Welcome to 2450 Oakwood Ave in the heart of the Riverside Gardens neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan. This unique bungalow style home was built in 1940 and the original family lived here for 43 years! This blog post will only explore the lives of the first family - The Lindbergs (since some of the families after them may still be living).
I wrote quite a bit about the beginning of the Riverside Gardens neighborhood in this post. In 1940, when 2450 Oakwood was built, many of its neighboring homes were quite established as they were built starting in 1926. However in 1940, the Creston and Riverside Gardens neighborhoods were at its peak and the neighborhood schools were quickly at capacity. Meetings and plans started taking place to build a new school in Riverside Gardens to accommodate the growing population. The schools in Riverside Gardens in 1940 were - Creston Jr/High School, Palmer Elementary, and Fairmount (today is ISJ Academy).
The two new schools were later built in the 1950's were - Riverside Elementary and Riverside Middle Schools.
Therefore, when 2450 Oakwood was built in 1940, the popularity of Riverside Gardens was increasing greatly and homes were being built to keep up with demand.
In December 1939, Cederlund & Howell, received a building permit to build the house at 2450 Oakwood Ave. Cederlund & Howell also received 8 other building permits for houses on the SE side and just a couple on the NE side of Grand Rapids the same time.
Donald Cederlund, of Cederlund & Howell, was born in 1912 in Grand Rapids and was architect brain behind the company. According to his obituary, his partnership with Howell starting in 1938 and lasted until WWII. Post WWII, Donald continued to design many homes independently around Grand Rapids and even taught at Michigan State University. He passed away in 1973 in Grand Rapids.
David L Howell, of Cederlund & Howell, was born in 1897 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. David was the contractor brain behind Cederlund & Howell during their partnership. After WWII, David continued to partner with other architects to build homes and also pivoted to home renovations later on. He passed away in 1984 in Grand Rapids.
Albert Carl Lindberg
Years @ 2450 Oakwood: 43 (1940-1983)
Born: August 22, 1897; Chicago, Illinois
Died: February 18, 1983; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Father: Carl Emil Lindberg (b. 1859; Nyed, Värmland, Sweden - d. 1936; Grant, Michigan)
Mother: Maria Alfreda Bredenberg (b. 1862; Lesjöfors, Rämen, Värmland, Sweden - d. 1938; Grant, Michigan)
According to a Grand Rapids Press newspaper article from 1934 which announced the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Albert's parents, Albert's father immigrated from Sweden in 1881 and his mother immigrated in 1882. His parents were married in 1884 in Pennsylvania and then moved to Nebraska. In Nebraska, Albert's two oldest siblings were born; The family then moved to Chicago where Albert and six of the remaining siblings were born. Albert's father was an iron worker in the steel mills in Chicago. In 1907, the family wanted a quieter life and bought a farm in rural Grant, Michigan.
The earliest record I could find of Albert Lindberg in Grand Rapids is in 1924 when he was a salesman living at the YMCA in downtown Grand Rapids.
In April 1926, Albert married Dagmar "Dorothy" Jensen in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Dagmar "Dorothy" Henriette Jensen
Years @ 2450 Oakwood: 43 (1940-1983)
Born: June 18, 1897; Sindal, Hjørring, Hjørring Amt, Denmark
Died: February 19, 1995; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Father: Julius Jensen (b. 1872; Hjørring, Denmark - d. 1958; Grant, Michigan)
Mother: Marie Jensen (b. 1872; Denmark - d. Grant, Michigan)
The early life of Dorothy (Dorothy was the name she used once she immigrated so I will refer to that name in this blog) is quite remarkable. I will do my best to summarize her story from the newspaper articles and documents that were available online.
Dorothy Jensen, along with her parents, her three siblings (she was the second oldest), and an aunt and uncle, left Denmark on August 8th, 1903 on the S.S. Oscar II and arrived on Ellis Island on August 24, 1903. According to the immigration arrival document, the family was going to live in Grant, Michigan with Dorothy's paternal uncle.
Dorothy and her family are lines # 3-8
Dorothy's father, Julius, worked for 33 years as a foreman for the Pere Marquette Railway. The family remained in Grant, Michigan for their entire lives.
The earliest record of Dorothy living in Grand Rapids is from 1916 when she rented a room at 29 Sycamore .
Amazingly, I was able to find Dorothy's WWI Registration Card for the Women's Committee of the Council of National Defense. Grand Rapids is one of the only cities in the country that kept these cards and then digitized them. It's a rare insight into the lives of women during this time. I wrote about these cards in previous blog posts as well. I highly recommend taking the time to search these cards via GRPL.
By 1918, according to her WWI card, Dorothy lived at 224 John St and worked as a bookkeeper for the Pantlind Hotel (Amway Grand Plaza Hotel). It looked like she never had college or specialized training either. On the 1940 Census, Dorothy listed that she only had a 8th grade education. This was a remarkable career and milestone for a woman in 1918 - and especially with professional schooling.
After Dorothy and Albert married, they rented houses around different areas of Grand Rapids.
Albert and Dorothy moved into 2450 Oakwood sometime in the spring of 1940. On the 1940 US Census, they lived on Wealthy St SE but in the 1940 GR Directory, their address was listed as 2450 Oakwood Ave NE.
According to an article (posted further down in the post) from 1966, Albert worked for 32 years as a salesman for an auto repair/supply parts company - Auto Clinic. The Auto Clinic company started around 1934, and Albert was one of its first employees. The company was originally located at 332 Ottawa Ave NW and then moved to 500 Monroe Ave NW. In 1962, when the 131 freeway was built, the building was razed and the company built a complex at 1228 Scribner NW - where it is still in business today (August 2021).
Dorothy Lindberg worked for more than 30 years at the Pantlind Hotel (Amway Grand Plaza) as a bookkeeper and accountant. I wrote about the history about the Pantlind Hotel in this blog post.
During her life living at 2450 Oakwood, Dorothy was greatly involved for many years in the East Side Literary Club - a social group for women that started in the early 1900's.
Albert and Dorothy never had children and were quite active in different social groups in the city. They lived at 2450 Oakwood Ave for more than 43 years and truly made the house their home.
Albert passed away in 1983. Dorothy later moved to Pilgrim Manor and then passed in 1995.
The home at 2450 Oakwood is only 81 years old - which is actually a pretty young home. The story of the Albert and Dorothy Lindberg is rich with life, passion, determination, and love.
If only those walls could talk...