Businessmen of the Boston-Edison Historic District
Sidney Barthwell
Sidney Barthwell was born in Georgia and moved to Detroit when he was fourteen. He attended Cass Tech and then Detroit Technological Institute (the forerunner of Wayne State's College of Pharmacy), graduating with a degree in pharmacy. After working as a pharmacist for a few years, the drugstore he was employed at failed in 1933 during the height of the Depression. Barthwell took over the store, reopening it under his own name ("Barthwell Drugs"). With the addition of a soda fountain and an ice cream business, the store prospered. Barthwell opened more stores, and eventually owned nine drugstores and three ice cream parlors. He was the first African-American member of the Detroit Retail Druggist Association and president of the Booker T. Washington Business Association. Barthwell moved to 2035 W. Boston in 1949. An endowed scholarship at Wayne State University's College of Pharmacy bears his name.
Read an interview with Sidney Barthwell and a eulogy in the Congressional Record.
Charles E. Feinberg
Charles Feinberg was born in England in 1900 and moved to America at the age of 23. He obtained managerial positions at Detroit's Regal Shoe Company and Silent Automatic Corporation before moving to Argo Oil, where he was vice president for 23 years and president for seven. He ended his career as vice president of the Speedway Petroleum Corporation.
Feinberg was an avid collector of materials related to James Joyce, Walt Whitman and other modern American and English authors. He donated portions of his collection to Albion College, Southern Illinois University, the University of Texas, and Louisiana Tech, and supplied an important collection of Walt Whitman papers to the Library of Congress. Feinberg resided in two homes in Boston-Edison: 872 W. Boston & 2215 W. Boston.
Read Charles Feinberg's biography and obituary in the NY Times.
Wolf Himelhoch
In 1907, Wolf Himelhoch opened a clothing store, Himelhoch's, on Washington Boulevard. The store was successful, and eventually opened multiple branches in Detroit and its suburbs, and had offices in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. Wolf Himelhoch lived at 929 West Boston.
Ernst Kern
Ernst Kern was born in Germany and emigrated to Detroit when he was eight. Upon arriving in Detroit, in 1883 Ernst's father established The Ernst Kern Dry Goods Company. When his father died in 1901, Ernst and his younger brother Otto took over the store, with Ernst as president, a position he held for nearly 50 years. Under their watch, the store grew to a large department store, and they expanded into adjacent buildings. In 1916, Kern moved into a home at 121 Edison. The Kern brothers erected a new building in 1929 on Campus Martius, which is the current site of the Compuware headquarters. Compuware reinstalled the old "Kern clock" in front of their new building.
Read more about Kern's.
Otto Kern
In 1883, Otto Kern's father emigrated from Germany to Detroit, and established The Ernst Kern Dry Goods Company. When his father died in 1901, Otto and his older brother Ernst took over the store, with Ernst as president and Otto as secretary/treasurer. Under their watch, the store grew to a large department store, and they expanded into adjacent buildings. The Kern brothers erected a new building in 1929 on Campus Martius, which is the current site of the Compuware headquarters. In 1948, Ernst passed away and Otto took over as president of Kern's, buying out his brother's stock. Otto Kern lived at 1244 W. Boston Boulevard.
Read more about Kern's.
Edward C. Kinsel
Edward Kinsel founded the Kinsel Drug Store, the city's first twenty four hour drug store, located at the corner of Griswold and Michigan Avenues. In 1912 he moved to 130 Chicago.
Sebastian S. Kresge
Sebastian S. Kresge was born in Pennsylvania and attended Eastman Business College. After graduation, Kresge worked as a traveling salesman. In 1897, Kresge and a partner started a five-and-dime store in Memphis, Tennessee. Two years later, Kresge branched out on his own and founded the S.S. Kresge Co. The company had two stores, one in Detroit. The company grew quickly, and by 1912 Kresge owned 85 stores and decided to incorporate the company. Two years later, in 1914, he built a spectacular mansion at 70 W. Boston Boulevard. Kresge continued to steer the company that bore his name; in the 1970s it changed its name to Kmart.
In 1924, Kresge was worth $375 million dollars. In that year he established the Kresge foundation, whose mission was simply "to promote the well-being of mankind." By the time of his death, Kresge had given the foundation over $60 million.
Read about S S Kresge from the Kresge Foundation and K-Mart.
Charles W. Munz
Charles Munz was born in Germany and was successful in furniture manufacturing and the early movie theater business; he built the Michigan Palace. In 1913 he moved to 610 Chicago Boulevard.
John Riccardi
John Riccardi was born in Italy in 1882 and came to the US in 1903 with little money to his name. In 1919 he founded the Roman Cleanser Company, the first to introduce household bleach to the United States. This enabled him to become the largest producer of the product. He lived at 640 Chicago Boulevard.
Louis Robinson
Louis Robinson's father, David, emigrated to the United States in 1888. David started a number of businesses, including a department store and Robinson Furniture, which he opened in partnership with his son Louis. Louis lived at 2522 Chicago Boulevard.
Fred W. Sanders
Fred Sanders opened an ice cream shop in downtown Detroit in 1875. He built this one store into a business including over 57 stores in the Metropolitan Detroit area, selling candy, fudge toppings, baked goods, and light lunches. Sanders lived at 1937 W. Boston Boulevard. The company bearing his name still exists.
Read about Fred Sanders in the Detroit News.
Bernard Schwartz
Bernard Schwartz was born in Poland in 1872. At the age of 14, he emigrated to Canada and began work making cigars. Four years later, he moved again, to Detroit. In 1895, Schwartz opened his own cigar manufacturing firm, which was immediately a success, ultimately employing over 200 people. Bernard Schwartz lived at 1448 Longfellow.
Benjamin Siegel
Siegel was born and educated in Germany. In 1876, he came to the United States, beginning his career in Alabama. Later, he moved to Detroit and established the B. Siegel Company in 1895. Under his leadership the company became the largest women's clothing store in the Midwest.
In 1915, Siegel moved to 150 W. Boston.
Jacob Siegel
Siegel was founder and president of American Lady Corset Company, and Benjamin Siegel's cousin. In 1919 he built a home at 51 W. Boston Boulevard.
Edward Wagner
Born in Germany, Edward Wagner came to Detroit in 1865, joining his brother John. In 1869 the two, along with a third brother, Christopher, founded Wagner Bakery, which became one of the largest in the city of Detroit. Edward was president of Wagner Bakery from its founding until his retirement in 1924; he lived at 1496 Boston Boulevard.
John Wagner
John Wagner was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States just prior to the Civil War. In 1869, along with his younger brothers Edward and Christopher, he founded Wagner Bakery, which became one of the largest in the city of Detroit. In 1911 he had a house built at 859 W. Boston, but died before he could take up residence.
James B. Webber
J. B. Webber was Joseph L. Hudson's nephew. When Hudson died in 1912, he left the majority of stock in Hudson's Department Store to Webber and his three brothers. James became one of the merchandise directors at the store, along with his brother Joseph. Under his and his brothers' leadership, Hudson's became a merchandising giant. In 1943, James and his brothers established the Hudson-Webber Foundation for charitable works. J. B. Webber resided at 1239 Chicago, a home that was destroyed when the Lodge Freeway was built.
Joseph L. Webber
J. L. Webber was Joseph L. Hudson's nephew. When Hudson died in 1912, he left the majority of stock in Hudson's Department Store to Webber and his three brothers. Joseph became one of the merchandise directors at the store, along with his brother James. Under his and his brothers' leadership, Hudson's became a merchandising giant. In 1943, Joseph and his brothers established the Hudson-Webber Foundation for charitable works. J. L. Webber resided at 1477 Edison.
Leonard A. Young
Leonard Augustus Young was born in Chicago in 1877. He was educted in the same city, and enlisted in the Army during the Spanish-American War. After his discharge, he started in business selling livestock, but shortly became involved in the spring and rubber business. In 1908, he moved to Jackson, Michigan to manage a spring-making plant, and a short while later obtained interest in what was at the time called the Detroit Wire Spring Company. Young attached himself to the then-infant automotive industry, and by 1912 had built Detroit Wire Spring into the largest in the industry. He later renamed it after himself: L. A. Young Spring & Wire. Young branched into other businesses, including the L. A. Young Golf Company, which made golf equipment and kept golfer Walter Hagen on the payroll; and Tiffany Productions, a Hollywood movie studio.
In 1907, Young married Ola Butcher. After Young's death, the Young Spring & Wire Company changed hands multiple times; a single plant in Archbold, OH still operates as a division of Leggett & Platt.
Leonard A. Young lived at 918 W. Boston Boulevard, the home built by Nels Michelson (and where Berry Gordy, Jr. lived later); Young built the Athletic outbuilding that still stands on the grounds.