MAY 20 • 2021 | 109

T

here was a time when most everyone 
who lived in the Detroit area had heard 
of the former Dearborn region and 
learned a lot of new and interesting facts about 
this pleasant place.
It all started when it was 
decided that there should be 
some place closer than Detroit 
for people who landed at 
Dearborn’s Ford Airport … 
About 25 acres of landscaped 
grounds surrounded a brick 
inn, designed by Albert Kahn, 
that is set back from Oakwood Boulevard in 
Dearborn.
Over the years, the inn became a favorite for 
summer tourists who came to visit Greenfield 
Village … Summertime was a busy season, 
not only with tourists but also with wedding 
receptions.
Most visitors were impressed by the good, 
solid comfort and the feeling of being trans-
ported back in time to early America … 
Service was good, but there was no jumping 
… I recall a cocktail lounge in the hotel but no 
jukebox or brass rail.
One satin well-padded armchair sat in a 
wood-paneled room resembling the drawing 
rooms of long-ago generation visitors … A 
bottle room housed a collection of odd-shaped 
antique jugs and of unusual flasks, some dat-
ing to the early 1800s.
From this comfortable spot you could enjoy 
a delicious dinner in either of the inn’s din-
ing rooms with luscious roast beef and other 
yum yum dishes … One could eat in a coffee 
shop that also specialized in roast beef but less 

expensive and just as good.
A family-style dinner had everything from 
soup to nuts … Another specialty on the 
breakfast menu was the General’s Breakfast 
… This was named after General Henry 
Dearborn, for whom the city was named … 
He must have been quite a guy if he could 
really eat the meal named after him.
The Dearborn Inn was owned by 
Greenfield Village and turned all profits over 
to the village for further development … It 
was one of the few places around Detroit then 
that was open on all holidays … Dearborn Inn 
today is managed by Marriott International.
MAIL DEPT. … “
As a kid from the ’50s 
and ’60s, my absolute favorite restaurant was 
the Clam Shop. It was always an adventure 
driving from 7 Mile and Livernois to Russell 
and East Grand Boulevard, where it was dark, 
industrial and a bit scary. In the midst of all 
the warehouses were the lights of the Clam 
Shop, where we were greeted warmly and 
made to feel at home. What I yearned for was 
the broiled lobster with peanut dressing. I have 
never encountered a lobster like it that even 
came close to that.
” … Jimmy Eisenshtadt.

OLDIE BUT GOODIE … The wealthy man-
ufacturer regarded the young man pleading 
for his daughter’s hand with deep suspicion … 
“I wonder,
” he said, “if you’
d be so anxious to 
marry my Rosalie if I didn’t have a penny?”
“I think I’
d love her twice as much,
” vowed 
the suiter fervently.
“Get out,
” cried the manufacturer. “We’ve 
got enough idiots in this family already!”
CONGRATS … To Linda Nudell on her 
birthday … To Michael Layne on his birthday 
… To Dr. Joel Kahn on his birthday … To Sid 
and Adrienne Finkelstein on their 55th anni-
versary. 

Email dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.

RASKIN
THE BEST OF EVERYTHING

Danny 
Raskin
Senior Columnist

A Taste of History

TOP: The Dearborn Inn 
BOTTOM: A Colonial Home near 
the Dearborn Inn
LEFT: A place setting at the 
Dearborn Inn

DEARBORN INN FACEBOOK

ANDREW JAMESON VIA WIKIPEDIA

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