Discuss Detroit » Active Archive » Legendary Woodbridge Tavern destroyed by Fire [pics] « Previous Next »
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 3681
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 2:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sad pictures from today and as mentioned on another thread. I believe the Woodbridge [aka for a minute as the Stinky Rose] once held the 1st post prohibition license in Michigan.

Woodbridge Tavern Detroit


Woodbridge Tavern Detroit


Woodbridge Tavern Detroit
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Jams
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Username: Jams

Post Number: 4804
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 3:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

:-(
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Terryh
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Username: Terryh

Post Number: 154
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 3:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Was it located in Rivertown?
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Buddyinrichmond
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Username: Buddyinrichmond

Post Number: 125
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 3:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Where in Woodbridge was/is this place?
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Spiritofdetroit
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Username: Spiritofdetroit

Post Number: 301
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 3:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

not in woodbridge. Near Chene Park
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 521
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Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 3:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That's gonna take a bit of work to rebuild...
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 522
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Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 3:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Any word on the cause?
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Ddaydave
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Username: Ddaydave

Post Number: 443
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 3:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Damn one of the few bars left over from when rivertown was booming before the casinos wrecked the whole area ..
I heard that bars used to be a speakeasy but I`m not sure how true those rumors were
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Schoolcraft
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Username: Schoolcraft

Post Number: 99
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 3:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanx for the pics Lowell. Bittersweet though for many I am sure.Not that anyone cares but for me damn 1st date with wife there 22 friggin years ago.Also, saw bball game that day with Tigers in 84(George Anderson thrown out in 6th? inning)I want all of Rivertown to re-emerge and it will!!!Its a gold mine waitin to happen.
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Sstashmoo
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Username: Sstashmoo

Post Number: 13
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 4:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thats a shame, what a cool place that was. Used to go there a few years back when they did dinner/bus to the Joe deals during the hockey season.

It was definitely old inside..

Can't imagine why they changed the name with what history the "Woodbridge" name had.

Hopefully it was insured and it will be rebuilt.
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Dougw
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Username: Dougw

Post Number: 1560
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Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 7:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

When Channel 4 reported the story on Friday night, they mentioned that arson was the suspected cause. It looks like a goner at this point.
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Kathinozarks
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Username: Kathinozarks

Post Number: 203
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 8:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was a waitress at the Woodbridge in, like, 1990.
What great memories I have of the wooden floor, old phone booth, great bar, etc. Workers coming in for lunch in either suits or hardhats. People going to the games at night. Damn fun working there.
I loved the hamburgers there.
Dougw, I sure hope you are wrong and someone with vision takes the remaining walls and makes the Woodbridge II.
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Leland_palmer
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Username: Leland_palmer

Post Number: 224
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 8:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Lowell, I must have missed you by a few hours.

https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/5/94139.html?1171844441
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Ventura67
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Username: Ventura67

Post Number: 107
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 9:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That was our band's favorite place to play when we were working in the '90s.
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56packman
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Username: 56packman

Post Number: 1007
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 10:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My friend Henry played the piano there in the late 70's and early 80's, his son Mike took over that position, then management decided (like the rest of the world) that "if ain't coming out of guitars, it ain't music"--a shift in the character of the place. We held my Dad's retirement party there 21 years ago.
Send Archer the bill for the clean-up.
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Oldredfordette
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Username: Oldredfordette

Post Number: 1195
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 9:44 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How damn sad. Rivertown was a genuinely cool place to be, it was heartbreaking to see the bars fall one by one. Packman is right, thanks a lot Dennis.
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Walterwaves
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Username: Walterwaves

Post Number: 95
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 10:12 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

probably done for the insurance . Its a shame that people have to resort to this in order to keep from completely going under.
Im sure Rivertown will have a rebirth sometime in the near future.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 274
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 4:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I believe the Woodbridge [aka for a minute as the Stinky Rose] once held the 1st post prohibition license in Michigan.

I thought Pinky's Boulevard Club, at E. Jefferson at the Belle Isle bridge, had the first license after Prohibition. The club is now a Starbucks.
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Johnlodge
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Username: Johnlodge

Post Number: 145
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 5:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Nobody is rebuilding that place. Look at it. Rebuilding it is pointless. It'd be cheaper to start over.
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Leland_palmer
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Username: Leland_palmer

Post Number: 226
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 7:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There was no saving the Soup Kitchen, I can't see this one getting saved either.
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 532
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 8:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Send Archer the bill for the clean-up."

Actually send Archer the bill to rebuild Rivertown...
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Dds
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Username: Dds

Post Number: 129
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 9:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'll cross post this from the other thread: I'm pretty sure that this is the second time the Woodbridge has burned. The first time I remember was when it reopened after closing the first time. I went in and they had Bud and Bud Light on tap, and maybe 4 bottles of liquor behind the bar. They looked to be doing more construction on the back and upstairs. When I asked the friend who I went with if he wanted to go back about 3 weeks later to see if things improved, he said the word around Rivertown (he worked at the Bastille) was that it burned. That was never confirmed, but I'm assuming there may be someone on this board that heard differently, or not.
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Bvos
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Username: Bvos

Post Number: 2110
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 10:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Another piece of Detroit history up in flames.

http://www.metrotimes.com/news /stories/cul/18/27/Wdbrdge.htm l
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Mallory
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Username: Mallory

Post Number: 82
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 8:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

WOW! What an absolutely sad ending to a historic landmark (in my opinion). I used to go there for a nightcap after work at the River Place (aka Tangerine Room) down the street. Especially on dead nights, we'd either go to the Rhino (RIP) or the Tavern, or sometimes the Soup Kitchen.

I'll say it again: WAY TO GO, ARCHER!

I agree with Charlottepaul, send the bill to Archer.
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Dbc
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Username: Dbc

Post Number: 31
Registered: 09-2006
Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 1:04 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That sucks. That was such a cool bar with a great historic Detroit feel. I last went there to see Jerry Sprague, which should be a familiar name to any Spartans from the 90's.

Rivertown was great back then, with BC's, the Rivertown Saloon, the Rhinoceros, the Soup Kitchen, and the Woodbridge. I guess GM has grand plans for the area, but it's hard to replace the character and uniqueness of places like the Woodbridge.
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Eric_w
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Username: Eric_w

Post Number: 29
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 4:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

sadly another piece of Detroit's legacy gone for good. Just a comment- I hate the name " Rivertown"- I liked it before when it was known as the "Warehouse District".That place had some unique character.
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Jams
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Username: Jams

Post Number: 4822
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 4:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

thought Pinky's Boulevard Club, at E. Jefferson at the Belle Isle bridge, had the first license after Prohibition. The club is now a Starbucks



Right about the first point.

The building burned, was razed, and the Starbucks was built as new construction.

Miss sitting at that piano bar sipping on a Manhatten imagining a Detroit of another era. (sigh)

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