S – SCOTTEN Avenue – Cleage home 1920

The neighborhood. You can see 6429 Scotten Ave. outlined in red. Wingert Elementary school is on the lower right.

The Cleage family moved from 24th street to 6429 Scotten Ave. in 1920, between January and July 10. I visited this house once when I was about 22 months old. My parents and I traveled by train to Detroit for a visit. At that time my father was pastor of St. John’s Congregational Church in Springfield, Massachusetts. I remember nothing about that visit, unfortunately. I never asked my father or my aunts and uncles to describe the house for me. Luckily someone took a front and side view of the house and there were some photographs taken inside the house, not necessarily in the 1920s.

In 1930 the house was worth $10,500, according to the census. By 1940, it was only worth $5,000. Perhaps because they were just coming out of the depression in 1940? It was a large brick house and I’m sure they filled it up with seven children, two parents and a couple of dogs. I think that the boy’s rooms were in the attic. I will share some photographs of the house over the years. They lived there until 1948 when they moved to Atkinson Street.

12 thoughts on “S – SCOTTEN Avenue – Cleage home 1920

  1. I love that you were able to get a photo of the house. It’s always sad when an ancestral home is not longer there, but nice to see it live on here — along with your own photos of the interior.

    1. My mother’s side of the family has no inside photos except a few from one thanksgiving that my uncle Henry Cleage took.

  2. Fascinating. (I’ve always wanted to live in a brick house.) I noticed the television on the desk in Albert and Louis’ room. (Now who’s Louis? I thought he was an uncle who lived down south and that Albert was the eldest son. I’m totally confused–we need a 1920s family tree to refer to!)
    I also like the photos of your grandparents and the photo of you with the little boy. Would that have been taken on your visit when you were 22 months old?
    The photo of Barbara with books reminded me that in India in that era photos of women in educated professional families were taken next to books. I think it might have been to show how enlightened the family was–that they were committed to education for women.

    1. I have lived in a few brick houses and I can’t say that I noticed a difference between them and frame houses. Why did you want to live in a brick house?

      A television in the early 1940s? It couldn’t be! It must be something else. That isn’t the most focused photo. It was in a little black album and very small, less than 2 inches square. Most of these photos were from that album, as a matter of fact. I do see a telephone and a microscope. Louis became a doctor, so it must be his.

      I will try and do a family tree for you. Louis is the second son. He has a page for “L”. He was named after his father’s father, Louis Cleage. The uncle in Athens was Edward.

      Yes, that was on my visit to Detroit. I found a news clipping about that trip. It was 3 weeks long. I was christened during that trip. And my aunt Barbara got me some red shoes.

      I think there were so many books and bookcases around the house that it just happened that she was in front of a bookcase.

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