Labadie Farm

Labadie Farm. Southwest Corner of Jefferson Avenue and Ten Mile Road. The earliest settlers in St. Clair Shores, mostly of French descent, lived along the lake with the friendly Potawatomi and Chippewa Indians. They called the area L’Anse Creuse. Farmers settled on lots called strip or ribbon farms which were from two hundred to six hundred feet wide and about nine miles in length. One such owner who had considerable influence in the development of the area was Nelson Labadie. His grandparents, Narcisse and Archange Alard, owned most of the land in the area. One of the first school houses in Erin Township was located on the Labadie property. The school was constructed by local farmers on a portion of land donated by Nelson Labadie with logs donated by the farmers from their own land., Nelson and Theresa Labadie lived in the farmhouse located on the southwest corner of Labadie Road (now known as Ten Mile Road) and Jefferson Avenue. They were the original proprietors of the Labadie General Store and Saloon. The store reportedly sold the best sugar coated buns in the area. The Labadies had ten children, three girls and seven boys, and many of the side streets are named after their children. Their son, Nelson, worked as a conductor on the Shore Line of the Interurban Railway that ran along Jefferson from Detroit to Mt. Clemens. His brother, Peter, served as a Commissioner for the Village of St. Clair Shores., In the early 1920s, Peter Labadie decided to get out of the grocery business and rented the farmhouse store to John and Helen Bennett. At the time, John Bennett was an employee of the A and P grocery store chain in Detroit but felt that he could make a better living for himself, so he opened Bennett’s Market. However, after Mrs. Labadie died, her son, Peter, decided he wanted the store back. Therefore, John and Helen Bennett moved their business location to the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Rosemary., In 1940, Peter sold the farmhouse and Driscoll’s Steak House opened, becoming the oldest landmark in St. Clair Shores. In 1976, Pat O’Grady’s Restaurant opened at the same location for a few years. In 1982, the business was failing and the restaurant again changed hands and opened as Bobby Moore’s Steak House and Blind Fish. They served the public from 1982 to 1997 until the building was destroyed by fire., In 2003, a new building was erected and housed Steve’s Backroom for the next three years. In 2006, Tom’s Oyster Bar occupied the space for one year. In 2010, Pegasus Restaurant opened at this location and, as of 2019, occupies the space.