Business & brands / Politics
John Pridgeon Jr.
1852–1929 · shipping executive, mayor of Detroit
Detroit-born son of a shipping captain who ran the family's vessels and the Detroit & Windsor Ferry and served as Democratic mayor in 1888–1889.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Cambridge, Massachusetts
aged 76- Detroit years
- 1852–1910s
- Field
- Business & brands, Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
John Pridgeon Jr. was born in Detroit in 1852, the son of Captain John Pridgeon, who bought, sold and operated sailing ships and tugs and owned the Detroit & Windsor Ferry across the river. He went through the Detroit public schools and the Detroit Business University, joined his father's business as a clerk in 1871, and after a few years as an agent for a Grand Trunk steamer line in Port Huron returned to the family firm. He sat on Detroit's first Park Commission from 1879 to 1883, the years when Belle Isle was being turned into a public park. Elected to the City Council as a Democrat in 1885, he won the mayoralty in 1887 and served in 1888–1889, then joined the Police Commission. In the 1890s he headed the State Transportation and Pridgeon Transportation companies and was an officer of the White Star Line and the Red Star Line, lake passenger lines. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1929.
Highlights
- Mayor of Detroit, 1888–1889
- Member of Detroit's first Park Commission, 1879–1883
- President of the Pridgeon Transportation Company
- Vice president of the White Star Line on the Detroit River