The Back Story: In October of 2011 I began house hunting in
Detroit and the surrounding neighborhoods such as Palmer Park, Green Acers, and
Indian Village. My Realtor took me on a lovely adventure within
the city where I was shown lovely old homes, and some home that unfortunately were
now shells of their former glory. I fell in love with a few beauties; an Arts
and Crafts home on Virginia Park that was a time capsule form 1915 and a 1930's
Limestone Fortress on Lamothe that still had bullet holes in the walls from the
1967 riots when the National Guard fired their tanks at the house!
Circumstances
prevented me from acquiring either of those homes, and I was very sad.
In December I had just about given up all house hunting hope when I was told a
deal feel through on a home in Boston Edison. I rushed over there to see the
house and It was a lovely Arts and Crafts home built in 1915. Very similar in
layout to the one on Virginia Park (whom I wave to every time I drive past it
on the Lodge) but even more quirky and unique. I completely fell in love
instantly, this was it, my house!
John H. Thompson was born in 1883 in Detroit. He started as a
travelling salesman, then moved to New York City to work as a broker. He
pursued a similar line of work in Chicago, then returned to Detroit in
1904 to work as a mechanic in the Cadillac and the Oldsmobile factories.
He then brokered automobile parts for three years, and in 1909
organized the Thompson Auto Company, which distributed Federal Trucks
(manufactured by Martin L. Pulcher).
In 1912 he took two of his brothers into the business, remaining
president. In 1918 he began distributing Maxwell and Chalmers
automobiles. In the same year, he also organized the Thompson Airplane
Company, which distributed Curtiss airplanes. John H. Thompson lived at
1210 W. Boston Boulevard from 1920 through the late 1950s.
