Club Bleu Detroit was land once owned by a black slave


On the morning of June 11, 1805, a fire ravaged the small city of Detroit. The population of Detroit at the time was about six hundred and there was not an adequate fire department. No official cause was determined, but it was rumored that hot ashes from a pipe started the fire. To help rebuild Detroit, Judge Augustus Woodward was sent to plan a new city and every adult who lived within city limits during the fire was promised a lot in the new city regardless of socioeconomic status.

Pompey was one of those recipients, although he was a black slave. The deed was issued April 26, 1809 and conveyed the property to “Pompey Abbott” who lived in Detroit at the time of the fire. Pompey died in 1814, leaving his land up for grabs, having no heirs. Years later, Abbott would sell the land, claiming Pompey owed him money and that he was the rightful “guardian” and “administrator” of Pompey’s possessions.

Over the decades, the land at 1540 Woodward changed many hands and faces. In 1942, the Telenews Theatre opened at the site as a newsreel theater seating 465. It was designed by Cyril E. Schley, who was a partner of C. Howard Crane, who designed most of the major movie houses in Detroit’s Grand Circus Park. Built in the Streamline Morderne style, its original design still remains as the look of Bleu Detroit.

A few of the white men who owned Pompey and other slaves have streets and other landmarks named after them in Detroit, including Jos Campau, May Creek, Askin, and Abbott. Even the street Pompey’s land is situated in between, John R., is named after slave owner and Detroit’s first mayor John R. Williams. But Pompey’s name or memorial is nowhere to be found in the city.

Article Appeared @https://michronicleonline.com/2018/12/21/club-bleu-detroit-was-land-once-owned-by-a-black-slave/

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