Historic Photos Along Poplar Beach
The earliest images along Poplar Beach are of Schweim Cottage (below), a simple structure with a large front porch. It was located in what is now lot 14 at 22864.
Below: a view of 22858 in a very freshly-built state. There are no curtains on the windows.
This photo, below, which may have been taken on the same day as the above, shows Poplar Beach Drive with Interurban "Pagoda" rain shelters and railway tracks in foreground.
The photo caption identifies the Jake Marshall house and chicken coop on Gordon Switch street, visible at right. The house and the garage building still stand. The long chicken coop building is gone. Gordon Switch is platted as the Grosse Pointe Beach Subdivision. Numerous sales of lots in the Grosse Pointe Beach sub by Jacob M Marshall were recorded in 1924 and 1926.
Anna Schweim's house at 22858 (lot 15) is the first and only home on Poplar Beach. Land records show lot 15 being sold to Jeffers in 1925. Jeffers lived there until 1940 when it was sold to Kate Reilly. This image is from before 1930 when the census reports 7 homes existed.
The image below of 22858 with Schweim Cottage (later the site of 22864) to the east shows the street in its earliest days. The trees along the sidewalk are quite small.
Looking west toward Jefferson, this image of 22858 shows a side porch that no longer exists. There is no driveway yet either. 22848 is the next house to the west.
Below: another photo showing 22858 with Schweim Cottage in the background. The curbing in the left foreground is for Mary Street, now the driveway for 22847 and 22859.
This photo with Herman Schweim and three friends (one is possibly a very young John J. "Jack" Ryan, born in 1917). Note the "For Sale" sign.
The two ladies (below) posing at the west end of the 22858 porch are likely Mildred and Hortense Schweim. Mildred married John P Ryan in 1915. The couple will raise their family at 22828 Poplar Beach and 28130 Jefferson. The "For Sale" sign from the previous photo is visible above the windows but the picture was taken on a different day because there are lanterns instead of a flag hanging at the end of the porch.
Below: this Packard Twin Six Touring Car (See a nearly identical 1921 model here >) is parked on Mary Street (the curb is visible in the foreground). The lake is visible to the right.
The home in the background is 22863 on lot 12 that was sold to Krimmel in 1920. Lot 11 (22859), closest to the car, was sold to Duckert in 1917 but is vacant, as is lot 13 (22869) at the lake end of the street, sold to Schadt in 1922. The 1930 census shows Cosgrove renting 22859, Krimmel owning 22863 and Schadt owning 22869.
Below: a view of the front porch at 22828 looking east toward the lake. 22838 is in the right background. The young girl may be Elaine Ryan with her mother Mildred to her right. Elaine was born on 24 December 1921, so if she is 3 years old in this picture it would have been 1925 when the photo was taken. The 1930 census states that Elaine is 8 years old, which would be correct as she was born late in the year.
The view below is of a young Jack Ryan on the front porch steps of the family home at 22828. Jack is listed as being 13 years old in the 1930 census, so he may have been born in 1917. The porch has since been roofed over and screened in, but the steps are still there. No other homes are seen on the north side of the street in this view. Across the street to the right would be 22837.
Below: this photo is taken on the sidewalk near 22828. The Interurban Railway shelters are visible on Jefferson Avenue so the image is probably from before 1930 when the line was dismantled.
Jack and Elaine Ryan in the driveway of 22828. 22837 is visible across the street.
Taken from the front yard of 22838, with 22837 visible in the background.
Tea time in the back yard of 22828 with 22838 visible in the background. The house at 22828 had stucco before the siding was added. There was an empty lot between the two houses that was owned by John P Ryan in 1937. It later became the garage for 22838.
Below: seen along the north side of the street are 22847 (closest to camera) and 22859, 22863, 22869.
The building in the background to the far left is the "Turners Summer Home," which became the VFW Bruce Post building on the property to the north of Poplar Beach.
This view in the front yard of 22837 shows 22847 and 22859 in the background as we look east toward the lake.
Taken on the same day, a view to the west shows no other homes toward Jefferson Avenue. A few of the many Silver Maple trees that were originally planted in the early 1920s still survive.
Below: a view of 22837's east and street sides.
The west side of 22837 from a 1944 photo by then owners, Thorwald and Agnes Falke. They had developed a large garden in lots 6 and 7 to the west.
Another view of the garden in 1944, taken from the street side looking north.
This photo below, with Jack and Elaine Ryan on the right, was taken in the front yard of the home at 21830 Jefferson that was built by their parents John P and Mildred Schweim-Ryan. Lots 1 and 2 were sold to the Ryans in 1937. Judging by the car in the background the photo is from about 1940 when Jack would have been 23 and Elaine 18.
Below: 22864 in the 1930s, judging by the growth of the tree in the front yard. There is a row of spirea bushes blooming along the front windows and a car in the garage.
