Welcome to 2685 Lawrence Avenue in Detroit, Michigan! This home was featured on #cheapoldhouses a few months ago and I was so excited when asked to research its history. I'm from Grand Rapids, Michigan - 3 hours west of Detroit - and my mom was born and raised in Detroit. My grandfather built a house on the east side of Detroit on Lanark Street in the early 1950's. I've also visited Detroit many times and loved exploring the neighborhoods and the history but this was the first house in Detroit that I've researched and written about.
The home at 2685 Lawrence is located just west of the Boston-Edison Historic District - about 6.5 miles north of downtown Detroit.
Interior photos of 2685 Lawrence from the 2021 listing:
General Facts about 2685 Lawrence Street:
Year Built: 1922
City, State: Detroit, Michigan
Size: 4 beds/2baths; 1,500 sq. ft.
Style: Bungalow
# of Families from 1922-1932: 5
Original Address: 2689 Lawrence
The story of 2685 Lawrence begins in 1922 when the house was officially built - one of 21 houses on that block that were built from 1921-1922.
To begin the research of 2685 Lawrence, I started with the Wayne County Register of Deeds. Without having to pay the fee, I could only access the index search records of the home and I found the legal description of the home. This legal description can be beneficial because it will show the name of the original subdivision, lot number, and other important information.
This particular description told me the house is on lot #132, which helped to confirm the original address of the house based on this 1923 Detroit Sanborn Fire Insurance Map:
In 1923, a house was built on lot #132 and the house number was 2689.
The lots from the J W Lathrups Lawrence Collingwood subdivision started selling in 1919 -
Who was Louise Lathrup?
The legal description from the deed, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and these newspaper articles all state the development of the neighborhood of where 2685 Lawrence is located was sold by Louise Lathrup.
Louise Lathrup was born on May 27, 1893 in Detroit to John and Anne Lathrup. The Lathrup farm, where Louise was raised, consisted of hundreds of acres that was bounded by what is now Dexter, Glendale, 12th, and Collingwood streets. (The home at 2685 Lawrence is located within that boundary on the southwest corner.)
The Lathrup farm was original owned by Louise's maternal grandmother, passed down to her mother, and in 1918, passed to Louise. Louise graduated from business college and worked briefly at the Highland Park Ford plant. Her parents divorced in 1917, hence why she inherited the land, and then she started her own real estate development company. According to her obituary, "With uncompromising standards of construction and landscaping, she developed Lawrence and Collingwood Avenues from Linwood west to Dexter."
Louise was briefly married to John Brophy from 1919 until she filed for divorce in 1924. Five years later, in 1929, Louise married Charles Kelley. Around that time is when she bought and subdivided more than 1,000 acres on both sides of Southfield Road between 10 and 12 Mile Roads to create her own townsite - Lothrup. The homes that Louise built all had a similar style - California brick bungalows - just like 2685 Lawrence.
Louise and Charles had one daughter, Louise, and they continued to live in Lothrup Village. By the mid 1950's, Lathrup had more than 4,000 residents and Louise is credited with developing majority of the homes in that area. Louise passed away in 1963 and Charles passed in 1965.
The image above is the Detroit Sanborn Insurance Map from 1925. The address was 2689 Lawrence at this time. The image shows how the house has two front porches - the dotted lines in the front outline the entrances. The house was 1.5 stories high and there was a one garage in the back.
The image above is the 1950 Sanborn Insurance Map and the address was still 2689 Lawrence and the structure of the house was the exact same as from the 1925 map.
There was an ad in the Detroit Free Press from 1954 of someone selling a Davenport and a chair at 2685 Lawrence. So sometime between 1950 and 1954, the address changed to 2685. I exhausted all digital sources to find the reason and date of the address change and nothing was found.
Louise Lathrup built 2685 Lawrence in 1922 and the first family moved in the same year.
The following are brief stories of the families who lived in the home for the first 10 years.
Family #1: Miner and Lillian Meadowcroft
Years Lived @ 2685 Lawrence: 6; 1922-1927
Miner Meadowcroft
Born: September 15, 1882; Poynette, Wisconsin
Died: January 15, 1958; Poynette, Wisconsin
Father: Jesse (b. 1855; Wisconsin - d. 1885; Illinois)
Mother: Emma Herbet (b. 1859; Illinois - d. 1941; Illinois)
Miner Meadowcroft was born in 1882 to Jesse and Emma Meadowcroft in a small village 25 miles north of Madison, Wisconsin. When he was three years old, his 30 year old father died and shortly later his mother remarried to her late husband's brother, Reuben Meadowcroft.
Information about Minor's parents and his childhood wasn't easily found through general historical documents and newspaper archives. During my research, I did find multiple articles that concluded that Mark Meadowcroft, an immigrant from England and Minor's grandfather, was one of the first settlers of the village of Poynette - dating back to the 1850's.
Miner Meadowcroft graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1907 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering.
After graduation, Minor lived in Chicago and worked at Purdy & Henderson as a Draftsman. It was in Chicago where he met his wife, Lillian Hogan. They were married in June of 1912 in Plattsburgh, New York.
Lillian E. Hogan
Born: 1883; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died: February 17, 1948; Detroit, Michigan
Father: James (b. unknown - d. unknown)
Mother: Anne Castello (b. unknown - d. unknown)
The parents and early life of Lillian Hogan is relatively unsearchable through the main genealogy sources.
Within six years of their marriage, Miner and Lillian moved from Chicago to Detroit. In 1918, according to Miner's WWI registration card, they lived on Garfield Ave. Miner worked as a structural engineer & draftsman for Ford Motor Company and Lillian worked as a clerk at MacDiarmid's - a candy store.
In 1922, Miner and Lillian left their rental they lived in on Garfield Ave and bought one of Louise Lothrup's newly built brick bungalows at 2685 (2689) Lawrence.
When Miner and Lillian moved into 2685 Lawrence, Lillian was now a branch manager at MacDiarmid Candy Co and I'm assuming even though it's not listed in the directory, still worked as a draftsman/engineer.
By 1927, after six years of living at 2685 Lawrence, Miner and Lillian moved from 2685 Lawrence to an apartment on W Boston Blvd - just a few blocks south and eventually moved to Dearborn, Michigan. Information and newspaper articles about Miner and Lillian were non-existent so further details about their life in Detroit is not well known.
Lillian passed away in 1948 in Dearborn and Miner moved back to Wisconsin where he passed away in 1958 in Madison.
Family #2: Arthur & Ethel Barak
Years Lived @ 2685 Lawrence: 2; 1928-1929
Arthur Lewis Barak
Born: September 27, 1894; Roslindale, Massachusetts
Died: November 22, 1969; Warren, Michigan
Father: Joseph (b. 1857; Austria - d. 1952; Massachusetts)
Mother: Anna Deichert (b. 1865; Massachusetts - d. 1945; Massachusetts)
Arthur was born just outside of Boston in Roslindale, Massachusetts in 1894. His father immigrated to the US from Austria around 1882 and worked as a tailor in Boston.
Arthur graduated from Dartmouth College in 1916 and by 1921 he was working in Detroit as an accountant at Pearless Motor Company. In 1922, Arthur married a school teacher, Ethel Beal, in Detroit.
Ethel Alice Beal
Born: August 30, 1895; Detroit, Michigan
Died: September 3, 1969; Warren, Michigan
Father: Dr. George H. (b. 1870; Canada - d. 1917; Michigan)
Mother: Ida Walker (b. 1855; New York - d. 1918; Michigan)
Ethel Beal was born in Detroit in 1895 but was raised in a small village outside of Lansing, called Elise, Michigan. Her father was a well-known physician but died when he was 47 years old. After his death, Ethel and her mother moved to Detroit to be close to Ethel's brother but her mother died just a year later in 1918.
Around 1916-1917, Ethel was a school teacher in the Port Huron, Michigan area. On June 2, 1917, she married Irving Mallory but on July 11, 1917 they were divorced. After reading this newspaper article below, I'm sure there are more exciting details that led to this marriage and divorce!
In 1922, when Arthur and Ethel were married, Arthur worked as an accountant in the auto industry. However, by 1927, the same year when they bought 2685 Lawrence from Miner and Lillian Meadowcroft, Arthur had a career change. Arthur became an auditor at the Udylite Corporation - rust proofing processing.
There were no newspaper articles or further documents about Arthur and Ethel Barak during their time at 2689 Lawrence. They moved in 1928/1929 to 2410 Highland Steet which is just a few blocks north east from their Lawrence house. Also in 1928, their first son was born - Joseph (1928-1975). One year later, their second son was born - Arthur Jr (1929-1990).
Ethel and Arthur continued to live in Detroit until they passed away - Ethel in September 1969 and Arthur in November 1969.
Family #3: Edward Riehart
Years Lived @ 2685 Lawrence: 1; 1930
In the 1930 Detroit City Directory under owner of 2689 Lawrence - it looks like an Edward J Riehart occupied the home. However, after searching this name along with numerous variations, I cannot verify any further information about this person.
Family #4: Joseph and Rena Zitomer
Years Lived @ 2685 Lawrence: 1; 1931
Joseph Eugene Zitomer
Born: May 22, 1902; Zhytomyr, Russia (Ukraine today)
Died: December 4, 1989; Bloomfield, Michigan
Father: Max (b. 1870; Russia (today Ukraine) - d. unknown; Michigan)
Mother: Rosa Malko (b. 1855; Russia (today Ukraine) - d. unknown; Michigan)
Joseph Zitomer was born in 1902 in what is today Ukraine and immigrated to the US around 1905 with his two siblings and parents. His father owned a candy store in Detroit. In 1920, at 19 years old, Joseph worked as auditor in a car factory.
In 1924, Joseph was the president of the Investment Realty Company and lived at 3304 Boston Blvd - just a couple blocks south of 2685 Lawrence (his brother, Erwin, was the sec-treas at Investment Realty as well). In April of 1924, Joseph married Reva Weinstein in Ohio.
Reva Weinstein
Born: July 11, 1895; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died: April 28, 1998; Bloomfield, Michigan
Father: Isaac (b. 1876; Russia (today Belarus) - d. 1940)
Mother: Rose Goldman (b. 1877; Russia (today Belarus) - d. 1960; California)
Reva Weinstein was born in 1895 in Philadelphia to immigrants from what is today Belarus. Reva was the oldest of six children and after a few years of living in Philadelphia, the family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. It was in Toronto where Reva married her first husband, Samuel Krakofsky. They were married in 1913 and had two children - Beatrice (1913-2002) and Evelyn (1919-2001). However, due to cruelty, Reva and Samuel divorced in 1922 while the lived in Detroit, and Reva gained custody of the children.
After Joseph and Reva got married in 1924, they lived on Boston Blvd until the house at 2685 Lawrence became available in 1931.
Joseph and Reva had their first child, Marilyn, in 1929 and along with Reva's daughters from her previous marriage, the home at 2685 Lawrence was lively and crowded! In 1931, their second child, Reva's fourth, was born- hence maybe the reason they need to find a larger house.
The Zitomer family moved a few more times around Detroit before settling in Bloomfield Hills. Joseph became president of an aluminum storm door company with its headquarters in Troy. Joseph passed away in 1989 and Reva passed in 1998.
Family #4: Mark and Mary Solomon
Years Lived @ 2685 Lawrence: 1 (maybe more); 1932
Mark Solomon
Born: September 8, 1896; Detroit, Michigan
Died: May 5, 1981; Detroit, Michigan
Father: Louis (b. 1870; Michigan - d. 1949; Louisiana)
Mother: Marian Levy (b. 1878; England - d. 1935; California)
Mark Solomon was born in Detroit in 1896 to Louis and Marian Solomon. Louis Solomon owned and operated his own fish dealer/market located in the Eastern Market area of Detroit since the late 1800's - a company Mark would eventually inherit and operate for many years.
Mary Yarowsky (Yarrows)
Born: March 31, 1902; Windsor, Canada
Died: March 20, 2005; Southfield, Michigan
Father: Charles (b. 1867; Lithuania - d. 1941; Michigan)
Mother: Jennie Kaplan (b. 1871; Russia - d. 1943; Michigan)
Mary Yarowsky was born in Canada in 1902 to Charles and Jennie - immigrants from Lithuania and Russia. Mary and her five siblings were all born in Canada and immigrated to the US with their parents around 1894-95.
Mark Solomon and Mary Yarowsky were married in June of 1923 in Detroit. They had four children - Helen, Arthur, Robert, and Jack. In 1930, the Solomon family lived at 2981 Calvert Street - just a couple blocks from 2685 Lawrence. Included in that household was Mark and Mary, three children (Jack wasn't born yet), and a maid.
In 1932, the Solomon family moved into 2685 Lawrence - assuming with a maid as well- since they had one in many of their houses. The family lived in the home at least for one year in 1932- but could have been longer.
Unfortunately, this part of the story of 2685 Lawrence ends here due to lack of digital Detroit City Directories and historical records for this home. I know there were many more families that lived in this home after 1932 that continued to make lifetime memories within the same four walls. But a house is more than just four walls and it all started with the remarkable life of Louise Lothrup.