Politics / Business & brands
Hazen S. Pingree
1840–1901 · shoe manufacturer, mayor of Detroit, governor of Michigan
Reforming shoe manufacturer, Detroit mayor 1890–1897 and governor, famous for fighting utility monopolies and for his 'potato patches' for the jobless; his statue stands in Grand Circus Park.
- Born
Denmark, Maine- Died
London, England
aged 60- Birth name
- Hazen Stuart Pingree
- Also known as
- Idol of the People · Potato Patch Pingree
- Detroit years
- 1865–1901
- Field
- Politics, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Hazen Pingree, a Maine cobbler and Union veteran who survived Confederate prisons, came to Detroit after the Civil War and in 1866 co-founded the shoe company Pingree and Smith, which grew into one of the Midwest's largest. A political novice, he was elected mayor in 1889 on a pledge to clean up paving, sewer and school-board graft. In office he battled the streetcar, gas, electric and telephone companies, forced fare and rate cuts and built a city-owned electric plant, becoming a national voice for municipal ownership. When the Panic of 1893 threw thousands out of work, he opened vacant lots to garden farming, selling his prize horse to buy seed, and expanded public works, schools, parks and baths. Elected governor in 1896, he pushed through the nation's first major reassessment of railroad and corporate property. He died in London in 1901. His statue in Grand Circus Park calls him 'The Idol of the People.'
Highlights
- Mayor of Detroit, 1890–1897
- 24th governor of Michigan, 1897–1901
- Launched the 'Potato Patch Plan' in the Panic of 1893
- Built a municipal electric plant and forced utility rate cuts
- Ranked by scholars in 1985 as the third-best mayor in U.S. history
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Memorial · 1904–
Hazen S. Pingree statue, Grand Circus Park
Bronze seated statue funded by public subscription, inscribed 'The Idol of the People.'
Buried here · 1901
Woodlawn Cemetery
First buried at Elmwood Cemetery, he was later reinterred at Woodlawn.