This came from a reader named Ken. He received this photograph from his grandmother in 1995, and was wondering if anyone knew anything about the barn pictured here?
Yawkey Farms was located (I believe) out towards the Brighton Beach/Ojibway area, and was so named due to the connection to the Yawkey family who were affiliated with both the Detroit Tigers and later owned Boston Red Sox.
Any memories, stories or general information about Yawkey Farms?
Have a safe and happy Halloween weekend.
Wow….this has brought back so many memories. We lived on Chappus right next to the tracks. My grandfather lived in the apartment up in the garage. He built every brick by hand on our house. Toutants lived right behind us they were my aunt and uncle. It was great to grow up out there…..memories I will never forget. I remember walking down the road to Brighton Beach to swim….going exploring with the neighbour kids in the bush, and playing baseball right across the street from us in the empty field. There was always something to do our there. Do you remember having nuns at school. It was a great life….remembering and missing the good old days..Does anyone have any other pictures of the area?
Yawkey Bush or Yawkey Farms was owned by William Clyman Yawkey, a Detroit lumber baron, and when he died, he left his holdings and estate to his son, William H. Yawkey.
I grew up on Broadway between 18 Hwy and Matchette Road. The transport company on the corner of Broadway and Hwy 18 was McKinley ( may have wrong spelling. On our way to School on Chappus we would go in to the office of McKinley’s and they gave us packages of Wrigley’s gum and pop out of their pop machine. My sister and 2 brothers and I played in Yawkey Bush all the time. The Seven Hills, Dead Man’s Hole and other locations in the bush. The mailing address on that section was Yawkey Post Office I think the lady’s name was Mrs. Barr right after the deadly curve of 18 Hwy and Chappus. Many people were killed there trying to drive the curve too fast. There were curved guardrails around that curve but people still died. Just across from Mrs Barr business ( I think some groceries too) was the Texaco Gas Station run by Mrs. Lacoure she was something else. We would go to buy penny candy she would say we still had money so we would pick something else and then she would say we didn’t have enough for tax. Her son Paul had an auto wreckers on Broadway next to the transport company. Next to that was Paul’s in laws Gwilt I think his name was Fred. Next down was was Fred and Mrs Gwilt’s son we called him Bucky but I don’t think that was his birth name. I do not remember Bucky he died of cancer when he was young. His wife was Bernadett and their kids were Gary, Greg, Linda, Debbie.
The next family down was Frank and Cecile Pare they had John, Veronica, Mary Anne and another son I don’t remember between John and the girls. The children were adopted. Mr & Mrs Pare were told by Drs they could not have children. After all those adoptions Frank and Cecile gave birth to twin boys. While I was still in grade school the Pare Family moved and George Charette his wife moved in they had an older daughter Susan, a son, daughter Carol. Michelle, Roxanne. We lived in the next house down, then there were vacant fields and a 3 story brick house with large concrete steps. Due to the Gordie Howe Bridge everything is gone except our family home my dad built in the mid 50’s, then a white brick home built on the vacant land in the late 1970’s. That guy had to dig so many holes to get approved to build a basement in his house. They holes were flooded when the inspector would come. There was a reason the other houses didn’t have basements….the water table was too high due to the closeness to the Detroit River.
Between Broadway and Chappus Street on Hwy 18 there were a number of businesses. Mr Stiers had a Ice cream parlor next to him was a farm implement owned by Orlo Farnam the other house was torn down by a tornado and killed the family. Just 1 son survived because he was in school. You could see the foundation and possibly parts of a stone chimney if you look between the tracks and Hwy 18. The corner on that side and Chappus was the Lafromboise family. On the other side of Hwy.18 next to McKinley Transport was owned by Joe Monteal (spelled wrong), then an apartment building, apple orchard, the next place had a small white house and go down the driveway was another house owned by Dorothy Lauzon, next to that was an old farmer that still used horses to plow his fields and cutting hay. We referred to them as Old Old Man Pare and Old man Pare. Father and son, and the older Pare’s daughter Rose, next was the Couvillion Family. I do not remember the the dad but his wife I believe was the daughter of the older Mr Pare. this family had problems with down syndrome in there children. The next few houses down I do not know the people but at the end of the houses the Renaud family lived, they had a son we all called Happy. There was a large white building that may of been the original grade school before they built the one I attended. I remember it being used as our church for several years and I believe Mr Renaud was the caretaker.
Thanks for the interesting read.
I grew up at Matchette and Chappus in the 1970’s.
Some of that stuff sounds familiar.
I think there was some sort of home-made race track across from us, I remember cars circling around it.
There was some kind of trucking company beside us (The Davie’s?)
There were a bunch of apple trees in the back of our house and a neighbor back there my Dad would call “Old Lady Hollup”.
I would catch the school bus in front of The Flying Dutchman, a few doors down.
I went to that school on Chappus for one day in kindergarten. (D.F.Brian?)
They closed it up and they ended up sending us to another school on Malden.
I think I remember walking to that Texaco gas station and buying Mo-Jo’s there.
Good memories.