The
farm at 8861 Dixon Road was originally owned by
William Carl Heiden (right) and in 1960, he sold it
to his youngest son,
William Frank Heiden
(right below). The
farm property was predominately on the south side of
Dixon Road but it also included the land on the
north side extending to the River Raisin.
Sometime around 1930,
Wm Carl began selling three lots on the north side
of the road. They extended from the road to the
river and were about 3 or 4 acres in size. As shown on
the graphic, they consisted of one purchased and
built upon in the early 1950s by Paul Goetz on the west
end of the group. The middle lot was sold to
Walter
Grams who was the teacher at nearby
Bridge School in
the 1930s. It became 8864 Dixon
Road. Lot 3 was sold
to William's son,
Leo Heiden
also in the 30s. According to
Wm Frank Heiden, they sold for $1,500 each.
Leo
(left) never built on Lot 3. He eventually sold it
and bought a house at
7758 South Custer Road. He and
Lucille did, however, live on a small house at the
Wakefield Farm next door. This is where their first
child, Mary Lou was born.
Eventually, Jerry and
Annabel Feeback from Toledo purchased that lot and
constructed a small weekend retreat back away from
the road. Later, in the 1960s their daughter built
the house that sits near the road.
The
middle property, 8864 Dixon
Road was the rental home of
Ervin and Helen Heiden
and their children, Bonnie and Allen for a while
after Walter Grams left. It was
purchased by Wm Carl's son,
Arthur in the late
1950s. His last child, daughter Gail, was born while
the family was
living in that house in 1958.
William Frank Heiden
(right) was living in the farm at
8420 Dixon Road at that time.
In 1960, he purchased the home farm at
8861 Dixon
and moved into the west side of the house. Arthur
and his family then moved to work the farm at 8420
Dixon. Art moved back to 8864 after his retirement
in the late 60s.
In
recent decades, the area marked "Field" has also
been developed into at least two additional houses.
None of the area north of Dixon Road is used for
agriculture anymore.
Sometimes when I look at the movement of Heidens up
and down and around Dixon Road, it makes me dizzy.
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