River Rouge Model T Police Car from the 1920s
Intersection of West Jefferson and Schaefer Hwy in the 1960s
DID YOU KNOW?
Now, the growth of the village increased rapidly after the turn of the century. The Talbot Brothers Company established a factory to make cedar blocks and erected a brickyard. The village began to grow industrially when Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse built a plant on the Detroit River. (The famous freighter the SS Edmund Fitzgerald which sank in Lake Superior in 1975 killing 29 crew members was built here in 1959).
Now, during this same period, the village fathers negotiated a land swap with the neighboring village of Ecorse. At the time it was a good deal. They traded a large section of swampland along the Detroit River for several blocks of residential area, extending the River Rouge border from Cora to Florence Street.
Today, that worthless swampland is occupied by Great Lakes Steel Corp., Nicholson Terminal and Dock Company, and the Murray Body Company. It should be noted that the village fathers later redeemed themselves by acquiring Zug Island from Ecorse. This land is now occupied by several large and diversified
corporations, such as the Hanna Furnace Company and Great Lakes Steel. (I worked at Great Lake Steel on Zug Island for 2 years in 1978-80.)
Now, other industries came to River Rouge at this time; one of those was Anchor Barrel Works. At one time, many citizens wanted to change the village name to “Anchorville’ after the company. Also, the first electric plant was built in 1903. The first fire department was an 8-man volunteer unit headed by Chief Marrow. The first policeman was William Osborn. During the first World War, Henry Ford moved his plant to the River Rouge banks in Dearborn causing a second population boom in the village, and leading to a vote incorporating, making it now a city on April 3, 1922.
From a small settlement of 30 families to a city of more than 20,000, River Rouge has grown and business flourished, starting with the sawmills in the early 1800s through the turbulent 1930s, when the State of Michigan declared a banking holiday. The first bank was the River Rouge Savings Bank, established in 1906. The founder, and the 1st President was H. C. Burke, the Bank and several other businesses and corporations have made River Rouge one of the strongest communities in southwestern Michigan. In 1972 the assessed value of River Rouge, including