You Ought to Know That:

Detroit Times, August 27, 1933

This appears to be one of those "around the town" sort of features in daily newspapers of yore which gave a snippet of information likely hoping to engage the reader enough to write in. It worked on me as I sit here typing away.

The first pertinent mention is:

"The high brick walls that surround the exclusive Yondotega Club are a part of the old James Van Dyke residence - one of the first brick houses in Detroit."

Van Dyke was a lawyer, fireman and briefly the mayor of Detroit. He died rather young but the family continued to live in the home at 308? East Jefferson, which would seemingly put it right next door to the former Daniel King home and future Yondotega Club but I could be wrong.

The articles suggests that bricks from the Van Dyke house were used in building the wall at the Yondotega Club - presumably in 1901 - but that seems like a laborious task to separate the bricks and reuse them. Or would they just take sections? I have no clue how that would have worked but it could be true.

William's daughter Doris McMillan Pittman, along with club member Phelps Newberry and others, opened the Sign of the Mermaid bookstore at her former home in 1925.