  Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 1 Registered: 11-2006 |
Hi everyone. I am very excited to be a part of this very informative and historically interesting forum. I reside in Ferndale and often make forays into the city to take photographs of early to mid-twentieth century houses and landmarks. My particular obsession is with the Oakland Ave. section between East Grand Blvd and Manchester which is rich in Purple Gang history. My interest in the city developed back in the early nineties when my Detroit resident girlfriend and I visited the newspaper microfilm room of the DPL and I read and browsed articles about the infamous Purple Gand and Detroit riots of 1943. The city is rich in history and there are so many research tools( some of which I will share) and beautiful rich in history and architecurally significant buildings. Anyways, it's nice to be here. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1766 Registered: 10-2003 |
Welcome, terryh, to Detroit YES!! You'll find many who share your appreciation of the city's history. | ||
Dialh4hipster Member Username: Dialh4hipster Post Number: 1855 Registered: 11-2004 |
Welcome Terryh!!!!!!! | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 3350 Registered: 10-2003 |
Welcome, and as a newbie it is required that you always have a flame retardant suit on yourt person at all times for at least your first six months here...  | ||
Mtm Member Username: Mtm Post Number: 153 Registered: 06-2006 |
Welcome Terryh! When I was a kid, my Dad used to point out the hotel where the Purple Gang hung out. It was probably canabalized by the GM Poletown plant. If I remember correctly, it was near the old Sherwin Williams (Acme Paint) plant near St. Aubin[?] (Message edited by mtm on December 04, 2006) | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 3 Registered: 11-2006 |
That neighbor hood is not a considerable distance from the Oakland Avenue district where many Purples hung out. | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 46 Registered: 07-2006 |
Hi, Terryh! I am glad you decided to join the forum. I look forward to reading your posts! | ||
Corktownmark Member Username: Corktownmark Post Number: 230 Registered: 12-2004 |
The Oakland area just north of the blvd is experiencing some new housing development west of Oakland. Between Oakland and I75. I am in that nieghborhood couple times a week. It is a contender to be one of the next hot redevelopment areas. Welcome to the Detroityes Forum! Mark | ||
Eric_c Member Username: Eric_c Post Number: 895 Registered: 11-2003 |
Two weeks ago, in fact, FSC (Forum Social Club) met at Apex Bar on Oakland near Clay. Welcome! | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 5 Registered: 11-2006 |
The Apex hosted performers on Detroit fortune records label. Ill have to visit the place sometime. | ||
Dhugger Member Username: Dhugger Post Number: 111 Registered: 03-2005 |
A big hello from one forum newbie to another .... yes less than 200 posts makes one a real newbie in this forum. I look forward to learning more about the Purple Gang from your posts Terryh. | ||
Brandon48202 Member Username: Brandon48202 Post Number: 127 Registered: 12-2004 |
Terryh- if you search the DetroitYes archives you should be able to find an interesting thread about an old Jewish Bathhouse on Oakland Ave that is still in operation. I believe that the place is called a Schvitz | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 11 Registered: 11-2006 |
Thanks Brandon. Im actually very familiar with the bathhouse you are referancing. | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 792 Registered: 06-2006 |
Hola and welcome!! Glad to have you join us. Look forward to your input and pictures!! | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 3376 Registered: 10-2003 |
Welcome to the forum Terryh. Yes, the "Schvitz" is probably the biggest lasting monument of the Purple Gang days along Oakland. There are also ten or twelve former synagogues still existent in that neighborhood and within walking distance of the Schvitz. You'll find them along with the Schvitz in the Lost Synagogues of Detroit site at www.shtetlhood.com. Over time we have had discussions about the gang but it is always good to have a redux. To that end, I have taken the liberty to descriptively rename your thread title. I'll leave it to jjaba to take it from there. | ||
Brandon48202 Member Username: Brandon48202 Post Number: 128 Registered: 12-2004 |
I lived at an apartment building a few years ago that was reportedly inhabited by Purple Gang members back in the day. Currently called "Milner Arms Apartments" the building is located at 40 Davenport. It is located behind Orchestra Place in Midtown. | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 13 Registered: 11-2006 |
Thanks Lowell. I have actually visited the Lost Synagogue site you are referring to. | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 15 Registered: 11-2006 |
Oakland avenue and some of the cross streets were jam packed with small mom and pop businesses. The area seen some looting during the riot of 43. I have a book about the old trolley system and there is a pic from early 20's at Josephine and Oakland, it was winter and looked kind of dark and dreary.I wrote the addresses of some remaining buildings so I can reference an old phone book (they used to have cross street listings) to find out what kind of businesses occupied them. There was a theatre on Oakland that featured local talent. The lot where the Oakland Sugar house sat is vacant except for two poles: I should look into purchasing the lot and do an archaelogical dig. If them walls could talk........ | ||
Detroitej72 Member Username: Detroitej72 Post Number: 429 Registered: 05-2006 |
The lot where the Oakland Sugar house sat is vacant except for two poles: I should look into purchasing the lot and do an archaelogical dig. If them walls could talk........ Terryh, what is the cross-streets where the Oakland Sugar House was located? The spot I thought was, apparently is incorrect. Thanks, Detroitej72 | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 1870 Registered: 10-2004 |
"The lot where the Oakland Sugar house sat is vacant except for two poles: I should look into purchasing the lot and do an archaelogical dig." Take Geraldo and a TV film crew with you to shoot that video of you unearthing a whisky bottle. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 4561 Registered: 11-2003 |
In the basement of the Oakland Sugar House is a Detroit River Ford Model T cutter used in winter to move the goods. All cases were marked "FOB Hong Kong", part of the British Empire. See if you can dig it out. Welcome to the Forum. We look forward to your posted photos. There have been extensive discussions on several threads about Jews in Detroit, and other related topics. When jjaba was coming up on the Westside, his father shopped regularly on Westminster St. and Oakland in the old Jewish neighborhood. At the time, 12th and Clairmont, Linwood, and ofcourse Dexter Blvd. were heavily Jewish too. Lowell has documented synagogues and other Jewish communal bldgs. in this award-winning website. Pish posh, there's a lot more to Jewish Detroit than the Purples. The Collingwood St. Massacre has been well documented here also. Shalom from jjaba, Westside Bar Mitzvah Bukkor. | ||
Crash_nyc Member Username: Crash_nyc Post Number: 694 Registered: 08-2004 |
[I know I've told this story before on another long-ago-deleted thread, but here it is again...] My paternal great-grandfather (whom I never knew) used to run an underground blind-pig in the 8-Mile & Woodward area during the Prohibition era. Apparently, some members of the Purple Gang were unhappy with his establishment, and busted into his bar late one night, shotguns blasting, and he sustained a direct hit. The only thing that saved him was that he held his arms over his face, keeping the buckshot from penetrating his skull. My father told me that my great-grandfather's party show-stopper for the rest of his life was showing off his "Purple Gang scars": buckshot scars across his forearms and torso. Still freaks me out a a bit -- if he hadn't held up his arms, I probably wouldn't be here today. | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 22 Registered: 11-2006 |
The Oakland Sugar house was located at Oakland and Holbrook. |
