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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1006
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 1:12 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I put together a short history and video of photos of the old Union Depot on Fort Street. I thought some of you might dig it.

The Union Depot, designed by J. Stewart & Co., opened in 1893.
This was the smaller of Detroit's two major train stations, the other being the now-infamous Michigan Central Station. The Union Depot was on Fort at Third, across from what is now the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News building.
The depot was a bustling place during the war years in the 1940s. Folks arrived there from all over the country to work at the Willow Run bomber plant, sitting up all night on the mohair seats of the day coaches. Others said their farewells to loved ones on the depot's train platforms and headed off to war. Others were just going to visit Grandma.
Imagine the sounds of a different time that echoed through its chambers.
Trolleys pulling up front. The click-clacks of heels. The clomp of combat boots. The hiss of steam. The tears of hello. "All aaaaaaaaboooooooard!" The dinging of a bell. Huffing and puffing. The shrieking of metal on metal. The tears of goodbye.
But air travel and cars made train travel obsolete, and the depot closed in 1971.
In late January 1974, the building would be destroyed. But instead of a wrecking ball, a crane with a jack-o-lantern-like clamshell nibbled away on its red sandstone walls. A fitting, drawn-out demise for a building that had served Detroiters for nearly 80 years.
The Wayne County Community College District stands there today. Its miles of rails replaced with roads of concrete; most of the tracks are under what is now the Lodge Freeway (M-10).
A transformation as sad as it is appropriate.

Video is here:
http://animoto.com/play/185315 5b3268a3a8dcc1ad07ae928776
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Andylinn
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Username: Andylinn

Post Number: 626
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 1:46 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

i was struck with how similar the building looked to old main (still standing in midtown). actually, at first i thought it WAS old main... wow. thank you for the piece. a very well done slideshow. good work..
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Livernoisyard
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Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 4548
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 3:08 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

The Union Depot opened in 1893 at Fort Street and Second.

Duh! There's a church on Fort between Second and Third. In fact, it's the same church where Henry Ford got hitched.

Now, just how could the train depot be located at Second and Fort, which would necessitate trains going through the church from west of Third? And, there was yet another train station for the Michigan Central on Third, a bit south of the Union Depot--which burned down in late 1912.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1012
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 1:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Oops, LY, sorry, the Union Depot was on Third and Fort, not Second. My bad!
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5115
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 2:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Nice video indeed. What did you use to make it?
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1015
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 - 3:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

animoto.com
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Nyct
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Username: Nyct

Post Number: 78
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 - 4:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

good radiohead song choice. i love that drum beat.
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Gazhekwe
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Username: Gazhekwe

Post Number: 967
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 - 5:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That is a nice overview. I'd forgotten all about that building. It was a beauty, too.

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