1854 Wyandotte Village | Ford City | Glenwood & Mt. Carmel | South Wyandotte
42. Babcock-Smith House, Biddle 2122, Queen Anne, Built 1893, Moved Present Location 1990
Moved five blocks to the present location, this Queen Anne home was built in 1893 for a local banker Mr. Babcock. Upon his death in 1912 the house was sold to Robert William Smith who had a family of 6.
Smith worked for Michigan Alkali along with George Palmer and local legend goes that they designed the first self unloading ship to sail on the Great Lakes, called the “Wyandotte.” While they led the construction, the first self unloader was perfected by Babcock and Penton, who were friends and peers of Frank Kirby, the principal designer for the Wyandotte Iron Shipbuilding Company.
One daughter, Miss Elizabeth Smith lived in the house until 1989. On June 15, 1990 the house was moved to its present location.
The owners Bob and Lenette Ruzzin have worked to lovingly restore the home, according to the standards set by the National Park Service, so that it is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places when done.
Architectural features include projecting side gable with modillion course and dentils, clapboard siding, front portico with Doric columns. Round arched windows on first and 2nd floor. Gabled dormer with three round arched windows and shingles overhead.
This building was featured on the first Wyandotte Historic House Tour in 1995.
Wyandotte Historical Society plaque, 1893, not in register book.