Draft:Ralph Phelps

Ralph Phelps Sr. (April 1820-) was an American businessman in Detroit, Michigan. He wintered in Florida for the last 27 years of his life and owned orange groves near Jacksonville.

Phelps was born in Scipio, New York. He moved to Detroit with his older brother William in 1835.They went into the grocery business and opened the first soda fountain in Michigan. They opened a xCandy business adjacent. Ralph Phelos withdrew and established his own grocery business before transitioning into real estate in Detroit and Florida. He married Jane McKenzie of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Phelps married and had two children, Ralph Phelps Jr. and Mrs. John Trlx of 227 Trumbull Avenue. Ralph Phelps Jr. was a lawyer, politician and public official. He served as a police commissioner in Detroit.

Phelps' house at 1731 Seminole was designed by C. Howard Crane and built in 1914 in what is now the Indian Village Historic District. Musician Jack White lived in it.

Photo of Phelps at the groundbreaking for a library. He was also party to a case against Stoty Realy Company and the Coty of Detroit.

Phelps sued the city of Detroit for unauthorized maintenance in front of his property.