According to what we have been able to determine, at least two different branches of the Heiden family have lived in this small house directly across the road from the William Carl and Mary (Rambow) Heiden home farm at 8861 Dixon.

This property was originally part of the Heiden homestead which included both the south and north side of Dixon Road to the River Raisin. Sometime in the 1930s, three large lots of about 3 or 4 acres in size were subdivided to go from the road north to the river.

The middle lot that became 8864 Dixon Road was directly across from William Carl and Mary's house. The lot to the east during the 50s and 60s only contained a small garage-type cottage set back half way to the river which was used by a couple named Jerry and Anabelle Feeback who lived in Toledo and came out on the weekends. Later, their daughter and son-in-law built a house near the road.

The lot to the left of this house included a nice, big brick house that belonged to Paul Goetz and his family during the 1950s into the 2000s.

In the late 1930s, Walter W. Grams (right) who was the teacher at the nearby Bridge School bought this lot and built a small, one-bedroom house shown above. The school was less than 1/2 mile from this house.

In the 1940s, Ervin (left) and Helen (Jaworski) Heiden and their daughter, Bonnie (Heiden, Bruns) Mills and son, Allen, lived in the house.

 

Art and Mildred (Roggerman) Heiden (left) bought the very small, one bedroom house shown at the top of this page and moved there from 12444 Dixon Road in about 1956.

Before moving in, Art added a two bedroom addition on the right side and indoor plumbing. The original bedroom in the back of the house was divided by a curtain into a bedroom and bathroom combination. The small attic was only accessible through a window in the back of the house.

Art, Mildred and their children Joyce, Ron, Ralph and Kay moved into the house. Joyce got married and moved away in the late 50s and their final child, Gail Mildred, was born in 1958.

In 1960, William Frank Heiden (right) bought the family farm at 8861 Dixon and moved there from 8420 Dixon Road. Art, Mildred, Ron, Ralph, Kay and Gail then moved to 8420 and farmed there for the next decade.

When Art retired, he and Mildred moved back to 8864 with Kay and Gail. Art and Mildred lived there until he passed away in 1985 and Mildred then moved to a retirement community in Dundee.

Joyce Ronald Ralph Kay Gail

A picture of the house in the early 2000s. The front enclosed porch extension was added by Art and Mildred (Roggerman) Heiden. Where the garage is now, there was an old, small size barn where someone in the past had room for one or two cows. The house in the far background is a very recent addition to the property. When the Heidens lived here, there was an abandoned basement in that area where someone had started to build a house in the early 1950s but had not completed it.

The River Raisin is about 100 yards or so behind the house. The kids and friends would spend time there ice skating in the winter or fishing in the summer. We even had an old boat with black tar on the bottom to keep out the water.

Joyce on the front porch before it was enclosed as it is today. The picture was probably taken about 1957 or 58. A new front facade and porch was added in the 1970s.

Jack Wittman's 1957 Ford Fairlane on the west side of the house. He and Joyce were married that year too.

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The river was named "Riviere aux Raisin" by the French-Canadian people that first settled in Monroe County. They called it the River Raisin because of the wild grapes growing along its banks. This led to the naming of Raisinville Township and the community of Grape. Also many of the farms along the river are long and narrow so that each farm has access to the banks of the river in the French tradition.