You may have noticed some construction going on at the northwest corner of Mound and Chicago Roads. The City of Warren is erecting a new Historical Beebe Pocket Park. This is not a playground type park, but a historic site park.
This park has been an idea in the works for nearly 20 years, and in October 2020 the work began and continues now into December.
In the spring of 2021, a gazebo will be erected, a flag pole, and flower gardens, which the Warren Garden Club has offered to help maintain.
The State of Michigan historic marker designating the corner of Chicago and Mound as a historical site was erected in 1982 and placed in the median. The Macomb County Road Commission determined that the gazebo, marker, fence, and other implements were traffic hazards and ordered them removed from the median. Once the State of Michigan approved the coordinates, the State Historical marker was renovated and placed at the new park.
Beebe Pocket Park is named after Mr. John L. Beebe, who back in the early 1800s set up a toll gate, collecting fees that went into maintaining a road that was ten feet wide and made of oak planks that spanned the marshy area. The amount of the toll varied by vehicle type and weight, or number of axles. Back then, farmers and their families traded at Beebe’s Corners at Chicago Road and Main Street (now Mound Road). This will be a park for all residents to enjoy.
Photo Credit: Warren Historical and Genealogical Society.