821 LYON NE - GEORGE COTTON, FIRST CITY ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR

821 Lyon is one of those lovely old homes that feels planted in the neighborhood. The home transcends style and age with its original wood trim and eclectic vintage and modern decor. In the summer of 2024, its beautiful new paint color made it a neighborhood standout. The backyard outdoor deck is where you want to spend as many warm days and nights as possible before the cold Michigan winter. 

George Cotton, the first city electrical inspector, built the house in 1900. At that time, he was a telephone inspector, and met his wife, Calla Cotton, in 1901 when she was a Telephone Operator.  By May 1902, they were married in a quiet family ceremony in the parlor. After they returned from a short northern Michigan honeymoon, they invited their Grand Rapids friends to celebrate with them at home.  On November 1, 1903, their only child was born. They named him George Jr. In 1904, George Senior was appointed City Electrical Inspector. 

Electricity first came to Grand Rapids 144 years ago, in 1880. At that time, the Grand Rapids Common Council approved the installation of wires in streets and alleys by the privately owned Grand Rapids Electric Light & Power Company, Michigan’s first electric company. It took a while for electricity to be fully incorporated into daily life in both residential and commercial construction, but regulation and safety enforcement was critical. 

In 1911, when they paved Michigan Street east from downtown, George was in charge of lighting and decorations for the community celebration. In 1912, he, like many others, was indulging in the popular hobby of the day, raising prized chickens. A miscreant, who lived on the next block, stole George’s prized “cok and pullet” valued at about $15 and stashed them in his chicken coop. Because the thief had seven children, they gave him a suspended sentence. 

That same year, George parked his sporty 1904 two-cylinder, 16-horsepower Maxwell Runabout in front of the house to sell. The car cost $500 to buy, but George offered it for $230 with the tagline, "I need the money." Jonathan Maxwell designed the car after working as a bicycle mechanic. One of Maxwell's early automobile models is in the Smithsonian Institute.

While George was busy with work and hobbies, Calla stayed close to her telephone operator friends. By 1914, when she was now referring to herself as Caroline, she launched an annual get-together, inviting the telephone operators to their first group event at her house. There, they sewed together, had refreshments, and talked about the good old days. After Caroline’s mother, Sophia Macomber, died in November 1917, George and Calla rented her room out—maybe because they really did need the money.

It wasn’t until January 2, 1915, that the city purchased and operated the Grand Rapids Electric Company. Around that time and throughout the 1920s, the Grand Rapids Electrical Club awarded Red Seal certification to homes designed with the best electrical systems. Meanwhile, George was keenly aware of how electricity was evolving and amassed a large collection of vintage electrical devices and instruments. Today, for that reason, George Cotton’s name remains prominent in history at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit.

After amassing, over twenty years, a collection of rare antique electrical equipment, George met with James Bishop, a special representative of Henry Ford who came to Grand Rapids on a collecting mission. According to the Grand Rapids Press, Bishop was so impressed that he took the entire collection back to Henry Ford. According to Katherine White, Design Curator at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, at least many of the pieces George donated are still a part of the Museum and can be viewed in the digital collection. Examples include:  https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/275509, https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/11608, and https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/33634, and https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/179994.  These were all listed as the "Gift of George Cotton.”

In 1931, George Cotton died young and unexpectedly.  He was eulogized in the Grand Rapids Press when the editor described him as one of those city officials who give “a splendid account of themselves regardless of the many varying political inuences on the city.  He described George as someone who kept the municipal machinery running smoothly and “gained state and national recognition simply by doing his job well.  Curator White discovered letters between Cotton and Henry Ford's close friend  Jim Bishop.  One especially notable missive was addressed to "Mrs. George Cotton" and dated Dec 21 1931. In that letter, Bishop expressed his condolences writing, "Mr. Cotton has been most kind to us not only in donating his collection of antique electrical equipment but in going out of his way to learn of other articles owned by others and then advising where and how we might obtain them. We always felt that he was our friend and we never hesitated about asking him to investigate any equipment reported to be in Grand Rapids. Further, he was always very willing to do anything in this connection for us and has assisted us many times in many ways. His passing will be a great loss to us as he always had our interest at heart, which was evident in the many things he located for us. Therefore, we extend to you our heartfelt sympathy on the loss of your good husband and our kind friend.” 

On September 14, 1932, the Western Section of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors honored Cotton’s memory by dedicating the annual convention at the Pantlind Hotel as a memorial to him. Caroline was named the Honorary Chair of the Delegation appointed to welcome the women to the city. The whole event culminated in an automobile tour of the city and a evening called the “Kilowatt Kabaret.”  Caroline kept busy, playing leadership roles in the organizations she joined.  In 1940, she was the Chairwoman of the Omega Study Group at the Public Museum and organized talks on American Theater, Afganistan in 1944, and later that year, on Tunisia and Libya. 

The Cotton’s son George Cotton Jr. came home every year to visit his mother and stay in his childhood home at 821 Lyon St. NE.  George Jr. was a Broadway actor and came back to star in several Grand Rapids performances. In 1952-1953, he was a guest performer in Circle Theatre's second season, in “Come Back Little Sheba” starring wellknown local actress Norma Brink. In 1955, George Jr. helped with a Public Museum Pageant “A Century of Music in America,” celebrating the Museum’s 100th anniverary, having been founded in 1855 as the GR Museum of Natural History. And one more thing about George Jr., he also played support roles in a some typical late 1940s-1950s television shows such as “Jimmie Rogers, Rookie Cop,” “Captain Video and his Video Rangers,” and “Rocky King, Detective.” 

In 1967, at the impressive age of 93, Caroline died.  The house may have been rented during those years by young people involved in theatre productions at the community college. In 1971, Billie Anderson,  a member of the theatre group Horizons made up of students from area colleges sent out a call in the Grand Rapids Press for bolts of material, paint by the gallon, and area rugs at least 6 x 8 feet or larger. The items were to be dropped off at 821 Lyon NE which she may have been renting.   

By 1984, 821 Lyon was purchased for $8,000 from the “Actors Fund” by Frank H. Jasinski. It seems that George Cotton Jr., who was single, must have left at least part of his estate which included the house to the Actor’s Fund, an organization providing benefits to aging actors.  George Jr. had retired and was either living or vacationing in Lisbon, Portugal when he died in 1975.  

On July 12, 1990 the home was sold by Jasinski to Anne Hazard.  During the mid-1990s, according to neighbor Kathy Porter there was a fire in the house.   Some renovations were completed, but the house still needed work.  By 2001, when Anne Hazard put the home on the market, prospective buyer, Sarah Poole noticed the areas of new dry wall in several rooms, but it was when she pulled up a corner of the carpet and saw the wood floors underneath that she was sold. Luckily the beautiful woodwork had never been painted. Sarah added a shower to the lower level half bath and moved the laundry to a more convenient location in a space off the kitchen in a once unheated room off the porch of the original house.  

Sarah has added landscaping, including the beautiful perennials in the front yard in the top photo. The most recent work includes the stunning new exterior painting; there are plans to make future improvements.   Perhaps even adding back the second-floor balcony on the second floor as shown in this 1937 Assessor photo. As for all those electrical antiquities collected by the original owner, George Cotton, Sarah found a very old thermostat in the basement that might have been part of George’s collection.  As for George Cotton’s gravesite, in 1993, a newspaper writer named Riddle uncovered a mystery when he searched for the graves of former city employees. In seeking George’s grave, he found Caroline and George Jr’s graves in Oakhill Cemetery. George Sr.’s gravesite location remains a mystery.