Stalehin's Nursery in Rosedale Park

By John Berry

Stahelin Nursery - Credit Detroit Historical Society

Albert "A.J." Stahelin was born in March 9, 1878 in Detroit and lived until 1945, passing in Metro Detroit. He was an early fixture in Rosedale Park and Detroit area and a expert Florist.  He started Stahelin's Nursery in 1903 in Rosedale Park, following graduation from Michigan State University. As mentioned above, Mr. Stahelin was a very noted florist in the local Detroit area. His nursery lasted for over 50 years and past his death.  At some point, I can only surmise it was sold and torn down to build Grandland that occupied at least a part of this space.

Mr. Stahelin's original nursery was located at 18501 Grand River Avenue essentially where Grandland sits today, and in particular the Gamestop location.  If the Nursery was still located there, you could look out and see the CVS location across Grand River.

Copy of A.J. Stahelin Greenhouse Patent in 1911

Mr. Stahelin patented a greenhouse in 1911, which I believe was eventually built. The Greenhouse, according to another photograph from the Detroit Historical Society, still was present in about 1941 (also in another 2nd photograph). In 1920, the U.S. Census listed him as married to an Irene, 2 daughters, Betty and Albert and two servants and listed his profession as a florist. Several news articles list him as a prominent member of the Rosedale Park area.

As noted earlier, his nursery outlasted him.  He must have made a lasting impression on Rosedale Park and the entire Detroit area.  I am sure many of the readers must remember the business.  The last reference that I can find for the nursery is in the mid-1950s, which corresponds with the development, in the late 1950s/1960s of Grandland.  Any comments about the Nursery are welcome.

The Early History of Rosedale Park

By John Berry

Rosedale Park is a historic area in Detroit, Michigan. This article provides a bit of history on the birth of this historic Detroit area. When referring to Rosedale park, I generally consider it to include the areas of Grandmont, Rosedale Park and North Rosedale Park, although many consider parts of Old Redford part of this combined area (myself included). The Grandmont, Rosedale, North Rosedale area basically starts at Greenfield in Grandmont and reaches to Evergreen in North Rosedale Park and is also bounded by West McNichols (or Puritan in Grandmont) and Acacia.

Historical Sign Usually at the Beginning of Each Street

The land where Rosedale Park was built was first held by Otis C. Freeman and George Bellamy in the form of 2 separate multi-acre tracts. Mr. Freeman was deeded 80 acres of land in Northwest Detroit by President Andrew Jackson in October of 1835. These were likely tracts of vacant land and not part of Detroit at this time.  It appears that these were empty country fields given that there was not much between Detroit proper at the time and the City of Farmington at the time. Keep in mind that one of the few spots between Detroit and Farmington at the time was the Botsford Inn, founded in 1836.  Mr. Freeman's grant from President Jackson provided as follows below:

1835 Grant of 80 acres of Rosedale Park

In November of 1835, George Bellamy was also deeded 40 acres of land by President Jackson in the same area.  These properties would eventually be subdivided giving rise to the development that would occur in later years.

1835 Grant of 40 acres to George Bellamy

Prior to residential development, Rosedale Park was fairly rural. Eventually, in 1916, the Rosedale Land Development Company purchased these lands and developed a majority part of what would eventually become the Rosedale Park Historic District.  In 1916, builders, such as those listed below in this article, were marketing Rosedale Park as the place to be.  The comparison below describes the differences between the growth of Boston and Detroit, referred to as "Detroit the Dynamo."

1916 Article on Development of Rosedale Park

The slogan used in the development and selling of homes was "Out of the Smoke Zone and Into the Ozone." In 1917, the first residents of Rosedale Park, Mr. and Mrs. Barkley moved into the area. During World War I, there were about 15 families living in Rosedale Park. The houses continued to sell in Rosedale Park and the Firm of Clemons, Knight, Menard and Paul began to market the area to home buyers and builders.

1919 Rosedale Park Ad

According to a book by Bill Hudson and Jack Lillie, entitled A Quarter Century in North Rosedale Park 1 (North Rosedale Park Civic Association 1948), the first families of Rosedale Park were the "Herbert, Frank Day Smiths, Jake Judsons, Weavers, Art Sieberts, Cyril browner, Solars, Patricks, Nylands, Heibys and La Barres." In 1921, Rosedale Park was referenced as the Grosse Pointe of Grand River in advertisements.

The development of Rosedale Park continued on after this point and picked up.  During the World War I era, the area had rural mail delivery, well water and there were no streetlights. There was a nursery, called Stahelin's Nursery at 18501 Grand River Ave., where one day Grandland Shopping Center would eventually be built. It is hard to imagine that Grandland was essentially an empty field at that point.

Rosedale Park Today - 2017

Rosedale Park contains upscale brick houses which were mostly developed from the 1920s through the 1940s. As someone who grew up looking at these amazing houses, I always imagined the first owners to be extremely wealthy. The City of Detroit obviously felt the same way and annexed Rosedale Park in 1926, bringing water and sewer to the neighborhood and making the area more attractive to purchasers. Many of the original Rosedale Park homeowners were professionals, such as doctors, engineer, dentists, and accountants, or had white-collar jobs in the growing automobile industry.

The homes built encompassed a number of styles, such as English Tudor Revival, Arts and Crafts, Bungalow, New England Colonial, Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial, American Foursquare, French Renaissance, Ranch, Cape Cod and others. There was a focus, somewhat, on English styles.