4155 Saint Aubin Street
John Zynda Saloon, Crescent Theater, Chicago Clamp Company, Atlas Machine Works, McCoy Furniture Company, Atlas Cone Company, UAW Local 835 Hall, True Vine Temple of Christ
I believe that this structure includes 4155, 4157, and 4159 Saint Aubin Street.
I believe a structure was built on this property in the mid-to-late 1880s. Whether that structure is the exact one that stands there today, I can’t be certain; however, I’m pretty sure that it is—or, at least, most of it is.
In December 1891, John Zynda was in the Liquor Tax Collections section of the newspaper selling booze from this address. Zynda’s name was frequent on the list, with most of his establishments on the east side of Detroit. His operation started small at the corner of Brish and Macomb Streets and eventually opened a brewery with his brother Theophilus, capable of outputting 12,000 barrels of beer annually, according to the Detroit Free Press in 1903. Later named the Detroit Water Board president, Zynda had two sons and two daughters. After the death of his wife, he went to German Poland in 1911 to visit his father, finding another wife in the process. By then, this structure was no longer under his jurisdiction.
For a short period, around 1912, this structure was used as the Crescent Theater. In October of that year, the business was hiring a pianist, preferably a Polish girl. That operation was short-lived, as the structure was for sale. The newspaper advertisement read. “Take a look at the northwest corner of St. Aubin and Superior, solid brick building, used for motion picture show and cigar factory, and make us an offer.” Stormfeltz-Loveley was the listing company.
In 1916, Joseph Block filed permits for a $200 addition to the structure at the northwest corner of St. Aubin and Superior. By April 1918, the structure was in use by the Atlas Machine Company, though it would be in the paper starting in May 1918 for a different reason.
An arson ring was foiled in Detroit in 1918 that would shake the city and throw dirt on several men, including the former owners of the structure pictured here. Morris Colman, the master mechanic, also known as “Chief Torch,” was accused of trying to burn the joint down, alongside other properties across the country, and was singing like a canary after being arrested. He said that Joseph Block, Max Katz, and Israel Katz, proprietors of the Chicago Clamp Company, which occupied the structure pictured here, paid him to burn it down for the insurance money.
On July 25, 1917, Colman set his plan into motion to destroy the Chicago Clamp Company. A lit candle was placed next to a piece of celluloid, which ran into a pile of loose papers that surrounded a 30-gallon barrel of gasoline in the basement. Holes were bored into the floor above it with another tub of gasoline there so the flames would reach the ceiling above.
According to him, Colman had used this plan on multiple structures across the country and was saddened when he was arrested that he would have to disappoint customers in New York who were waiting on him to destroy buildings there for the insurance money.
Colman’s plot was foiled because, by chance, the Detroit Fire Department was called to a fire nearby right as he was setting off his plot to destroy the structure pictured here. As soon as the fire started, firefighters were able to extinguish it, and detectives found the arson outfit. The structure was insured for $36,000, or over $850,000 in 2024.
The arson ring involved some 60 people, though Morris Colman was the name I found most often in the papers.
Colman was paid $500 for the job, or over $12,000 in 2024. $100 of that went to E. S. Rosenberg, a fire insurance agent, who had already been arrested and was serving a two-year sentence for having Colman burn the furniture in his flat.
On Tuesday, April 15, 1919, Max and Israel Katz, father and son proprietors of the Chicago Clamp Company, previously located at the structure pictured here, were acquitted by a jury in the case that accused them of having Colman burn the structure down. Colman said that the son paid him on a particular day, but the accused said he was in Lake Orion on that date, and witnesses also said that neither of the two men was near the fire when it occurred. Additionally, they had good reputations in the community. Joseph Block, the third proprietor, was found guilty and placed on probation for two years.
In 1921, Morris Colman, now spelled Coleman in the paper, was sentenced to 5 to 10 years in Marquette after being found guilty of burning goods with intent to defraud an insurance company in Judge Charles T. Wilkins’ courtroom. During the sentencing, the judge said that he considered Coleman” one of the most dangerous men who ever came into my courtroom.”
At some point after all of this unfolded, but before the trial started, Jacob Wexler and Abraham Stein of the Atlas Machine Company purchased the Chicago Clamp Company’s machinery and building for $15,000. They utilized the structure before, during, and after the trial. However, a new Atlas Machine Works was incorporated in 1919 to produce parts for the Detroit Motor Parts Company. E. F. Wilkinson was president, and R. B. Merrill of the Detroit Motor Parts Company was secretary and treasurer. By 1920, The latter had left the Detroit Motor Parts Company and worked full-time at Atlas Machine Works.
By 1923, Atlas Machine Works had gone belly up. On Wednesday, April 4, Charles D. Todd, the auctioneer, held a public auction to sell the bankrupt company’s machinery and structure, pictured here.
On September 25, 1928, another company here went bankrupt, and its contents were being auctioned off. The McCoy Furniture Company had gone under, and Ralph C. Paul was auctioning all its goods off to the highest bidder.
By 1934, the structure was home to the Atlas Cone Company, manufacturers of all grades of ice cream cones. Previously located at 3750 25th Street, where the Bloomfield Playlot is today, the company factory had a huge gas explosion in 1931 that destroyed the operation and shattered windows in houses nearby. The loss was estimated at $30,000, and this may have prompted the company’s move to the east side.
In January 1939, there was a fire of unknown origin in the basement of this structure, which caused slight damage to the building. Rudolph E. Rahn, 40, of Engine Company 30, was overcome with smoke and sent to the hospital to recover.
According to the 1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, the structure was in use as a candy and cone factory.
In October 1958, the structure was listed as the UAW Local 835 Hall, but that’s the only mention of that use I’ve found. In two Library of Congress images by Camilo J. Vergara, the structure is listed as a former union hall, too.
By 1966, the structure had become the home of True Vine Temple of Christ. The church dates back to at least 1941 when it was incorporated at 2916 Rivard Street, which is the middle of a produce warehouse in Eastern Market today.
True Vine Temple of Christ is still operational, though the congregation appears to have dwindled over the years. I couldn’t find much about the church in my research; however, it was often mentioned in the paper when discussing storefront churches over the years. That and the fact that Reverend E. Ward was the pastor in 1945; either way, I wish I had found more information.
This structure is incredibly handsome, appears well-maintained, and is part of a district of historic buildings near St. Albertus Church. I’ve mentioned it before, but this area is one significant development away from being trendy and walkable. Density already exists in the neighborhood thanks to St. Aubin Square Apartments, and numerous historic properties awaiting redevelopment, including St. Albertus School, could add to that. The structure pictured here is a five-minute bike ride from Eastern Market and Midtown, which is shocking until you make the ride.
Hopefully, this one can anchor the neighborhood for another 140 years!
