The "Five Points"... I Never Knew

Posted by – Steve Cohen, Director of Community Development

The City of Auburn Hills has such a rich past.  It’s a collection of neighborhoods that come together like a patchwork quilt to form a real community with unique character.  There is so much history here, so many stories to tell.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to meet with two women, Pat Kleindl and Phyllis Leo, who grew up in “Five Points” over 70 years ago.  Their small neighborhood, which initially included six streets from Allerton east to Joswick (f.k.a., Joyce) on the south side of Walton Boulevard, was named after the unusual intersection where Pontiac Road, Squirrel Road, and Walton Boulevard once converged to form five points of land.

When Pat and Phyllis were kids, it was a rural enclave of around 80 homes surrounded by large farms and undeveloped property.  I was fascinated by the ladies description of what their neighborhood was like back in the day – before I-75 and Oakland University – when all the roads were dirt.  People came to the area to find work at the General Motors factories in Pontiac.  Few had cars back then and most walked quite a distance to the little “mom and pop” stores on Opdyke Road to shop.  Families sustained themselves by growing their own produce in gardens – along with the keeping chickens for fresh eggs and meat – in their large back yards.  It is hard for someone my age to really comprehend what that lifestyle was like.  I can just drive to stores like Meijer or Trader Joe’s to obtain all my food in a matter of minutes.  That was not an option for these folks.

It was fun to listen to the ladies reminisce about “Dexter Pond” where the kids used to ice skate, which is now the site of the Dexter 7-11.  They talked about how they were told as children that “Zahn Pond” located in front of US Farathane, near I-75 was so deep that it had no bottom.

They proudly informed me that local celebrity Brace Beemer lived on a farm across from the neighborhood on the north side of Walton Boulevard.  Naively, I asked … Who is Brace Beemer?  Well, the ladies quickly informed me that Brace Beemer was very famous for his radio acting role as the voice of the Lone Ranger.  The Lone Ranger Show was broadcasted from WXYZ in Detroit.  The site of the old Beemer farm is now a strip mall, best known for its Dairy Queen.   I had no idea.  Amazing!

The neighborhood had a small, one-room K-8 school house called the Five Points School.  It was located at the southeast corner of the five points intersection, which is now the site of the new Human Health Building on the Oakland University campus.   It burned down in 1937 and was rebuilt that same year.  Some years later, it was moved to Opdyke Road.

I especially enjoyed their many stories about how the Five Points Community Church was formed.  The women talked about how Mary Barnett, sister of the church’s founder William Barnett, decided that a church was needed in the area because many neighborhood residents did not have vehicles or the means to get to Pontiac to worship.  It was a long walk back then.   The first Sunday School classes were held in the Barnett home on Squirrel Road in 1940 with 22 people in attendance.  Pat was there!  Living history was sitting right in front of me.

The meeting concluded with Phyllis asking me if I knew about the Five Points sign.  I asked … What sign?  She explained that the sign was originally erected in the 1930’s identifying the Five Points area.  The sign stood until it mysteriously disappeared in 1963.

In 1997, Wilson Garner of the Auburn Hills Historical Society found the sign and was able to acquire.  In 2001, the sign was restored and placed in a beautiful garden next to the Community Center on the City Campus.

After visiting with Pat and Phyllis, I went to check out the sign.  I’ve worked here since 1999 and did not know it was there.  The sign has a lot of character with a little squirrel in the middle of a five-pointed star.  I stopped and pondered about the many good people, who over the years, have made Five Points into a “place” – a real community.

I think this meeting was nice reminder that we must not forget Five Points’ past and be intentional in building on its storied history into the future.   Thank you, ladies.

Special thank you to my co-worker Patty Hassett who arranged this meeting and invited us into her home to talk about the Five Points Neighborhood.