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Archive through October 16, 2008Sean_of_detroit30 10-16-08  7:32 pm
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Pffft
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Post Number: 1766
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Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 7:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

To be fair, as beautiful as those shots are, downtown had creeping blight even then. "Cancellation Men's Shoes" is hardly something you'd see on Michigan Ave. in Chicago, and look at the burlesk houses that were right downtown.
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Sean_of_detroit
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Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 9:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

^How did that saying go? "Memory believes, before knowing remembers".

-Quoted from "Made In Detroit".
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Detroitplanner
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Post Number: 1963
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Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 9:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Pffft

To be fair, as beautiful as Michigan Avenue is in Chicago 2008, you can't compare it to Detroit circa 1970. My first trip to Chicago as a kid had me amazed at how similar downtown Detroit and Chicago were at that time. There was tons of seedy shopping in Downtown Chicago even in the late 1980's. Most of Michigan Avenue's shopping was developed after the late 70's when URB built Water Tower Place. Take a close look at the Blues Brothers. Most of that was filmed in the loop and Chicago was vastly different than it is today.

Cancellation Shoes was not a terrible store. I bought several pairs of shoes there while in High School. At the time that this pic was taken, Hudsons had three floors of budget clothes, sold washing machines, cloth by the yard, and vaccum cleaners. Things change with time. You don't see any burlesk places in Downtown Detroit anymore. This is not because Detroit is too crappy to have burlesk places, but there is no market for that stuff anymore. It has fallen out of favor, as has buying washing machines at stores like Hudsons. Instead of Cancellations, we have outlet malls and DSW which are pretty much like Cancellations on steroids.
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Pffft
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Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 9:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroitplanner,

Good points. I'm not saying that Cancellation Shoes was a terrible store, just not a high-class, Hudson's or Hughes & Hatcher type of joint. And it wasn't the only "Cancellation" place downtown, that I recall...

The lower edge of downtown Detroit, where several burlie houses were, was considered a problem that needed correction, in the early '60s -- they did a little urban renewal on that neighborhood.
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Mdoyle
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Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 10:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The loss of our historic buildings never ceases to horrify me. In just a few short years look at all of that lost density.

This has been posted to death but for those who havent seen it yet here is the Demolition by Neglect article written about he Monroe block demolition.
http://www.michiganhistorymaga zine.com/detroit/pdf/monroe_bl k.pdf

I believe that at least some of our density and population could have been held on to if more of these building were converted to apartments or low income housing rather than being demolished. Even now our retail down woodward could easily be converted to having more affordable student and young professional housing on the upper floors as has been done with the Fyfe.

(Message edited by mdoyle on October 16, 2008)
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Warrenite84
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Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 11:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mdoyle, thanks for posting all these wonderful pics. They really fill a lot of holes in my understanding of the lost streetscape and the way things "looked"; clean and in use.
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Whithorn11446
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Post Number: 286
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 12:04 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"The lower edge of downtown Detroit, where several burlie houses were, was considered a problem that needed correction, in the early '60s -- they did a little urban renewal on that neighborhood"

Yes, and a number of flop houses and assorted bars scattered throughout downtown (outside the Michigan Ave. and later Cass Corridor skid rows) assisted in it remaining a little seedy in certain pockets. For instance, on Brush between Congress and Larned was home to the Claydale and Akron Hotels among others. The Cloud 9 Bar was on Larned and a hangout for the hotel(s) residents.
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Kennyd
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 12:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mohawk Rock and Rye? Never heard of it.
Thought it was strictly a Faygo flavor.
Great pics all.
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Eastsideal
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 12:45 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for the Crowley's pics! I can almost still hear the wooden escalators clacking.

"What is the name of that relatively tall building facing Cadillac Square behind those buildings on Monroe in picture 6? And when did all of those buildings on Monroe get demolished?"

That building was the Cadillac Square Building, which was torn down sometime in the early 70s. It must be one of the tallest buildings ever demolished in Detroit.

The Monroe block buildings were torn down in 1990 after about a decade of sitting vacant behind a big wooden fence emblazoned with "Historic Monroe Block," while preservationists tried to save them in the face of resistance from the city. Eventually the city got its wish and they were too far gone to save economically. They were the oldest commercial buildings in downtown Detroit.

A more complete story of the Monroe block here in the "Demolished by Neglect" article linked a few posts above (edited due to double posting of the same link).

(Message edited by eastsideal on October 17, 2008)
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Reddog289
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 12:52 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Now i have some pictures to go with all the stories i have heard growing up. I gotta find my old pictures, I took pix from the parking garage which is now the Greektown casino parking of the demolition of the hospital where the WCJDF is now. I,M NOT EVEN 40 YET, Wonder what the next 40 years will bring?
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Eastsideal
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 9:38 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

One of the reasons for all of the burlesque houses downtown, as well as the flop houses and other transient residences - many of them in the Cass Corridor - was the large number of single men in Detroit. During the years when the plants were going strong and there were lots of industrial jobs available around Detroit (hard to believe now I know, but once true) the city had a lot of single men around, many of whom would come in seasonally from down south or northern Michigan.

The name for Faygo Rock and Rye comes from what was once a very popular alcoholic drink, which consisted of rye whiskey with a chunk of rock candy dissolved in it and usually flavored with a bunch of citrus fruit. My dad used to keep a jar of it "aging" on the counter. Mohawk apparently made a bottled version of it for awhile.

(Message edited by eastsideal on October 17, 2008)
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Bulletmagnet
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 6:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Eastsideal, Mohawk sure has a history for making "candy" flavored beverages. I recall lime vodka, orange vodka, and a host of others too. If you look closely at the larger view of the 9th image down, one can clearly see an advertisement for Mohawk Rock & Rye. The flavors must have been added to cover up the god awful taste of the base spirit.
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Otter
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 6:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Eastsideal,

Great tidbit about Rock 'n' Rye - I always wondered how it got it's name. For that matter, I wondered just what it was supposed to taste like. I like it, but had no idea.
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Sean_of_detroit
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 7:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How long has the surface lot next to the Wayne County Building been vacant? I was surprised to see it empty in the photo above.
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Eastsidedame
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Post Number: 563
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Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 9:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm blown away by the vintage advertising art on the sides of the buildings. I never really looked at them until I started reading posts here. Ha!

Those photos represent the atmospheric elegance of Detroit at the time. "City Beautiful"? So green and blue with buildings like sculpture? You bet! I miss all those shops, too. But people gotta have $ to spend in them. It's still not too late...I have a lot of faith and hope in Detroit. We still have the river, great soil for trees and the buildings we have left. Hey, it's more than Cadillac had to work with in 1701!

Thanks for those photos...I'll be circulating this link to my 313 circle ASAP.
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Krapug
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Posted on Monday, October 20, 2008 - 7:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for the great pics, Crowley's building was beautiful, and the "park" created on the Kern block offered a full view of the Crowley's facade. I remember watching a PBS special on
Detroit around '75, and they showed the view of Crowley's from the Kern block park.

It is worth noting that many of these pictures were taken in the summer of '68, almost one year after the riots, and yet shoppers were still coming downtown, perhaps not as frequent as before, but they were still making the trek. Fast forward to the mid-70's, and downtown retail was on a fast decline. Crowley's starting the warnings about closing downtown around '75, and pulled the plug in mid '77, closing that July. In Crowley's case, they said that sales downtown were declining, but took an alarming nosedive in '76. In their case it is worth noting that
they never left Detroit. They moved their offices and warehouse to Lafayette Street, and kept a store at New Town Center right up to the end of the company.

What should have the city done in 1968 to have ensured continued vibrancy downtown in the decade to come ??

Ken
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Detroitrise
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Posted on Monday, October 20, 2008 - 4:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

What should have the city done in 1968 to have ensured continued vibrancy downtown in the decade to come ??



There wasn't much they could do.

The people & corporations had their minds made up.
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Wilus1mj
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Posted on Monday, October 20, 2008 - 10:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

You could putt off that lawn...It seems weird to see that manicured green grass between all the buildings. Who owned the land?
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Sharms
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Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - 1:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I loved the picture of the Monroe block with the National Theater. I worked at Crowleys in the men's dept on the main floor right inside the Monroe St. entrance. Directly across the street was the National and right next to it (barely visible in the photo) was a very small restaurant owned by two Greek brothers. I was in high school and I went there almost every day for lunch....for the great fried salami sandwiches and an occasional glimpse of one of the dancers from the National having coffee..
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Mayor_sekou
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Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - 3:01 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Eastsideal. Good info. I was always curious as to what existed on what is now a giant odd shaped parking lot in the heart of downtown. Damn shame they tore that tower down, I saw another picture of it and it was a nice looking building.
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Westsiiiide
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Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - 11:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow, I treasure the memories from these photographs. I worked downtown at B. Siegels, Bank of the Commonwealth, Smith Hinchman & Grylls (now the Smith Group) and shopped a lot downtown. As mentioned, yes you could purchase stoves, refrigerators, washers and such at Hudson's downtown. There was a small grocery store downstairs in 111 Cadillac Square for many years. Just lots of little treasures for shopping.

When the Ren Cen first opened, there were high end shops in which the main store was in Chicago, New York, and even Paris.

There are still today many, many historic buildings downtown that have been vacant for decades that should be restored. This would make Detroit downtown the charminig place it should be.
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Eastsideal
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Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - 1:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here is a little picture of the Cadillac Square Building. It was a 20 story Louis Kamper (Book Cadillac, Book Tower, Broderick Tower, Hecker house, etc.) designed building built in 1919 and originally known as the Real Estate Exchange. Sources differ on exactly when it was torn down, but it seems to have been sometime from 1976 to 78. Going on my own personal memories I'd tend towards the earlier date.

http://www.buildingsofdetroit. com/images/places/cadsqbldgmai n.jpg

(Message edited by eastsideal on October 22, 2008)
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D2dyeah
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Posted on Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 9:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mikeg.......Thanks for the terrific photos and info.
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Mikeg
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Posted on Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 9:49 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Above is a color photograph titled "The northeast corner of Monroe and Farmer Streets, July 1961."

Here is a black & white photograph taken of that same corner in March of 1871 [from the U of M Library's on-line collection of Early Detroit Images from the Burton Historical Collection].

From the library's description of the 1871 photo:
"A wide variety of posters cover a billboard located in a residential neighborhood. A streetlight next to a leafless tree is in the foreground."
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Mikeg
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Posted on Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 2:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here's a 1930 map of this area (courtesy of Hornwrecker):

map

Click here for a more readable version.
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Goirish1966
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Posted on Sunday, October 26, 2008 - 6:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I began a 35.5 year banking career in downton Detroit in 1965. In the early 1970s I was able to obtain a hollow tile brick from the Crowley building when it was being demolished.
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Bulletmagnet
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Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 12:37 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thank you for posting the 1930's area map of the department stores, Mikeg. With the image it is easy to see the layout of the stores in relation to each other and the buildings that still survive to this day. Thanks Hornwrecker.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 10:40 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

C'mon Eastside, give 'em the full link to the Cadillac Square Building. :-)
http://www.buildingsofdetroit. com/places/cadsqbldg
There are a number of photos and postcards of it on that page.
It was built as the Real Estate Exchange Building.

And the Hotel Ste. Claire stood NEXT to the Temple of Odd Fellows. The site is now a parking lot right on the corner. In those photos of the Ste. Claire on buildingsofdetroit.com, you can see the Odd Fellows next to it, it just has a Mansard roof, so you might not recognize it.

I really have to recompile the history of the Ste. Claire on there. I had a pretty exhaustive history but lost it in between backups when our host went out of business. Z.
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Bulletmagnet
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Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 10:55 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for the above linkage, Rhymeswithrawk. Can you repost the history of the Ste. Claire, or link us to it here?
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 11:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I will once I get it done again. I've been working on it. The trouble is that newspaper clips from the News and Freep have differing dates on some of its history, which has made it difficult.
I'll try to get more done on it this week, but I've been trying to get more buildings/places up on the site lately since there are SO many more to go, and nobody had been clamoring for Ste. Claire info. :-)
Wrapping up the page for the Union Depot now, and I'll redo the Ste. Claire after that. I also had compiled an exhaustive history on the Cadillac Sq. Bldg. that was lost in between backups. It was the state's "Detroit capital building." Have to redo that one, too.
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Sean_of_detroit
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Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 11:37 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

On Mikeg's map, what is the "BO7ERS HAUNTED SHACK"? It's next door to the Broadway Market.

Weird name...
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Mikeg
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Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 12:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sean_of_detroit,

Look for the answer to your question on the Haunted Places in tri county area? thread.
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Sean_of_detroit
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Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 8:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks!