Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning July 2006 » Slaughterhouses in Detroit « Previous Next »
Top of pageBottom of page

River_rat
Member
Username: River_rat

Post Number: 170
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 71.126.173.231
Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 7:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The thread on the fire at a slaughterhouse on Dix went far afield and awry.

Does anyone remember the actual slaughter of animals in detroit? I worked at Hammond Standish and Hygrades around Michigan and 21st and also around Rivard in the late 50's and early 60's. Actually slaughtered beef and lamb and some hogs in both areas. I was just out of high school in Detroit and the money was great, but the work was real tough and dirty.

Anyone out there with other memories?
Top of pageBottom of page

Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 51
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 152.163.100.8
Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 10:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

River: If I am remembering correctly....didn't they used to slaughter animals down by Eastern Market? I think it was pig......I remember a story not so far back about some getting loose. I could be wrong......or maybe it was cow. It was on the news.....cows loose in Detroit....whole neighborhood rallied and saved the one cow that was in the neighborhood. I think they bought it and donated it to a petting zoo. Now THAT is community with heart.
Top of pageBottom of page

Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 52
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 152.163.100.8
Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 10:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yep, happened in December, 2003. It was a steer that got loose......doesn't say where the slughter house was though but it was in Detroit.
Top of pageBottom of page

Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 996
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 10:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That was, most likely, a "bum" steer, and, as such, would have fit quite nicely in that neighborhood by the Dequindre cut.
Top of pageBottom of page

Detroitteacher
Member
Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 54
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 152.163.100.8
Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 11:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Now now...........I think the neighborhood came together nicely to help save this steer. Good pun tho.
Top of pageBottom of page

Dodgemain
Member
Username: Dodgemain

Post Number: 102
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 68.41.191.58
Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 11:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That did happen, and the cow was spared. I think it "retired" in northern Macomb
Top of pageBottom of page

Livedog2
Member
Username: Livedog2

Post Number: 581
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 71.10.61.35
Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 11:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow!

Livedog2
Top of pageBottom of page

Dodgemain
Member
Username: Dodgemain

Post Number: 103
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 68.41.191.58
Posted on Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 11:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There was a slaughterhouse where michigan ave, I75/96 and the rr tracks are. There is a big construction project going on on the old grounds.
Top of pageBottom of page

Thecarl
Member
Username: Thecarl

Post Number: 847
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 69.14.30.175
Posted on Sunday, July 02, 2006 - 12:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

speaking of slaughterhouses...who whacked the previous slaughterhouse thread? mr. lowell? or are there various moderators on this board? anyone know?
Top of pageBottom of page

Livedog2
Member
Username: Livedog2

Post Number: 583
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 71.10.61.35
Posted on Sunday, July 02, 2006 - 12:48 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The elephant is certainly in the living room, Thecarl.


Livedog2 +<(:-)~
Top of pageBottom of page

Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 997
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Sunday, July 02, 2006 - 1:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Holy Ghost zapped that thread.
Top of pageBottom of page

30th_street
Member
Username: 30th_street

Post Number: 35
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 64.12.116.204
Posted on Tuesday, July 04, 2006 - 11:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My mom lived on the corner of 21st and Standish. When she was young...1930's She always told me how bad it smelled especially in the summertime.
I remember seeing smelly trucks driving in southwest Detroit too and asking my dad what could be in them. He always told me pig parts.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ha_asfan
Member
Username: Ha_asfan

Post Number: 5
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 69.14.17.198
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 7:41 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My family owned a slaughterhouse in Eastern Market for many years. Beef was the primary target. I will never forget when I was in my early 20's and actually went on to the "kill floor". I had never seen this operation before and after one look, I got out of there as fast as I could and immediately stopped eating meat. The slaughterhouse was a large operation, employed many many people and was the primary supplier for local grocers.
Top of pageBottom of page

Morena
Member
Username: Morena

Post Number: 441
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 216.45.2.138
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 9:45 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There used to be a slaughter house on Bagley at Vermont way back. I remember trucks pulling in to the big parking lot with pigs on them and guys looking for work would wait around for the trucks to help guide them to the right dock. The building is still there.
Top of pageBottom of page

Treelock
Member
Username: Treelock

Post Number: 139
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 68.77.166.98
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 10:27 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

the cow that escaped from Eastern Market is now happily grazing at an animal refuge outside of Manchester, Michigan. That's about 10-15 miles due west of Saline in SW Washtenaw County. FYI.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ventura67
Member
Username: Ventura67

Post Number: 48
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 68.41.239.143
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 9:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think this is a slaughter house, behind the MCS at Standish and 21st. Sure does smell like one.

Can anyone verify that?

Top of pageBottom of page

Llyn
Member
Username: Llyn

Post Number: 1594
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 68.61.197.206
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 10:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Slaughterhouses in Detroit, now here's a thread for ya!!!

Sorry, couldn't help myself... now back to your regularly scheduled thread discussion...
Top of pageBottom of page

Hornwrecker
Member
Username: Hornwrecker

Post Number: 1289
Registered: 04-2005
Posted From: 12.64.30.248
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 10:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ventura, I looked at a 1921 map, and the building at the SW corner of 21st and Standish belonged to the Hammond-Standish Co, and south of that was Schulte Soap Co, 1831 21st, a tallow works.

Hammond was a meat packing company and they might have rebuilt on that land. The 1921 bldg is labeled as dealing with animal hair, probably for auto upholstery.

There were quite a few slaughterhouses listed in these old maps, but it would take many hours of looking at indexes, so it would have to be future long term project, like when/if the OCF thread ever ends.
Top of pageBottom of page

River_rat
Member
Username: River_rat

Post Number: 183
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 71.126.176.175
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 9:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Bingo Ventura 67, that is the Hammond Standish building that I worked at in the late 50's. i also worked at the Hygrade's plant on Michigan. Hygrades smoked a lot of ham and made hot dogs but didn't slaughter animals there. Hammond Standish did slaughter cattle and sheep (lambs) there. As I stated that was hard, dirty work and after two years of it, I was really sure I would finish college. River rat was a member of The Amalgamated Meatcutters and Butcher Workmen of America, local 101 and damned proud of it.

I worked with some remarkable people there and I think I learned more about the world there than I did at Wayne State.

The smell was, at best, pungent. The waste (bones, hooves, etc.) went to Detroit Rendering Co. and thoe trucks made pungent seem like Chanel #5.

Thanks for the photo Ventura 67, it brought back a lot of memories. I was working there when the Montrose sank in the Detroit River and all of us hustled down to watch her sink. the bosses were annoyed we took time off for such frivolity.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ventura67
Member
Username: Ventura67

Post Number: 50
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 68.41.239.143
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 10:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

River Rat, was that building built as a slaughterhouse/meat processing center to begin with or was it converted from something else? Nice looking industrial architecture that has stood up well.

Did meat or animals ever arrive via train?

Did that facility provide fresh meat for the passenger trains coming and going over at the MCS?
Top of pageBottom of page

Mikem
Member
Username: Mikem

Post Number: 2639
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.43.15.105
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 10:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

According to Polk's 1940 Detroit Directory:

"In common with many other of Detroit's great industries, the packing industry has lost the national fame it deserves in the huge publicity that automotive manufacturing has brought to the city. When meat packing is mentioned, such cities as Kansas City, Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha instinctively come to mind, but rarely does Detroit.

"At present Detroit is estimated to be about fourth in the United States as a packing center. It is one of the comparatively few large cities killing sufficient livestock to provide for its own needs. Not only do the local packers furnish Detroit and its environs with dressed meats, but they distribute their products over a large portion of the United States and even do an export business.

"The stock slaughtered in the local plants is drawn from Michigan and the West, coming, for the most part, through the Chicago Stock Yards. Kansas, Nebraska, and even Montana shorthorn and mutton stock is shipped here. Western points, as well as neighboring states, furnish the live stock for Detroit packers.

"In the event of the Great Lakes-to-the-Sea Waterway project becoming a realized fact, one of the greatest of its manifold benefits would fall to the Detroit packing industries. The plants located here would be in a position to become immediately dressed meat exporters of the largest caliber. Western meats would find their seaboard almost adjacent to the live stock ranges, and such cities as Detroit and Chicago might easily place themselves in position to compete with the Argentine in the exportation of packed meats to England and Europe.

"In Michigan the live stock and meat industry ranks as one of the most important. With approximately 5,000,000 people living in this state, the Government reports in its last live stock census that there are almost 4,000,000 head of live stock on Michigan farms.

"With the per capita consumption of meat last year at a little over 135 pounds, one can readily see that Michigan farms produce more meat than the population of Michigan consumes. The people in Michigan last year ate approximately 680,000,000 pounds of meat. If all animals on Michigan farms were marketed at once, the meat obtained therefrom would far surpass this total."




Top of pageBottom of page

Mikem
Member
Username: Mikem

Post Number: 2640
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.43.15.105
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 10:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Better yet...


Top of pageBottom of page

River_rat
Member
Username: River_rat

Post Number: 184
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 71.126.176.175
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 11:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Both Hammond Standish and Hygrade's had rail sidings from the New York Central and meat came in old style iced refrigerator cars. I unloaded thousands of pounds of "picnic hams", and regular hams out of refers into processing bins at Hygrade's. The meat came from Indianapolis from the Hygrade's plant there via rail, but at Hammond Standish I do not recall any rail arrivals, but the siding was there. All the animals came in by truck when I was at Hammond Standish.

As to whether or not the H-S building was originally built as a slaughter house or not, I do not know. Hygrades was mostly a smokehouse operation and hot dog manufacturing operation when I was there. The building was 6-7 stories high and of massive industrial construction with wooden beams that were likely 16 x 16. Much of it was used as warehouse in the 50's and was real spooky.

I do know that no meat went to the railroad station directly. I used to like to ride the NYC switcher (probably an SW-1) while they were switching the cars. A couple of hams usually fell into the cab by accident and the crew would let me move the throttle to run 1 or 2 position and use the airbrake badly.

My moniker while working was "collich-boy" because the other guys knew I was working to save for tuition. They were all hard workers and good men and, being young and idealistic, I had to show them that I could work as hard as they did. Dumb, but I sure learned a lot killing beasts and making hot dogs.
Top of pageBottom of page

Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 1030
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 69.242.223.42
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 11:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Enter into Google Earth the following coordinates:
42°19'40.62"N
83° 5'1.97"W
and you can still make out where the siding to Hammond-Standish went.
Top of pageBottom of page

Livedog2
Member
Username: Livedog2

Post Number: 611
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 24.223.133.177
Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 1:13 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

With all of the abattoirs located in the Eastern Market Area many of the slaughterhouse workers went to a popular tavern located in that area called the Butcher Club or Butcher’s Inn. In addition to the slaughterhouse workers that made this saloon famous The Red Wings Alumni Association had its founding meeting and many more meetings at the Butcher’s Inn.


quote:

As the long time Red Wings Alumni treasurer Larry Cain recalls, "Tommy Emmett operated a business in the Eastern Market area, a block away from our meat plant. Therefore, we saw each other quite often. I was in regular contact with Red Wing legend Larry Aurie, who agreed that it was a great idea." Unfortunately, Larry Aurie died very suddenly and didn't live to see his advice acted upon.

The idea, however, continued to live. "We decided to have an initial meeting on November 1, 1959 in the private dining area at Butcher's Inn. Several former Red Wing players used to drop in for lunch or refreshments at Butcher's and we continued to talk up the idea." In attendance at that first meeting were Stu Evans, Ebbie Goodfellow, Jack Stewart, John Sherf, Normie Smith, Sid Able, Ernie Burton, Rollie Roulston, Donnie Hughes, Jimmy Peters, Jack Tompkins, Larry Cain, and Tommy Emmett. The rest, as they say, is history.

The second meeting was held at the Butcher's Inn on December 4, 1959. A resolutions committee, comprised of Evans, Goodfellow, Tompkins and Sherf (as chairman), presented the resolution to form what was to be known as the Red Wings Alumni Club. The resolution was passed unanimously. Larry Cain nominated the following slate of officers to serve the Red Wings Alumni Club for one year or until such time as a new election should be held:

Stuart Evans President
Ebbie Goodfellow Vice President
Jack Stewart Treasurer
John Sherf Secretary

No other nominations were forthcoming so the slate was unanimously elected. At this point, the newly elected president took over the chair. Sid Able reported that Bruce Norris and Jack Adams, as well as other members of the Red Wing organization, were solidly in favor of the creation of a Red Wings Alumni Club. Sid was asked to extend a special invitation to Norris and Adams to join the new organization.




From slaughterhouses
slaughterhouse
to
Eastern Market
eastern
to
the Butcher's Club/Inn
buther
to
the Red Wings Alumni Association
red
there’s only "six degrees of separation!"

Livedog2

Add Your Message Here
Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.