinson Avenue was first established, it did not prohibit African-Americans and Jewish people from living there, making it one of only a few middle-class areas to allow those groups to live there.

 

The Boston-Edison Historic District is known as the heart of Detroit. There are over 900 homes in the district, with most being constructed between 1905 and 1925. They range in size from modest two-story vernaculars to impressive mansions and all these homes are unique. The neighborhood contains several historical architectural styles, combining them in an eclectic, distinctive way.

The neighborhood is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic neighborhood with diverse people who share a common appreciation and love of historic homes. The Historic Boston-Edison Association, founded in 1921, is the oldest continuous neighborhood association in the city. Since the neighborhood is in the geographical heart of Detroit, it's near plenty of shopping areas and other popular hangout spots. The New Center, Midtown, Hamtramck and Highland Park neighborhoods are all nearby. It’s famous residents include Joe Louis and Motown music founder Berry Gordy.

 

Major railroad infrastructure, known as the Milwaukee Junction, was built in the 1890s to facilitate industrial expansion in the city of Detroit. To take advantage of the rail line, industrial plants were built in this area on both sides of Woodward Avenue, with the automotive industry prominently involved. Part of this area east of Woodward is now the Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District, while the area west of Woodward and south of the railroad tracks is the New Amsterdam Historic District. Some commercial buildings were also built in this area, particularly along Cass.

Although not part of the New Amsterdam Historic District, part of the early industrial character of the area was formed by the enormous Albert Kahn-designed Burroughs Adding Machine factory at Second and Burroughs, which is now the Henry Ford Health Systems administrative offices.

 

Located on the north side of New Center, an area in Detroit, Michigan, along both sides of Virginia Park Street from Woodward Avenue to the John C. Lodge Freeway access road, the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Virginia Park Historic District is an example of a well–preserved late nineteenth to early twentieth century residential community. The residences are testimonials to the wealth of early Virginia Park residents, as the area was conceived as an upper-middle class enclave. Many homes were completed by prominent Detroit architects, and display a diversity of architectural styles.