A Brief Overview of The Lincoln Park Story

The year of 1669 probably saw the first white man in this area, Adrien Joliett, arriving by canoe from Quebec.

What is now Lincoln Park was once the Potawatomi Nation, blessed with streams and rivers, lakes of crystal pure water, virgin forests, abundant wildlife.

In 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, accompanied by 50 soldiers, 50 woodsmen and 100 Native Americans, traveled from the East across Canada in canoes to Lake St. Clair, then South to Detroit, where they established Fort Ponchartrain.

Seven Years later, Cadillac made land grants called "ribbon farms" to French settlers.

In 1776 the Potawatomis deeded 4000 acres of land, which included parts of Wyandotte and Ecorse and all of Allen Park and Lincoln Park to one man, Pierre St. Cosme "for love and affection."

After Pierre died, his family sold parcels of the land to French farmers living in Detroit and Windsor, still long narrow farms that fronted on the Detroit River and Rouge River and ran several miles back into the forest. Those families are familiar today: LeBlanc, Campeau, Bondie, Salliotte, Beaubien, Cicotte, Drouillard and others.

Prior to the Civil War, German immigrants came. From these people have survived names such as Keppen, Quandt, Dasher, Gerisch and Goodell.

Early in 1900's a business district developed at the corner of Fort St. and St. Cosme Line, later State Street, now Southfield Road, where Herman Quandt and Noah LeBlanc operated general stores.

In 1921 Lincoln Park became a village; in 1925 it became a city.

Thanks to Henry Ford's "$5.00-a-day" wage, many workers bought property in Lincoln Park, and a second expansion came after World War Two.

Lincoln Park has become a mature, stable community where citizens enjoy a moderate tax base, excellent school systems, nice parks and recreational facilities, a community renewal program, a well-regulated city government, and its own outstanding museum of local history.

The articles below — most of them written by Frank Rathbun, unless noted otherwise — are a series of genealogical and historical sketches which will acquaint readers of The Mellus Newspapers* with the lives of early settlers in the Downriver area, and the part these sturdy pioneers and their descendants have played in making this section the group of communities it is today.

The original "History of Lincoln Park" was compiled by Mr. Frank Rathbun, who in 1954 was a reporter for the Mellus Newspapers and who was later an administrative aide for Congressman William Ford of Michigan. The original writing of the history has been amended and revised by several people over the years and no doubt will be further changed as years pass. 

In December of 2013 we received a donation of books and other materials from the family of Frank Rathbun who passed away a few years ago.

Frank was one of the first organizers of the historical society in 1954. For many years he wrote for the Mellus Newspapers; some of his noted columns featured the histories of early Downriver families. He later moved with his family to Virginia when he worked for Congressman William Ford in D.C.

Among the significant books added to our library are "From Bull Run to Appomattox, Michigans's Role in the Civil War"; "Settling the Great Lakes Frontier, Immigration to Michigan 1837 to 1924" and "Focus on Michigan Women, 1702-1977."

We are grateful to the Rathbun family for their very kind donations.

*The following newspapers covered the Downriver cities with the Mellus Newspaper Chain: The Lincoln Parker, The Allen Parker, The Melvindale Messenger, The Ecorse Enterprise, The Southwest Detroiter, Taylor Tribune, Dearborn Press and Guide and Southgate Sentinel.