MLT - Norris, MI : Norris House Traditional Cache

Welcome to the Village of Norris, Michigan.



This cache is part of the Michigan Lost Town series of caches.
More information on this series can be found here:
http://www.losttownscacheseries.com/

This cache is located in the now long-gone village of Norris, MI and
is close to the still-standing home of Philetus W. Norris, who settled the town and the area.

This small village existed for a only a short time here, but it's impact on the
local area and its residents has remained and will last for many years to come. 

  The home and area is a piece of Detroit and Michigan History.
This is not a difficult hide, but a cache to give you some History of the area.

Please BE AWARE of your surroundings here.

The Philetus W. Norris House is located at 17815 Mt. Elliott Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, near the corner of Mound Road and Davison Avenue. It was built in 1873 by Philetus W. Norris, who went on to become the second superintendent of Yellowstone National Park. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

Philetus Norris' House on Mount Elliot (2013)

Philetus Walter Norris (August 17, 1821 - January 14, 1885) was the second superintendent of Yellowstone National Park and was the first person to be paid for that position.

Norris was born in Palmyra, New York in 1821, the son of John Norris, Jr. and Azubah Phelps. In 1826, they bought 80 acres (320,000 m2) in Michigan, moving there soon thereafter.

Norris left school early and traveled all around the midwest to trap and trade. In 1838, Norris settled in northwest Ohio, and in 1845 he married Jane K. Cottrell. They had four children: Edward, Aurelia, Ida and Arthur. When the Civil War began, Norris joined the Union troops, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel. He served as a spy behind Confederate Lines and Captain of the West Virginia Mountain Scouts. While fighting near Laurel Mountain, West Virginia, Norris's horse was shot out from underneath him, severely injuring his shoulder and spinal cord.

Philetus W Norris

After the Civil War, Norris moved to Michigan and managed land which belonged to officers and soldiers of both the Union and Confederate armies as part of a federal contract. In 1873, he platted the village of Norris in Wayne County at the location where his house now still stands.

Norris had originally wanted to name the town "Prairie Mound," but the Detroit and Bay City Railroad (who Norris had convinced to run through the area) posted "Norris" on the depot, and the name stuck. Norris also maintained the plank road that ran between Detroit and Mount Clemens, operating a tollbooth located in the village.

While in Norris, he ran a successful real estate and newspaper business and would soon have an opportunity to go on to other things as well. In 1877, Norris became the second superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, a position he held until 1882.

While at Yellowstone, he was able to expand the road/trail system there, long before Henry Ford built automobiles to drive on those roads. When Norris arrived at Yellowstone in 1877 there were approximately 32 miles (51 km) of roads and 108 miles (173 km) of trails. By the time he left in 1882, there were five times as many roads and twice as many trails. The roads were crude and many described them as only "fair" wagon trails. Still, they provided access to "the land of wonders."

A sign for one of the many Norris-named items at Yellowstone

Afterward, he worked in ethnological research for the Smithsonian Institution. In 1885, Norris fell ill in Rocky Hill, Kentucky, while working for the Smithsonian. After a brief illness, he died in Rocky Hill, on January 14, 1885. He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit three days later, and shortly thereafter his body was moved to Woodmere Cemetery.

His grave is also part of another Multi-Stage Geocache,
"SQ - Woodmere Cemetery Tour" (GC279BM)
 

The village, shown on this 1910 map as "North Detroit".
"Electric" is now known as Van Dyke and "8 mile" is along the top.

The original village boundaries were roughly Seven Mile Road on the north, Mound Road on the west, Six Mile Road on the south, and Van Dyke Road on the east. To ensure the success of his community, Norris drained the creek that ran through the area to open up land for farming and maintained the plank road that ran between Detroit and Mount Clemens, operating a tollbooth located in the village. Norris also built the Two Way Inn, which was originally the village's jail and general store;

The Two-Way Inn, Nevada & Mount Elliot

Norris lived there until he built his nearby house and both the house and the Two Way Inn still stand to this day. Other than a third building, a nearby church, there is nothing that remains from the original village of Norris.

St. Mary's F.B.H Church, at Davison and Mount Elliot.

The village was settled primarily by German Lutherans, farmers who sold their produce to Detroit residents. By 1880, the population of Norris had grown to approximately 250 people . The village boasted, in addition to the railroad depot, a hotel, wagon shop, sawmill, multiple homes, and more. In 1891, the village of Norris was renamed "North Detroit." The city boundaries of Detroit gradually crept nearer, and in 1924 Detroit annexed the village. The only modern-day indication that the area was once a separate village is the "Nortown" moniker on some local businesses, evoking the old names of "Norris" and "North Detroit."

Nortown Theatre which was at 7 mile and Van Dyke

The house itself was built in 1873 and is a two-story late Victorian vernacular structure. At the time it was built, the home had gingerbread trim, brick chimneys and leafy trees in its yard. Norris moved from the Two Way Inn into this house, and also constructed a wing along one side from which he ran his real estate business.

Norris moved away to Yellowstone in 1877, but the Norris family owned the house until 1916, when they sold it to William Lynch. Lynch used it in part to operate a boarding house, and sold the home in 1925, when it was converted to a three-family unit. The house was owned and occupied by a series of residents, and in 1965 was converted back to a single-family residence; this may have been the time when the exterior was covered with the asphalt siding still on the house today. The home was occupied until 1991, when the last owner moved out and the property was listed as abandoned and tax delinquent.

The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, and was designated a city of Detroit historic district in 1995. The Nortown Community Development Corporation purchased the house with plans to restore it, but in 1999 an arsonist badly damaged the property. As of 2008, the home is abandoned, although plans are still in the works to complete restoration.

Front facade of the Philetus Norris house