Annapolis Park Historic District

The Annapolis Park Historic District is a historic district located along Julius, Matthew, Hanover, Farnum, Alan, and Paul Streets in Westland, Michigan, covering 71acre and 354 buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.HistoryDuring World War II, the African-American population in Detroit ballooned to 300,000 residents. However, blacks were restricted in where they could live due to housing covenants, overpriced rent, and other forms of discrimination. To alleviate the shortage of housing space, Julius and William Schwartz platted the Annapolis Park suburb in what was then Nankin Township and is now Westland, specifically for African-Americans. The neighborhood was platted in three sections: one in 1953, one in 1954, and one in 1955. A fourth Annapolis Park platting, in 1961, is not included in the Historic District. When local banks proved reluctant to provide mortgages to prospective home owners, the Schwartzes also established the Franklin Mortgage Company to make loans to residents.Annapolis Park was quickly successful, with the first two houses constructed in 1953, 134 more built in 1954, 168 more during 1955, and 51 houses built in 1956/57, completely filling the subdivision. It is likely that a substantial percentage of the original homeowners were World War II veterans who used the mortgage guarantee provisions of the GI Bill to purchase their house. Sales were apparently mostly by word of mouth, but the availability of adequate financing and the efforts of part-time salesmen Jimmy Nelms (the first African American male school teacher in the Wayne school system) Levi Jackson (a former Yale football captain) boosted sales.