CAPTAIN JOHN BAPTISTE (J.B.) FORD
In the early 1890’s, a man named Captain J.B. Ford traveled to Wyandotte to investigate the reports of salt deposits found There. Captain Ford was interested in the salt to produce soda-ash, a chemical necessary in the manufacture of plate glass.
Having found salt in sufficient quality and quantity, Ford created the Michigan Alkali Company to process the chemicals he needed. In addition, he started the J.B. Ford Company to further process the soda-ash into various soaps and cleansers sold commercially. These and other chemical plants have formed a lasting industry in Wyandotte that continues to this day.
(Taken from Wyandotte.Net, the city of Wyandotte's official website)
Having found salt in sufficient quality and quantity, Ford created the Michigan Alkali Company to process the chemicals he needed. In addition, he started the J.B. Ford Company to further process the soda-ash into various soaps and cleansers sold commercially. These and other chemical plants have formed a lasting industry in Wyandotte that continues to this day.
(Taken from Wyandotte.Net, the city of Wyandotte's official website)
CAPTAIN EBER WARD
Known as the "Steamship king of the Great Lakes" and "(the) first of the iron kings," Detroit's first-ever millionaire and one of the Midwest's richest men, Captain Ward was born in 1811 in Applegaths Mills, Waterloo County, Ontario.
He began his career in the mid-1820s as a cabin boy stationed near Marine City. Climbing up the ranks of the shipbuilding industry and under the watchful eye of his grandfather, Samuel, he eventually became the master of the vessel General Harrison by 1835. He later enriched his resume to include railroading (being the first to build railroad tracks utilizing Bessemer Steel), mining, logging and steel manufacturing. It was the latter of these, steel making, that made him a Downriver pioneer and legend.
In 1853, Captain Ward organized the Eureka Iron and Steel Works as part of an investment group, and purchased the Wyandotte estate land formerly owned by Major John Biddle, detailed above. His complex eventually encompassed 2,200 acres along land near where current-day Bishop Park stands. His steel mill is credited with being the first to produce Bessemer steel for commercial purposes in the United States. He would later go to fill a partnership with William Kelly, who held the patent for Bessemer steel. The Eureka mill suffered a few major explosions, but when retired in 1892, it was due to a lack of raw materials in the area.
Ward passed away in 1875. Though a millionaire, his exact worth was not known at the time of his death. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit.
He began his career in the mid-1820s as a cabin boy stationed near Marine City. Climbing up the ranks of the shipbuilding industry and under the watchful eye of his grandfather, Samuel, he eventually became the master of the vessel General Harrison by 1835. He later enriched his resume to include railroading (being the first to build railroad tracks utilizing Bessemer Steel), mining, logging and steel manufacturing. It was the latter of these, steel making, that made him a Downriver pioneer and legend.
In 1853, Captain Ward organized the Eureka Iron and Steel Works as part of an investment group, and purchased the Wyandotte estate land formerly owned by Major John Biddle, detailed above. His complex eventually encompassed 2,200 acres along land near where current-day Bishop Park stands. His steel mill is credited with being the first to produce Bessemer steel for commercial purposes in the United States. He would later go to fill a partnership with William Kelly, who held the patent for Bessemer steel. The Eureka mill suffered a few major explosions, but when retired in 1892, it was due to a lack of raw materials in the area.
Ward passed away in 1875. Though a millionaire, his exact worth was not known at the time of his death. He is buried at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit.
JOHN S. VANALSTYNE
John S. Van Alstyne, General Manager for Eber Ward of both the Eureka Iron & Steel Works and the associated Wyandotte Rolling Mills, laid out the master plan for the city. This plan was frequently called the "Philadelphia Plan", with streets laid out on a north/south and east/west grid. Streets running in the east/west direction were named after native plants and trees; the streets running north/south were simply numbered, increasing in value from the river westward. Van Alstyne was elected as the city's first mayor in 1867. (A street along Wyandotte's Detroit River is named after him - ironically on the site of the former iron works he managed, after it failed and was razed around 1904.) He would also go on to found the Wyandotte Savings Bank in 1871, which was housed in the Main Office building of the Eureka Iron Works (which still stands at the southwest corner of Biddle and Elm; though greatly remodeled it remains the oldest building in the city today) for decades until it relocated into a new building at the northwest corner of Biddle and Eureka Road in 1981, where it remained until it was acquired in January 1989 by NBD Bancorp. Today, Chase Bank, the successor to NBD, continues to operate in the same building, sharing it with the Wyandotte City Hall, which relocated into that building from a former department store a block north in late 2012.
Eureka Iron Works prospered through the late 19th century but suffered a shortage of raw materials. It closed in 1892, but not before Wyandotte became a major hub in the chemical production industry, possible because of the many salt mines deep below the city
Eureka Iron Works prospered through the late 19th century but suffered a shortage of raw materials. It closed in 1892, but not before Wyandotte became a major hub in the chemical production industry, possible because of the many salt mines deep below the city
THE STRONG FAMILY (Taylor Township area)
The Log Cabin is Taylor’s oldest existing home. Built around 1850 and used as a hunting cabin, the log cabin belonged to several pioneer families of Taylor. German immigrants Andrew and Elizabeth Strong (formerly Storch) moved into the home in 1858 and raised seven of their ten children there. During World War II, Bud Strother converted the log cabin into a two-story home and resided there until the early 1940’s. Ann Strong, Frank Dittmar and Mary Low Dittmar, the Dammarow family and Art Strochine were also residents.
Originally situated on a 40-acre farm on Pennsylvania Road between Beech Daly and Telegraph, it was located close to old Indian burial grounds. Fred Miller donated the cabin in 1985 and it was moved to Heritage Park in 1986. Various civic organizations and school class groups use the Log Cabin as a meeting place year round.
Originally situated on a 40-acre farm on Pennsylvania Road between Beech Daly and Telegraph, it was located close to old Indian burial grounds. Fred Miller donated the cabin in 1985 and it was moved to Heritage Park in 1986. Various civic organizations and school class groups use the Log Cabin as a meeting place year round.
THE JOSEPH CICOTTE FAMILY (Ecorse/Grandport area)
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City pioneer Joseph Cicotte is pictured above left, with hands on jacket lapels. Mr. Cicotte, buried at the Third Street cemetery, was the first groom to be married at St. Francis Xavier church in Ecorse. Immigrating into the country with little worth, he amassed $100,000 in worth by 1893. (Thomas Jordan collection)
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