Brush Park
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Woodward East Historic District
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Streetscape on Edmund Place
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| Location |
Detroit, Michigan United States
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|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°20′43″N 83°3′9″W / 42.34528°N 83.05250°WCoordinates: 42°20′43″N 83°3′9″W / 42.34528°N 83.05250°W |
| Architect | Multiple |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian, French Renaissance Revival, Second Empire, Italianate, Other |
| NRHP Reference # | 75000973 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | January 21, 1975 |
| Designated MSHS | September 17, 1974 |
The Brush Park Historic District, frequently referred to as simply Brush Park, is a 22-block neighborhood located within Midtown Detroit, Michigan and designated by the city. It is bounded by Mack Avenue on the north, Woodward Avenue on the west, Beaubien Street on the east, and the Fisher Freeway on the south. The Woodward East Historic District, a smaller historic district completely encompassed by the larger Brush Park neighborhood, is located on Alfred, Edmund, and Watson Streets, from Brush Street to John R. Street, and is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.
Originally part of a French ribbon farm, Brush Park was developed beginning in the 1850s as an upscale residential neighborhood for Detroit's elite citizens by entrepreneur Edmund Askin Brush. Dozens of Victorian mansions were built there during the final decades of the nineteenth century, and Brush Park was nicknamed "Little Paris" due to its elegant architecture. The neighborhood's heyday didn't last long, however: by the early twentieth century most of is affluent residents started moving to more modern, quieter districts, and Brush Park was quickly populated by members of Detroit's fast-growing working class. Severely affected by depopulation, blight and crime during the 1970s and 1980s, the neighborhood is currently experiencing restorations of its historic buildings and luring new residents.
The land now occupied by the Brush Park district was originally part of a ribbon farm dating back to the French colonial period, initially conceded by Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois to Laurence Eustache Gamelin for military services on May 1, 1747. After the death of its second owner, Jacques Pilet, the farm was acquired by the prominent Barthe family, and in the late eighteenth century John Askin, an Irish fur trader and land speculator, obtained it through marriage with Marie-Archange Barthe. In 1802 Askin's daughter Adelaide married Elijah Brush, a Vermont lawyer who would soon become Detroit's second mayor from its first incorporation; on October 31, 1806, Elijah purchased the farm for $6000.
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