Abandoned Buildings on Van Dyke Avenue, Detroit

If you are familiar with Detroit, you are probably aware of Van Dyke Avenue (some call it Boulevard).

But did you know Van Dyke was also the name of a town that the road went through? Originally known as ‘Garland’, the town named ‘Van Dyke’ sat on the north boundary of Detroit at Van Dyke Avenue and near 9 Mile Road.

The avenue came first, named in 1885 after a former mayor of Detroit (1847), James Van Dyke.

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In 1917, an actual town was platted by Walter Piper, who later coined the word “realtor”. He intentionally named the streets after automobiles (and a couple after auto engines) that were being manufactured in Detroit: Automobile, Cadillac, Chalmers, Continental, Dodge, Federal, Ford, Hudson, Hupp, Lozier, Maxwell, Marmon, Packard, Paige, Republic, and Studebaker. The streets still have those names.

In 1925, a post office finally opened up and by 1927 there were over 5,000 residents in Van Dyke. The post office lasted 32 years until it shut down in 1957 when Van Dyke was annexed to the city of Warren. After existing for 40 years, Van Dyke was no more.

Thanks to the Great Depression, the bank began transferring accounts to avoid a bank run. The A&P grocery store had moved to Van Dyke and during the 1930s, it was looted by villagers with the excuse, “They take our money, what do they expect us to do now, starve?"

Van Dyke was only about one mile square in size, but has still left quite an impression in the pages of Detroit history.