History of the Development of B.E. Taylor’s Brightmoor, Detroit Neighborhood Part II

The Birth of Brightmoor

B.E. Taylor’s Brightmoor neighborhood began around 1921 when realtor and land developer Burt Eddy Taylor purchased 86 farms about 11 miles west of downtown Detroit and subdivided the parcels into lots. Taylor’s plan to build low-priced, simple homes on a mass scale for the working-class would soon transform the farming community into an urban development.

He prepared the subdivisions for the real estate market by paving sidewalks, installing lighting and designing boulevards with trees, flowers and shrubbery. He named the community “Brightmoor” which is said to have come from his love of all things British.

Taylor built a community center on Fenkell near Evergreen and post office on Fenkell Avenue near Burt Road. He built a fire station on Burt Road near Schoolcraft where it still remains today. To support the new infrastructure, Taylor built his own water and sewer systems, and erected a water tower at Grand River Avenue and Schoolcraft.

Brightmoor’s First Subdivision

Taylor’s first subdivision was at the south-east corner of Fenkell Avenue and Burt Road on the streets now known as Pierson, Braile, Patton and Stout. The blocks ran from Fenkell Avenue on the north end to Lyndon (formerly named Carlton) on the south end.

Selling Brightmoor

Taylor’s sales campaign began in January 1922 using a variety of enthusiastic sales promotions. He hired salespeople across America to sell lots in Brightmoor and appealed to businesses to build in the area as well.

The following testimony about B.E. Taylor’s sales strategy from Brightmoor Unearthed (2011) provides more insight into Taylor’s strategy:

“Taylor’s mode of operation was unheard of anywhere at that time. He hired no women, even as office aides. The salesmen had to wear golf knickers and jackets. The company hired 451 sales people all over the country, as he believed not enough people in Detroit would fill. All the houses he would build. Greyhound busses, six or ten a week, would bring people from Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and farther to Detroit. They would be put up in a nice downtown hotel, taken to a good dinner and show, and the next morning they would be brought to Brightmoor to look over the propositions that had been made to them in their home towns. They would be dined at the Totem Pole, an exclusive colonial tea- room at the southwest corner of Five Mile and Beech, and then taken to the big tent offices on the land. Taylor did not often use houses for offices, except in the one exception of a house at Five Mile and Meadowbrook, the Sarkin’s house. He had big orange tents, as large as our town hall, where the final arrangements could be made, after an auto trip around the subdivision to pick out the spot that each desired.

Flintoff, Peters and Smith, 2011

Taylor promoted Brightmoor as being close to Ford’s Highland Park and River Rouge plants, but far enough from the congestion of the city. He provided his own bus company, the Brightmoor Transit Company, to provide service between Brightmoor and the major plants (Detroit City Council, 2008). He also  capitalized on the millions of rural Southerners migrating to the Midwest for work (Berry, 2000).

The first family moved in to Brightmoor on March 27, 1922. The following testimony of an early Brightmoor resident shows the lengths some working class families were willing to go to in order to become a homeowner:

I surveyed the little patch of stubble, and cannot deny a big lump came in my throat but I started to pitch our tent and soon was away from blue thoughts. Then I carried in our few belongings and straightened them around. We used our trunk for a table, an orange box for a cupboard, boxes for chairs and the other trunk to set our oil stove on. What does Brightmoor mean to us? Home- in every sense o the word. Health-We are away from the smoke, noise, and traffic. Wealth-We no longer pay rent but payments which are making us independent…Our place is worth a $1000 more today than it was a year ago. Happiness-because we can enjoy the things we are getting, have a garden to spend idle moments in, which is a joy because we like it. Happy because we will have a home and comforts we will not need be ashamed of when our children grow up. Schools for our children, and a bus service which cannot be excelled. What more can we ask of a life and if it is not worth working for, what is?

Mrs. Alfred G.S. Taylor. B.E. Taylor Newsletter

Bibliography

5 Mile looking East toward Brightmoor. November 6, 1922. Redford Township Historical Commission

I2th Street (Fenkell Ave.), circa 1922 Redford Township Historical Commission

“All Aboard for Brightmoor.” Detroit Free Press, May 19, 1923

B.E. Taylor Real Estate News, August 1924. B.E. Taylor Personal Papers, Detroit Public Library

“BRIGHTMOOR IS TO HAVE LARGE COMMUNITY HALL.” Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Jul 02, 1922. https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/brightmoor-is-have-large-community-hall/docview/566850024/se-2.

Brightmoor General Store 1922, Detroit, Michigan. Burt Eddy Taylor Personal Papers (1913-1945), Burton Historical Collections, Detroit Public Library, Detroit, MI.

Brightmoor postcard circa 1920s. Purchased from eBay

“Brightmoor Transit Company Bulletin,” vol 1, 26, October 4, 1923.
Burt Eddy Taylor Personal Papers, Burton Historical Collections, Detroit Public Library

”Early Brightmoor Subdivision Development. Children’s Playground,” c. 1922. Burt Eddy Taylor Personal Papers (1913-1945), Burton Historical Collections, Detroit Public Library, Detroit, MI.

“Facts from B.E. Taylor” 1925. Redford Township Historical Commission

Flintoff, Peters and Smith, 2011. Brightmoor Unearthed: A Neighborhood Analysis. Lulu.com.

Map of Redford Township 1915. Redford Township Historical Commission

Telegraph Road near Fenkell Avenue, Bell Branch School 1913. Redford Township Historical Commission https://redfordhistorical.com/