Viewing Wyandotte’s Past and Future from the Millennium Clock Tower
Standing beside the Millennium Clock Tower at Biddle and Maple is a perfect place to witness the passage of time, and the shaping of Wyandotte as time passes.
Were you here in the 1730s, you would have witnessed arrival of the first people to inhabit this land – Indians who established the Maquaqua village.
Just over 80 years later, war brought frenzied souls several blocks to the north where the first deaths of the War of 1812 are reputed to have occurred.
This same war also brought Major John Biddle, who passed through this area and returned in 1818 to establish his house and farm on 2,200 acres – which he named “The Wyandotte” in honor of the Indian tribe that occupied the site. Incidentally, his house still remains on Biddle Avenue, though was moved several blocks north along the avenue from its original location where the Ford-MacNichol House is today.
A defining moment for Wyandotte occurred in 1854 when Eber Ward and other businessmen from Detroit purchased Biddle’s estate and established the Eureka Iron Works here – on the east side of Biddle Avenue in the area between Oak St. and Eureka Ave.
Indians and industrialists both selected this spot for its high elevation and close proximity to the river – though industrialists had a decidedly different view of how best to use the land.
Wood from the virgin forests that surrounded Wyandotte was harvested and carried in horse-drawn carts to furnaces where it was transformed into charcoal that was then fed into the iron works kiln.
The first commercial application of the Bessemer steel process took place here in 1864. Companies in other cities, especially in the northeast, soon adopted this process, though Wyandotte is distinguished for setting into motion an innovation that allowed for the inexpensive manufacture of steel.
Noted urban scholar Lewis Mumford recounts how the Bessemer process created abundant supplies of inexpensive steel, that was then used in skyscrapers and warships – propelling the United States into global dominance.
The managers of Eureka Iron and Steel Works were actively involved in real-estate and development of the town. Lots were laid out and the city divided by east-west oriented streets named after fruits, and north-south streets following the number system. After timber was removed, plots were sold for construction of homes and businesses.
Population in 1860 was 1,700, rose to 8,000 in 1900, and peaked in 1960 at about 50,000. Today the population is near 30,000.
Many other industries located in Wyandotte following location of the Eureka Iron Works. These included those associated with ship building, chemicals, and manufacturing.
The genesis of the chemical industry in Wyandotte was discovery of salt reserves in 1889. The foundry was in need of fuel after most timber resources had been exhausted. Experimental drilling for natural gas near the north-east corner of Eureka Ave. and Biddle Ave. resulted in the discovery of salt.
Pittsburgh industrialist Captain John B. Ford became aware of the discovery of salt, and was likely aware of the declining fortunes of the Eureka Iron Works, causing him to found the Michigan Alkali Company and the J.B. Ford Company here. These were precursors to the BASF corporation which is still active in Wyandotte today.
The original Eureka Iron Works factory did not fare as well. The factory building was disassembled and sold for scrap. Gradually the entire east side of Biddle St. between Eureka Ave. and Oak St. was converted for commercial use. Today a handsome row of older buildings lines this street.
For at least the past 50 years, Wyandotte and other Midwestern cities have seen industrial activities disappear, and have struggled to redefine themselves to remain competitive in an increasingly information-based global economy.
Wyandotte’s response has been to transform factories into parks, and fostering institutions supportive of arts and culture such as the Wyandotte Historical Society, and through events such as the annual Wyandotte Art Street Fair.
In Wyandotte and elsewhere, an awareness and appreciation of the past may serve as a foundation for future renewal and renaissance. This column will focus on the “presence of the past” in Wyandotte and how this might contribute to reinforcing Wyandotte’s identity as downriver’s downtown – a center for the arts, entertainment, and culture, for people living throughout the distinguished Downriver area.
As published in the Downriver Review, Volume 4, Issue # 29.