Tubal Cain Owen's Property Projected onto Modern Map of EMU; Did Abba Live Near Your Classroom?

Tubal Cain Owen's landholdings covered quite a swath on the north side of Ypsilanti. On this land he grew oats and other crops and raised livestock that included horses, a registered Holstein bull, "Geneva Boy," and son Eber's bunnies and prize-winning poultry. Here are Tubal's holdings highlighted on the 1895 plat map. The black star marks the approximate location of the well and Owen home. (click on image to enlarge).

Fun fact: You can see on this old map that Forest Ave used to run right through campus. I've also seen a photo that suggests that there was a streetcar line running down Forest over campus, too. Someone decided that cars or streetcars speeding over campus was a tad unsafe. That stretch of Forest was converted to the walkway stretching between McKenny Hall and College Place.

Here are Tubal's landholdings projected onto a modern map of EMU.


Note that the home and well (yellow dot) lay close to the present-day Roosevelt School building on campus at the end of College Place. As soon as they finish fixing up College Place and you can stroll down it once again...you are likely retracing Abba's vanished footprints as she came back home from the post office or downtown grocery.

Did College Place begin as Tubal Cain Owen's driveway?

Dusty D reads a lot of microfilm up on the second floor of Halle Library. The microfilm area is on the southwest corner of the building. Sometimes I look out of the window, at the boiler house and beyond. Between Halle and Oakwood used to be Tubal's westernmost strip of farmland. Halle was likely just outside the southeast corner of this parcel.

How about you? Remember that EMU building you used to attend classes in? Or presently work in? Is it within or without the land once owned by Tubal? If a few folks toss in their ideas, all of us can get a better handle on Tubal's property boundaries.

Headed to class or work, grabbing lunch in the old McKenny Union or the beautiful new Student Center...were you strolling over Tubal's land...perhaps retracing Abba's invisible footprints?

Reader Question: Why is That Street North Off Forest Ave. Called "Twin Towers"? Answer: Because a Farmer Fancied Himself a King

Or so it would seem--in 1893, farmer Fred E. Fisher built himself this magnificent palace at 725 E. Forest Ave.

Its impressive paired towers were such a sensation that they gave the adjacent street its name. (Click for larger image).

Fisher is a mysterious figure. There is no family Fisher file in the Archives, and his obituary card says only he was born in the 1870s, but the directories give us some clues. He lived in the house until 1896. The 1897 directory then says he "removed to Detroit."

The house had several other owners, the last of whom was Frederic Zeigen from at least 1918 until 1930. A distant relative of the composer Frederick Weber, Zeigen was the president of the Banker's Land and Investment Corporation in Detroit, later known as "The Million Dollar Housing Corporation," one of the largest real estate companies then in Detroit. Twin Towers was his family's "country home."

A 1900 graduate of EMU, Zeigen had been class president and class poet, and was noted for his poem "The Owl and the Frogs." He went on to write several novels and over 20 popular songs, and was recognized as a contributor to the artistic legacy of Michigan. In whatever free time was left, Zeigen also developed several new varieties of his favorite flower, the elegant yet flamboyant gladiolus, at Twin Towers' colorful and extensive gladiolus gardens.

He was a powerful magnate with a poet's heart.

In the 1931 directory, Twin Towers' address, 725, is listed as "Vacant." In the 1933 directory, the street address number disappears. Vanished. The house burned down.

But oral history has a slightly different tale. According to James Mann, a lifetime resident in the area said that the home was "firebombed." Why? By whom? Why did this palatial edifice fall to cinders during the Depression? Was it arson? Mr. Mann also mentioned that there were rumors about alleged gambling problems involved. Dusty D is eager to scour the papers tomorrow to see if I can find a newspaper story. I'll post an update if I do.

Today on the site, a space remains at what once was 725 Forest. The gladiolus gardens are gone. There are some mysterious buildings at the back of the lot that appear to now be owned by the charming brick house on the corner. There are also immense maples lining the sidewalk on what would originally have been the 725 property.

Interestingly, the then-adjacent home at 701 Forest was of a similar scale and style. Dusty D in fact loves this house more than the grandiose Twin Towers. Its asymmetry is appealing, it's full of stained glass, and look at those darling twin dormers and exquisite circular porch! It is a gem. It too is sadly gone.

But I leave you with an undated image of happier times: a lovely garden party at Twin Towers. There are Japanese lanterns strung in the trees and elegant folding wooden chairs dot the lawn. Like as not there were dainty refreshments and lemonade, one glass of which DD offers, along with a virtual bouquet of gladioli, to the kind reader who asked such a terrific question!
Sources: Ypsilanti Archives, James Mann, and The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922 by Clarence Monroe Burton