Jefferson-Chalmers Historic Business District
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Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District
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Jefferson streetscape looking west toward Chalmers
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| Location | E. Jefferson Ave. between Eastlawn St. and Alter Rd. Detroit, Michigan  United States
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| Coordinates | 42°22′26″N 82°56′34″W / 42.37389°N 82.94278°WCoordinates: 42°22′26″N 82°56′34″W / 42.37389°N 82.94278°W |
| Area | 29 acres (12 ha) |
| Architect | multiple |
| Architectural style | Early Commercial, Late Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference # | 04000598 |
| Added to NRHP | June 16, 2004 |
The Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District is a historic district located on East Jefferson Avenue between Eastlawn Street and Alter Road in Detroit, Michigan. The district is the only continuously intact commercial district remaining along East Jefferson Avenue, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
The Historic Jefferson–Chalmers Business District is one of a few early twentieth-century neighborhood commercial districts that still survive in Detroit. During the 1920s, this district along Jefferson was the center of the east-side neighborhood's commercial, social, and cultural life. The district is unique in that two big-band era ballrooms, the cultural fulcrums of the early 20th century social scene, still exist within the district: the Monticello and the Vanity Ballroom.
The Jefferson East neighborhood of Detroit is bounded by Alter Road on the east, St. Jean Street on the west, Charlevoix Street on the north, and the Detroit River on the south. Jefferson Avenue runs approximately through the center of the Jefferson East neighborhood, and is primarily commercial in nature for thirteen blocks from Dickerson Street to Alter Road. This section of Jefferson Avenue is also known as the Jefferson East Business District. Historically significant structures exist along Jefferson Avenue for eight blocks from Conner to Alter Road; this section of the Jefferson East Business District is designated as the Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District.
East Jefferson Avenue was originally an Indian trail running along the Detroit River. As French settlers established ribbon farms along the river in the 1700s, the trail morphed into the River Road connecting the farms with Fort Detroit. The area that is now within this district was at the time a marshy section surrounding Fox Creek, and so was relatively sparsely settled. In the 1800s, the Jefferson–Chalmers area gradually became more agricultural as the swamp was drained. In 1851, a plank road was built along Jefferson from Detroit to Grosse Pointe, with a toll bridge over Fox Creek. Roadhouses were built along the road, including, by 1876, a saloon located on the south side of East Jefferson Avenue near Fox Creek, within what is now this historic district. Other roadhouses were established in the area in the alter 1800s.
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