Places Anthony Raczkiewicz Lived in the Westside of Grand Rapids, Michigan

After his arrival in Michigan on October 4, 1912, Anthony lived in various houses on the westside of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I couldn’t determine where he was for the first year. By 1914 he shows up in the Polk Directory. Living with his brother John at 122 Winter Ave. NW and brother Joseph was at 946 Dayton. In 1915, Anthony was still on Winter and John had moved to 255 Olive Avenue and there is no note on Joseph. In 1917, Anthony and his first wife Klementyna (nee Golebiowska) lived at 319 Seward Ave.NW. When he and his brothers registered for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917, he still lived at 319 Seward. Brothers Joseph John “Jan” Raczkiewicz lived at 327 Gunnison NW, with Jan’s wife Frances. In 1918, Anthony and Klementona lived at 450 Third St. NW. In 1921, Anthony lived with second wife Pauline (my grandmother) at 208 Lexington NW. John and Joseph lived at 315 Gunnison. By 1924, Anthony and Pauline lived at 503 Milwaukee Avenue. Beginning in 1925, their address was 501 Milwaukee Ave. NW. 503 and 501 are on the same property but there was an apartment upstairs and a small house behind them. In the 1930 census, it shows the Raczkiewicz family (with oldest two children Lorraine and Anthony Jr.) still lived at 501 Milwaukee NW. Renters upstairs were John and Pauline Kunecki and children Roman, Celia and Elaine. Anthony’s brother Joseph lived with them. Pauline’s 61 year old father, Walter S, Skrobat, also was living with them instead of at his home in Oil City Pennsylvania. Living nearby (in their little house) at 503 Milwaukee Ave NW was Pauline’s sister, Victoria Palczewski, husband Frank and daughter Lillian. They still lived on Milwaukee Ave,. when my mother Shirley was born in 1936. It was common for Polish immigrants to take in boarders both to help out the immigrants and as a source of income. (Information from “The Poles, the Dutch and the Furniture Strike of 1911”, Mary Patrice Erdmans, Polish American Studies, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 5-22) Shirley says that when she was a teenager, that she often stayed with her older sister Lorraine because the house was crowded. Anthony’s brother Joseph lived with them her whole life. In the 1940 census, Anthony and Pauline and their four children were still at 501 Second St. NW. and the house was worth $3,000. The Home Owners Loan Association looked at the prospects of almost 250 metropolitan areas and rated the areas on a scale of A through D. The houses in the area where their house was located were rated D. “The Fourth Grade or D areas represent those neighborhoods . . . characterized by detrimental influences to a pronounced degree, undesirable population or an infiltration of it. Low percentage of homeownership, very poor maintenance, and often vandalism prevail. Unstable incomes of the people and difficult collections are usually prevalent. The areas are broader than the so-called neighborhoods and others will lend only on a conservative basis.” Loans were still possible in a D area but different servicing was required. In 1942, Anthony registered for the World War II draft. He still lived at 501 Milwaukee Ave. N.W. Various Polk Directories give the same address for additional years. They lived on Milwaukee for approximately 37 years until a demolition order came through (05/23/62 1153 OK Wrecking) because of a highway being built. US196, between the Lane St. exit and US 131 was being built through in their neighborhood, splitting the west side of Grand Rapids. They moved to 827 Douglas NW and son Ron and his wife Pam had to move out of the little house in the back and buy their first house. Anthony was proud of his rose garden in the backyard. The house was built in 1920 and was sold in 1990 and 1992 for $48,000. In 2020, the house is a rental--three apartments total, not looking great on the outside but fixed up on the inside for student rentals for the nearby Grand Valley State University.