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Say What? Enter to Win
from The Shores Magazine
by towar
Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum
Learning About Our City’s Past from One Immigrant Family’s Story
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The Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum, which sits behind the St. Clair Shores Public Library, serves the community as a prime example of what life was like in this area over 150 years ago. Learning about the family that once resided in this home provides great insight into the evolving history of St. Clair Shores. Their story begins with John and Mary Selinsky who came from a village called Chaliszka, which today is near the Polish-German border. At that time, it was under the control of Prussia but the Selinksys considered themselves to be Polish.
In 1868 the Selinskys purchased 20 acres of land in Erin Township for $1,000. Prior to 1875, they had built a farmhouse on their property. According to family stories, John and Mary gave the home to their daughter Ernestine when she married German immigrant John Green in 1874. In 1888, the Greens paid the Selinskys $3,000 for the property and an additional 20 acres. The one-and-a-half story saltbox house was built of handhewn, solid log construction and covered with clapboard to make it weather tight and more sophisticated in style. Clay and straw mixture daubed in between the logs also helped weatherproof the structure. Solid log construction was not the norm at the time; however, it may have been a construction technique of which John Selinkski was knowledgeable. Timber was plentiful and likely came from the property.
John and Ernestine raised ive boys and one girl born between the years 1875 and 1892 in the home. Two bedrooms on the ground loor and a large room upstairs provided sleeping accommodations for the whole family. The home had no running water, gas or electricity. The family grew wheat, oats and potatoes for cash crops and a kitchen garden for their own meals. In addition to their chores, the children went to Burton School, located at Gratiot and Town Hall Road (now Eleven Mile Road), to learn to read, write and master simple arithmetic.
The house being moved to its new site in 1975. Photo Courtesy of St. Clair Shores Historical Commission
Meet Kim Parr
Museum Curator
Kim Parr recently stepped into the role of curator at the Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum and, with 28 years of experience in the ield, she comes with a wealth of knowledge.
“I am happy and honored to become the new curator for the Selinsky-Green Farmhouse,” said Parr, who was born and raised on Detroit’s East side. “The farmhouse allows me to enter back into the era and domestic history that I greatly love and appreciate. I’m excited to greet our locals and those visiting the area to this wonderful farmhouse that has wonderful stories to tell.”
Parr’s experience includes working as a lead of living history programs for Henry Ford Museum & Green ield Village in Dearborn and marketing manager of the Automotive Hall of Fame when it irst opened. For the past 19 years, she directed the Macomb County Historical Society and Crocker House Museum.
Parr has also had the honor to start and teach the Museum Studies program now offered at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Throughout all these years, one constant thread has remained – that people are truly the gem of each community. “It’s sad that often these gems are not truly seen for their value while they are alive and with us,” Parr said. “So, it is my hope that I can help people realize that they have their own story that is worth preserving and telling.”
The lives of the Green children reveal how they adjusted to the changes happening within the township. In 1900, the two oldest boys, William and John Jr., were working as farm laborers and living with families for whom they were working. John Jr. married Ida Belle Smith in 1907 and was working as a lineman for the Detroit United Railway. Not long afterward, John Jr. purchased a saloon and grocery store on Jefferson – what became the Blue Goose Inn.
It was around this time, in 1911, that the eastern half of Erin Township (present-day St. Clair Shores) was renamed Lake Township.
Unfortunately, Prohibition forced John Jr. to give up his venture because the grocery store did not provide enough income without the sale of liquor. John Jr. returned to farming and bought the land next to his parents’ homestead. In 1925 he built a house next to his parents’ farmhouse. Sadly, by this time, his father had died, but his mother and at least one brother were still living in the family home. Ernestine started to sell the farmland in 1924. Ernestine lived in the farmhouse until her death in 1937. The changes to the house during her lifetime were an addition to the back of the house that contained a bathroom and new kitchen, as well as a new porch and the installation of electricity. These modi ications were completed in the mid to late 1920s.
Green relatives continued to live in the home until 1974. At that time, the State Highway Commission purchased the home and land from Ernestine’s grandson Austin so they could pave the way for the I-696 and I-94 interchange. Local citizens convinced the city of St. Clair Shores to rescue the home from demolition, and it was moved to its current location in 1975.
To stay up to date on happenings at the Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum, go to www.scslibrary.org/sgfm.html. To get in touch with the St. Clair Shores Historical Commission, send an email to historicalcommission@scsmi.net
