1494 Holden Street
Haberdashery, Leona D. Alexander’s Dry Goods Store, Shoe Store, Robert Orlow Market, Wray Cleaners, C. F. Smith Company, I. R. Pope, Donald E. Davis’ Pharmacy, Gannan Drug, Gannan’s House of Sundries, Jones Coney Island
This address includes 1494-1512 Holden Street.
In 1910, there was nothing on the north side of Holden on the block pictured here. However, by 1915, this structure had been constructed for Charles Brown. It was designed by Pollmar & Ropes and featured “tapestry face brick with cust stone trimmings,” two stories, five storefronts, and apartments on the upper floor. The building was called the Brown Block.
In July 1915, an advert in the paper read, “Take Notice, Druggist, Hardware and Butchers.” The ad concluded that the property was “worth investigating.”
As I’ve done in the past, I’ll go over the individual addresses one by one so as not to confuse the stories of the people and businesses that called this place home.
1498 Holden Street
1498 Holden, originally 462 Holden, may have originally been the address for some of the apartments, too. In October 1918, the Delta Kappa Sorority hosted its first meeting of the season at the home of Miss Ursula Weissenber, who lived at the address.
By December 1927, the storefront was home to a haberdashery operated by Carl, Leonard, and Catherine Frawley. It was in the paper that month because two men entered the store, forced everyone inside to lie on the floor, and stole $587 from the register. In 2024, that’s nearly $11K.
In September 1929, Leonard Crowley, the proprietor of the store, was held up by two thugs, who escaped with $423 from the register and a safe in the store. Likely, the same people owned the store then, and one of the last two newspaper articles was a misprint. The proprietors were tied up in a back room as the shop was robbed.
In 1931, a dry goods store at the address was for sale. The business was operational and sold men’s wear.
In 1958, Mrs. Leona Alexander, 62, had a dress shop at this location. That year, a man in his 30s entered the widow’s shop, said he had $25 to spend, and wanted the owner to alert him when he was out of money. Mrs. Alexander informed him when he reached $23, and upon receiving that information, the customer turned into a bandit and came at her with a knife, telling her that she was now a part of a stick-up. She started to scream, so he bashed her in the face, breaking her nose. He tried to drag her into the back room, stabbing her in the neck in the process. She fell to the floor, and the man took $130 and left. Mrs. Alexander was taken to Providence Hospital and listed in temporary serious condition.
On Tuesday, September 24, 1963, an auction was hosted at Leona D. Alexander’s Dry Goods Store at the address. There isn’t much information on the listing; however, the business had likely closed or gone under.
1500 Holden Street
In 1912, Mrs. J. M. Ali lived at 1500 Holden, which was 464 Holden at the time. On a trip to get her mother’s body from Grand Rapids, she died. She was 70.
In February 1936, M. Leland Freeman died. According to his obituary, “He was born in Michigan 47 years ago and had lived in Detroit for 30 years. He had operated a shoe store at 1500 Holden Ave. for 20 years.”
In October 1941, Mrs. Vincent Moughan, part owner of a grocery store and market, was quoted in the Detroit Free Press. She said that all her “customers are complaining about taxes and the new luxury tax has added another load for them to carry. If the government bears down any more, how is the working person to have enough left to buy meats and groceries, which are high enough already? I don’t think the luxury tax is going to produce the revenue that the law-makers expect because a woman, for instance, will forgo a fur coat and cosmetics to get enough to eat. In my neighborhood, where men and women work hard for their money, they say they will skip style and beauty for a full stomach any time.” I’m unsure if her market was located here or if she lived above the storefronts; however, she was affiliated with the property.
1504 Holden Street
In June 1943, 1502 Holden, originally 464 Holden Street, was a market run by Robert Orlow. That month, he was fined for “short weight charges” in traffic court.
By 1954, it had become a laundry business called Wray Cleaners. In May, it was held up, and the bandit took off with $35 from Verna Nichols, the 45-year-old clerk.
In July 1958, James P. Nichols paid for a piece to be published in the paper that read, “I WILL not be responsible for debts contracted by anyone other than myself after this date, July 15, 1958. James P. Nichols, 1504 Holden.” Likely, he was having marital or business issues.
1508 Holden Street, originally 468 Holden, was home to the C. F. Smith Company in 1917. Louis Weiner, a junk dealer, was called to the store and ended up becoming the butt of a joke. When he entered the store, a bucket of cold water fell on his head from the top of the door. He claimed that it left him out for a few weeks, and he couldn’t make the average $50 a week that he’d typically make in the junk business. He took the company to Justice Marschner’s courtroom, where he lost because “no proof was presented that the persons who perpetrated the joke worked in the store.”
By 1942, the Heberlein family lived in the structure pictured here, listed at the address 1508 Holden. In 1952, Frank Heberlein was working as a pharmacist at the Rennie Drug Co. at 4103 Third Street. A young man handed him a note that read, “This is a stickup. Take all the money out of the drawer, give it to me, and you won’t be hurt.” Despite the man holding his hand in his pocket as if he had a gun, Heberlein pulled his own from under the counter. The man threw his hat at the pharmacist and ran out the door.
1510 Holden Street
By December 1931, Donald Davis was managing a drug store at 1510 Holden. That month, he was working when it was robbed of $80.
In 1934 and 1936, Ruth Davis was listed in the paper at this address when she gave birth to a son and then a daughter.
In December 1945, there were sleeping rooms for rent at this address that included kitchen privaledges. In April 1947, an ice box was for sale at the address.
1512 Holden Street
In January 1923, two armed thugs robbed the drug store of I. R. Pope at 1512 Holden Street. The men entered the store and left with $97 from the cash drawer and $10 from Pope’s pocket. During the robbery, one of the thugs saw a woman’s purse. He asked whose it was, and Pope replied that it belonged to his wife. The thug retorted, “Well, we won’t take it then,” and the duo left the store. The pharmacy was still run by Pop in 1925.
By 1935, the structure was in use as Donald E. Davis’ Pharmacy, who was a pharmacist at one of the other addresses earlier in the 1930s. This was likely the same pharmacy, but the addresses got mixed up.
By 1962, the address was home to Gannan Drug, a family-owned store. Julia Rafful Gannan was born in Toledo and moved to Detroit in 1935 when she married Lawrence Gannan. Her husband died in 1959, and she changed the store’s name to Gannan’s House of Sundries after that. She ran the operation until 1970 when she went to work for the Cunningham Corporation. Gannan retired in 1985; however, Cunningham’s went under in 1982, so I’m not certain where she finished her working days. It may have been Apex, whom the Cunningham name was sold to. Gannan died in 1992 at 72.
At some point after Gannan’s left the space in 1970, this location was home to Jones Coney Island, run by Ardie Jones. In August 1973, Jones was shot dead by one of three unidentified men who robbed the establishment.
After that, I haven’t found anything about any of the storefronts pictured here. I think the apartments were lived in into the 2000s, though I’m unsure if the storefronts had any businesses inside. Even today, the structure is in very good condition.
The area around this structure is dramatically changing, though the neighborhood has been high-traffic for a few years. Lincoln Street Art Park, a sculpture and art park, opened around 2010. Marble Bar, a live music venue across the street, opened in 2015. Dreamtroit, a mixed-use complex with some affordable units, opened down the street in 2022. In 2023, plans were unveiled to expand Henry Ford Hospital, a multi-billion dollar project that backs up to the structure pictured here.
Considering its condition, there’s no reason the Brown Block shouldn’t. be redeveloped. The building is currently owned by SHA Realty Corporation, which has a registered address inside a Henry Ford building. In 2014, the structure was rezoned from B4 to PD, or Planned Development Zoning, at the request of planners from Henry Ford Health System. PD zoning is more flexible than B4 (general business district) and, according to the City of Detroit’s zoning district classifications, permits “flexibility in overall development while ensuring adequate safeguards and standards.”
Hopefully, we’ll see movement here soon.
