  Bdglsmn Member Username: Bdglsmn Post Number: 1 Registered: 01-2008 |
Hey people. I've been enjoying the site from the shadows for quite a while and I finally made up my mind to join. I am looking for any photos of businesses in the Fenkell/Livernois area. I grew up around there, in the 60's and 70's and I've got some fond memories of that area particularly Fenkell between Livernois and Dexter. Any one here from that part of town? | ||
Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 704 Registered: 11-2005 |
welcome to the forum Bdglsmn. I am from the University district not far from there but I must say don't have photos from there, sorry. | ||
Bdglsmn Member Username: Bdglsmn Post Number: 2 Registered: 01-2008 |
Thanks Urbanoutdoors. Im glad to be here. | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 631 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hi BD - Fot Hudge Detroit has a thread featuring photos of Fenkell. You probably won't see much that reminds of the glory days in the 60s/70s. | ||
Ptero Member Username: Ptero Post Number: 153 Registered: 12-2005 |
Original home of Honey Baked Ham, on Fenkell one block west of Dexter. Ptero, standing in line for a ham... | ||
Bdglsmn Member Username: Bdglsmn Post Number: 3 Registered: 01-2008 |
Thanks Craig and Ptero. You are correct that is the original Honey Baked Ham building. They are nationwide now and it started right there at that location. Nice shot of it on Hot Fudge although its not what it used to be. Right up until 3 years ago, when it closed, there would be a line around the corner with people waiting to buy a ham for the holidays! | ||
Trstar Member Username: Trstar Post Number: 19 Registered: 05-2007 |
Memories. Standing in the COLD for a Thanksgiving ham. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5967 Registered: 11-2003 |
jjaba grew and lived in a two-flat on Northlawn, between Intervale and Schoolcraft. The block is still beautiful today. He attended Noble, Tappan and Cass Tech., class of 1959. To this day, he remembers in the 1950s when they took out a block of houses behind the stores on the Eastside of Livernois and North of Fenkell, for parking. It was eminent domain at its ugliest, to find parking for this thriving strip of stores, enabling them to compete with Northland Center. As jjaba recalls, they were metered stalls, and one of many blocks destroyed around Detroit for cars. A living example today is some of the blocks behind Joseph Campau in Hamtramck, where there is thriving retail. Bdglsmn, welcome to the Forum. What's the status of retail along there today? Did they ever re-build behind there on Petoskey? jjaba, Westsider. | ||
Bdglsmn Member Username: Bdglsmn Post Number: 4 Registered: 01-2008 |
Hi Jjaba. That strip of land is vacant now and has been for years unfortunately. That whole intersection is just a memory now. There was an S.S. Kresge on the Northeast corner that I used to go to when I was a kid. There are only three businesses on that block now with the rest torn down. You can see Petosky from Livernois now because of the vacant lots. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5971 Registered: 11-2003 |
Another true Detroit ruins. Those wonderful two-story brick commercial blocks from the 1920s is what made Detroit neighborhoods so nice. Walk to shops, walk to buses, and shop on a transfer. jjaba recalls your Kresges like it was yesterday. Now all's we got is speeding cars on John C. Lodge Expy. looking up at the ruins. Do post some current photos if you can. jjaba, Westside Bar Mitzvah Bukkor. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6985 Registered: 02-2004 |
For far is I know The former Livernois and Fenkell Shopping district is long gone. The Lodge FWY torn it up, crackheads mess it up. The folks who lived there don't give a hoot about the area. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5975 Registered: 11-2003 |
I guess it is really rough around the UD/Mercy area, south of campus. jjaba. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 4864 Registered: 10-2004 |
There's some limited new construction in that area. Mostly fast food and the like. But nearly everything near there is rough and new stores age quickly. My uncle's former business was near 6 and Livernois. Still lots of crime (drugs). | ||
Masterblaster Member Username: Masterblaster Post Number: 112 Registered: 03-2005 |
There is/was a green sign near that intersection that says "Harmony Village Market" and has an arrow pointing in the west direction. To the north and west of that intersection are the following 3 buildings and a Canopy-type structure. Could this structure have been the location of the "Harmony Village Market"???? Does anybody know what the "Harmony Village Market" was????   | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 50 Registered: 10-2007 |
That Harmony Village Market sign's been there for quite a while. Never found it. Circle Glass Co is still on Fenkell E of Livernois. Another one of those "diamonds-in-the-rough-neighbo rhood" type of deals. They supply every hardware store (left) in the city and suburbs. Top notch service, wholesale prices. To take that drive further east towards 12th and see all those old commercial/retail spaces right on the street really makes me wonder about how vibrant that strip (along with most of the main drags thru this town) were at one time. By the way, I was looking at an old deed with the platted information on it from the mid 20's from a house on Evergreen just north of Fenkell. Fenkell on the map was 14th (or 12th) Street. Found that interesting, considering that's where Fenkell starts. | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 1755 Registered: 07-2004 |
Hi Bdglsmn! Welcome to the Forum. This thread really brings back memories! I grew up on LaSalle between Fenkell and Puritan, and used to go to the Livernois shopping strip with my mom a lot. She used to buy kid curlers to do my hair; The Kresge 5 and 10 was magical to me because they had so many odd items, in a way it reminds me of Paul's Cut Rate downtown. Remember the Rib Shack [i think thats what it was called] at the end of the block, on the Lodge service drive? There was this circular exit to Livernois from the Lodge that was changed a number of years ago. I attended Post Junior High between 66 and 69, and used to walk up Midland to school. On the way home I always took a detour to the Kresges, then finished my way home by going down Fenkell, stopping at a party store to get a copy of JET. This was when I was going to summer school in 68. There is NO WAY I would ever let my daughter do that now! She goes to Cass Tech, and gets dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon. I have so many great memories, though, of this neighborhood....I remember the Honey Baked Ham place well; my dad banked at the Detroit Bank & Trust on Fenkell, St.Francis Home for Boys. Leoqu een/Gilda, alum of Custer Elementary, Post Jr.High, Cass Tech | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5979 Registered: 11-2003 |
Classic post, Leoqueen. Good to hear positve takes from Westsiders. jjaba had some friends from Post who went to Cass Tech. jjaba was in Printing Dept. on the 6th floor after learning alot from Mr. Gutterberg at Tappan Intermediate. We had a print shop in our old coal bin on Northlawn near Intervale. Your description of the omnipresent commercial blocks of stores is true. We shopped and walked, rode buses in the neighborhoods. jjaba, Proudly Westside. | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 52 Registered: 10-2007 |
About 4 yrs ago I restored some old decorative (lilly) lead glass windows on Lasalle, 1st block N. or Puritan. Beautiful houses there. Jjaba, many of those houses are really deep into the lots. Any idea of the history/inhabitants there? I thought U of D, given its proximity, had some influence. But why just that one block? Normandy's not nearly as grand, nor is east (Lawton?). HamT, re-glazing windows. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5986 Registered: 11-2003 |
HamT, jjaba hasn't a clue. But thanks for asking. Keep up your important work. jjaba. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 221 Registered: 08-2007 |
didn,t that area have one of those "mini riots" back in 75 or so? | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 4664 Registered: 10-2003 |
yes. RIP Marian Pscyzo, a polish immigrant, dishwasher at Sanders's, killed by a racist mob at Livernois/Fenkell, summer 1974 | ||
Dustin89 Member Username: Dustin89 Post Number: 188 Registered: 07-2006 |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L ivernois-Fenkell_riot | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5991 Registered: 11-2003 |
Dustin89, excellent post. Thanks for the hotlink to our history. Sounds like Coleman Young got into action to quiet it down. jjaba. | ||
Thames Member Username: Thames Post Number: 25 Registered: 02-2007 |
From 1981 till 1989 I worked for a bakery distributor that was located on Wildemere (I think they're still there), just a block or 2 past Oakman Blvd. & Ewald Circle. There were some beautiful homes on those streets. Well kept lots; it was a pleasant drive when I took Oakman into work. There was a GREAT deli on Fenkell, just west of Livernois. We'd go there for lunch quite often. Unfortunately, I didn't witness this area in its prime, but I could see what it was and what it could be again. We were robbed at gunpoint at that place; I thought I was a dead duck. Just like the movies, they had us lay face down on the floor. Horrible. What I did witness while working over there was the emergence of "crack houses". Now that I look back with 20/20 hindsight I understand what I was seeing but at the time, who knew? It's like you knew something was going on, but you're not sure what and us regular folk had yet to hear of crack back in the early eighties. Regular folk as in, not druggies. (Message edited by thames on January 19, 2008) | ||
Softailrider Member Username: Softailrider Post Number: 111 Registered: 02-2007 |
I believe you're referring to the Modern Deli on Fenkell , Great food , up till around 1985 or so . | ||
Leob Member Username: Leob Post Number: 111 Registered: 10-2005 |
Masterblaster's pic #1 was Tera Shirma studios. From our sister site Soulful Detroit: http://www.soulfuldetroit.com/ web03-terashirma/index.html Leo B | ||
Ruthie1 Member Username: Ruthie1 Post Number: 3 Registered: 01-2008 |
Hi, I too have been enjoying these forums from the shadows. I lived on Robson between Fenkell and Puritan, but actually closer to Puritan. I graduated from Cooley in 67 and we moved around 69 or 70 to Southfield. But, I remember that area fondly - does anyone remember the "Red Devil" pizzeria? I loved their food. | ||
Ruthie1 Member Username: Ruthie1 Post Number: 4 Registered: 01-2008 |
Leob - thank you for that link to Tera Shirma studios - my brother is friends to this day with one of the Sunliners - Gil, and he went to the Club Cliche that is mentioned in there, and knew all the other Sunliners too. I will have to forward this to him. It sure was fun viewing it. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 222 Registered: 08-2007 |
i don,t remember my uncles auto parts store on Fenkell too well just remember that his store was looted during the riot, i,ll have to find the address and look it up . RED DEVIL they had great pizza. | ||
Ptero Member Username: Ptero Post Number: 155 Registered: 12-2005 |
mmmmm, Red Devil. Great stuff. YUM. Grew up at the corner of Ardmore and Eaton, two blocks south of Sam's Drugs on Fenkell. Loved the storefront in Sam's block that was all toys. Ran by the family too. Eventually they opened the whole block internally. Years later, one of the Sam's family opened the antique coin toy collection out on Orchard Lake and Northwestern years. Detroit cops stopped me on my bicycle once: "Hey kid, here's $20, go in the toy shop and try to buy fireworks". I was too straight looking - no sale. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1526 Registered: 04-2006 |
Wasn't one of the first Honeybaked stores over there too? | ||
Vetalalumni Member Username: Vetalalumni Post Number: 887 Registered: 05-2007 |
Red Devil Pizza on Fenkell was popular into the early 80s, but unsure after that. Many of my HS friends who would have normally attended Cooley HS were rerouted to Redford HS in the mid-to-late 70s. There was also a very popular adult "club" on the west side of Livernois north of Fenkell. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 228 Registered: 08-2007 |
it was in the 80,s when my uncle started to take me to the Red Devil for pizza, my father who grew up close to there always talked about Sams Drugs. keep saying im going to get me a Red Devil pizza. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 6002 Registered: 11-2003 |
Ptero, classic post. Can you spell ENTRAPMENT? Great little story. jjaba. | ||
Ookpik Member Username: Ookpik Post Number: 374 Registered: 01-2007 |
 Livernois between Puritan and Midland. Photo looks to be from the 1950's. Larger View Ookpik | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2583 Registered: 01-2005 |
Looks to have been shot from an old used car lot that used to be ubiquitous on Liverwurst. Think that's a '56 Chevy at the curb. Ook comes through again! | ||
Dustin89 Member Username: Dustin89 Post Number: 192 Registered: 07-2006 |
Here is a sad reminder of the current state of Fenkell Street: http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20080121/METRO /801210376/1361 | ||
Austinjohn Member Username: Austinjohn Post Number: 309 Registered: 10-2003 |
I lived on Steger Court when I was a kid. It is near Livernois and Puritan. The cross street was San Juan. My friend Dave was a preacher's kid. His dad was a minister at Henderson Memorial Methodist Church on Puritan. Moved when I was 13 to Flint, then to Jackson. Moved back to Detroit to go to WSU in 1973. | ||
Lombaowski Member Username: Lombaowski Post Number: 82 Registered: 11-2004 |
15 year old girls out at 4 am in west Detroit. That sums up a lot of what is wrong with Detroit right there. | ||
Nordawg_626 Member Username: Nordawg_626 Post Number: 5 Registered: 09-2006 |
I lived on Belden From 64 to 97 it's really make me sad to see how bad it's getting over there. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 231 Registered: 08-2007 |
i would show that article to 'my 15yr old girl' but she,d just ignore it. i,d did drive down Fenkell exploring when i was 16, said "This ain,t as good as 7mi". | ||
Jgavrile Member Username: Jgavrile Post Number: 2 Registered: 09-2005 |
My family used to own the Starlit TV repair on Fenkell just west of Livernois . Met my first wife there,as she lived upstairs from the TV shop. F.D.Stella products across the street. Also there was a little dinner on Fenkell and Chalfonte I think that had great lunch. I think it was called Harry's. Lot of great places in that are. Good Houskeeping shop on Livernois. East of Livernois, was a great delicatessen. Had the best Pastrami.Also remember the Rib shack near the freeway. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 6073 Registered: 11-2003 |
Jgavrile, Welcome to The Forum. Good to see more Westsiders showing up. jjaba, Westside Bar Mitzvah Bukkor. | ||
Bdglsmn Member Username: Bdglsmn Post Number: 5 Registered: 01-2008 |
Sorry to report that the deli that Thames and Jgravrile mentioned earlier burned to the ground last night. This is very disappointing to me because my family owns property in that area and myself and friends have purchased a couple of buildings down there in hopes of revitalizing that little strip on Fenkell from Dexter to Livernois. The Modern Delicatessen has always been anchor for that neighborhood even though it had turned into more of a liquor store than restaurant. | ||
Jman Member Username: Jman Post Number: 116 Registered: 10-2006 |
Sad to hear Bdglsmn, after the Jewish community left the Linwood and Dexter neighborhood, the Modern Deli was the closest place for me to get a good corned beef sandwich. | ||
Bdglsmn Member Username: Bdglsmn Post Number: 6 Registered: 01-2008 |
Thanks Jman. It makes me sad. I remember sitting at that lunch counter, back in the late sixties early seventies, when I was just a little fella. It was a warm and comfortable place no matter what race/religion you were. | ||
Jman Member Username: Jman Post Number: 117 Registered: 10-2006 |
Funny you should describe it as "warm". The last time I remember being there was on a cold winter day. Probably about 20 below and 10 feet of snow. O.K., I tend to exaggerate a bit. Anyway, it was exactly as you describe and not just the temperature in the deli but the people as well. | ||
J1146 Member Username: J1146 Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2008 |
I just stumbled on this site. Fenkell - Livernois - Dexter> I do have some memories. I lived on Wildemere both north and south of Fenkell. I lived on Fenkell over Epstein’s Bakery. I lived on Quincy at Fenkell over an attorney's office. His name was Don Windiate. It was next to Taepke"s Hardware which was next to the Three Roses bar. Mr.Peleo owned the bar. I used to play with his son, Cornell. Weaver's Pool Hall was also in the neighborhood. On Livernois, north of Fenkell, was the Savoi, a fine restaurant. Guido was bar tender and part owner. Great steaks-always with a side of spaghetti. I forget the name of the movie house on Fenkell between Dexter and Livernois. They used to have "Dish Night". Occasionally one would hear a dish drop and break. That always got a round of applause. This was all during the depression. We had more fun! | ||
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav Post Number: 373 Registered: 09-2007 |
I enjoyed the conversations on this thread; always nice to read what people have to say about Post Junior High and Good Old Cooley High. I was somewhat puzzled by the Wikipedia article on the Livernois & Fenkell "mini-riot" that took place in 1975; there is mention of race-related attacks. With all due respect to the poor soul that lost his life in the disturbance; my remembrance is that...by the summer of '75, there were very few white folks remaining in the area of Fenkell and Livernois. Perhaps I am mistaken; were elderly entrenched white homeowners and/or unsuspecting white passers-by being attacked? | ||
Bdglsmn Member Username: Bdglsmn Post Number: 10 Registered: 01-2008 |
Wow J1146 those are great memories! I would love to see what that area looked like back then. | ||
J1146 Member Username: J1146 Post Number: 4 Registered: 02-2008 |
In the eyes of a young kid, the area looked terrific. There was a blond with curly hair that sold tickets at the Picadilly theatre. She was the prettiest girl in the world. There was a big barber shop on Fenkell, east of Livernois. Full of mirrors. It looked like Cobo Hall does now. |
