  Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 885 Registered: 11-2005 |
For those interested... http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=2007708220415 BY DAN AUSTIN FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Free Press reader Sean Doerr, 17, of Wayne asked: "Whatever happened to Cadillac's Chair?" Well, it was monumental. FIRST, THE MAN Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Detroit, arriving by boat on the site with his company of French colonists on July 24, 1701. He built Ft. Pontchartrain with the goal of keeping the English at bay. History does not tell whether he had a favorite chair at the time. PLAN A Two hundred years after Cadillac landed, city officials planned to mark the event by erecting a 220-foot marble column on Belle Isle with a natural gas light at the top. The structure was to be 24 feet wide and decorated with statues of figures from Detroit history. The price tag? About $1 million -- big bucks in those days. Too big, taxpayers said. PLAN B City leaders came up with the idea of a throne-like piece called the Cadillac Chair to be placed downtown. They hailed the concept as an important marker of Detroit history, something that would stand for ages and tell future generations of the city's heritage. They also noted it would cost just $1,500. So the red sandstone chair, with an inscription on the back telling of the explorer's arrival, was erected on July 24, 1901. The site was across from Detroit's second city hall (which was torn down in 1961), just east of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Campus Martius. NOT ETERNAL The chair didn't last ages. In fact, it lasted only 40 years. By the late 1930s, it had turned into a favorite resting spot for vagrants and drunks -- and was crumbling. At the end of October 1941, workers showed up with sledgehammers and the chair was removed in pieces. THE MYSTERY So where is it now? News reports at the time said the pieces were to be taken to the Detroit Institute of Arts, but the DIA has no record of the chair in its collection, and a 1972 search didn't turn up a crumb. Judging by how the chair was dismantled, it seems likely it's dust now. | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 561 Registered: 11-2006 |
Interesting... I wish detroit had more historic landmarks - or at least took care of the one's we've got. | ||
Karl Member Username: Karl Post Number: 9580 Registered: 09-2005 |
It appears that Detroit "took care" of this one, or what was left of it, via "workers showed up with sledgehammers and the chair was removed in pieces" This is one best left to RIP deep in the landfill into which it was dumped in 10/1941. | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 1507 Registered: 10-2006 |
"I wish detroit had more historic landmarks" There are a lot of cities that wish that they had as many historic landmarks as Detroit! | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1889 Registered: 04-2005 |
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Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2449 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks for digging up this photo, Hornwrecker!! A terrific piece of Detroit's French roots gone forever!!! | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1680 Registered: 12-2005 |
Sacre Bleu! |
