  Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 3830 Registered: 10-2003 |
 How ^many can you identify without peeking? I've started the tour. Tell us the stories. | ||
Bussey Member Username: Bussey Post Number: 509 Registered: 12-2003 |
What about that place @ the corner of Forest and Chene? Its a Polish place, I always thought that it was "the" Dom Polski. Nothing compares to the grandeur and boldness of the Deutches Haus. When did that gem stop functioning? | ||
Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 4284 Registered: 10-2003 |
Those halls reflect the unity that each group had upon arrival to a new world. Now, it's everyone for themselves. | ||
Bobj Member Username: Bobj Post Number: 2006 Registered: 11-2003 |
I already looked at the tour. But it sparked a discussion with a friend about how the world has changed. Back then, we all looked out for each other, maybe through national origin, but we were more community than we are now. The only real community I feel is through my Church. | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 618 Registered: 10-2003 |
A new documentary,DOM POLSKI: DANCE HALL DAYS OF DETROIT’S POLONIA. http://www.detroitpolonia.org/ | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 3834 Registered: 10-2003 |
Details ^ of above is in this thread by Kathleen. New Documentary on Dom Polski Premieres 4/28/07 | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5286 Registered: 11-2003 |
Excellent representation of the early European national halls. Thanks. Can we get somebody to describe a brief history and location of them? Thanks. jjaba. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3279 Registered: 10-2003 |
Belgian Hall, home of the Belgian American Business Men's Association, near Gratiot & Harper:   German-Hungarian Progressive Association, Elmwood & Arndt:  | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3280 Registered: 10-2003 |
Pre-war halls around Detroit - many church related, but several with ethnic or occupational organization:     | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3078 Registered: 10-2004 |
I grew up during the 1950s in Milwaukee, and my close association and memory of those clubs back then left me with impressions that these clubs were well on their way to dying. Detroit's clubs were very much like Milwaukee's with the exceptions that Milwaukee had more Yugoslavians and Germans and Austrians than Detroit. In large part, they were bars and bowling alleys, and most of them had banquet facilities for weddings and wakes. They had a major drop of memberships during the 1950s, IMO. Perhaps, TV had a lot to do with that. And when the urban factories closed after WWII, their former daytime paying bar patrons after work dwindled. And their bowling alleys were taken out or the clubs just closed altogether. Nothing sinister in that. I doubt if white flight mattered all that much, though because the ones that moved to Troy and such suffered the same demise. They just had little to offer by the 1960s and beyond. Look at all the VFWs today. They're closing all over the place, and their biggest functions today are a dozen or so funerals weekly, for the larger posts. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 3837 Registered: 10-2003 |
Nice find MikeM. A little more contemporary, but from this past winter on Van Dyke, north of Seven Mile...  | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 292 Registered: 07-2006 |
That's a great tour, Lowell! Does anyone have more information on the great German Hall? Also, are there any ethnic halls left in Detroit? It seems like the Serbian one is newer and still active. Any older ones? | ||
Grandpamike Member Username: Grandpamike Post Number: 5 Registered: 04-2007 |
I attended the one-hour preview Saturday of the two-and-one-half-hour "Dom Polski: Dance Hall Days of Detroit's Polonia". It is a wonderful history of Poles arriving and thriving in Detroit. Laurie Gomulka Palazzolo did a fantastic job of putting this piece together. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3298 Registered: 10-2003 |
postcard of Schiller Hall, 2101 Gratiot at St Aubin:  | ||
Mccarch Member Username: Mccarch Post Number: 123 Registered: 12-2003 |
Schiller Hall is still with us; it's now a black fraternal hall with, I believe, a radio station on the upper floors. Has anyone mentioned the Danish Hall on the south side of West Forest between Twelfth and Avery? | ||
D2dyeah Member Username: D2dyeah Post Number: 56 Registered: 09-2005 |
Between 1955 and 1962, my cousins and I stood up as ring bearers for our aunts and uncles weddings at St. Hedwig. The Dom Polski hall was the place for the morning breakfast and the evening receptions, and those were the days that EVERYBODY your family ever knew was invited. It didn't matter if you were a third cousin or a friend of a friend of your mailman, they were there! My Grandpa and Uncles and all the other guys would be at the bar all day and night , rarely dancing with their wives, who usually ended up dancing the Polka with each other. The band usually got better after they had a few drinks. The food was always the same, but terrific. You sat at those long tables downstairs, and the food just kept coming. The highlight was the pies they always had, strawberry and lemon meringue. My Grandmas cousin was one of the cooks there, and those pies were the best! In 1958, my Aunt Pat had her wedding reception there, and she and my Uncle Gus paid 300 for their cake, which was a huge amount then. It was gigantic!! It was 7 layers high and beautiful. As we came from the church across the street, a man was last minute sweeping the floor near the cake and bumped one of the table legs. The cake went flying just as my Aunt and Uncle walked in. There was no sound -except for my wonderful Aunt Pat laughing her head off. | ||
Professorjackson Member Username: Professorjackson Post Number: 12 Registered: 02-2006 |
The East Side premiere of the film was sold out, so they are doing another one on June 8. For information, contact Laurie Gomulka Palazzolo: 248/477-8518; lauriepalazzolo@hotmail.com | ||
Waz Member Username: Waz Post Number: 40 Registered: 11-2006 |
Does anyone recall Geisz Hall on the west side of Gratiot, south (I believe) of 6 Mile? It was a one-story banquet hall, not technically an "ethnic hall". It's not on mikem's list, so I figure it was built, or possibly re-occupied from a previous owner, in the 50's. Also, don't forget the Polish Century Club on Outer Drive north of 7 mile. I remember the bust of Copernicus in the lobby. I believe it's a church now. The club moved out in the '80s and relocated to Dodge Park north of 14 Mile. (Message edited by waz on May 16, 2007) | ||
Ptpelee Member Username: Ptpelee Post Number: 16 Registered: 09-2005 |
My brother learned to play the bagpipes at St.Andrews Hall in the late 70's early 80's. It was kind of a wreck in those days. They also held Bagpipe and Pipe band competitions there on a monthly basis. Somehow the St. Andrew's Society lost control of the hall around 1983. I forgot the details, but it had to do with the renovations done by the present owner. | ||
Dbc Member Username: Dbc Post Number: 41 Registered: 09-2006 |
Waz, those are two different organizations. The Polish Century Club, which is where I had my college graduation back in 1994, relocated from Outer Drive to Maple Road in Troy. The American-Polish Century Club is on Maple Lane in Sterling Heights. Interestingly, my aunt worked the banquet hall/dining room at both places. It's also pretty interesting that two very similar named organizations are also on very similar named roads. | ||
Caldog Member Username: Caldog Post Number: 17 Registered: 08-2004 |
Waz My brother and his wife had thier reception at Geisz' December 30th 1961, and we had a wake for my father in law there in October of 1987. | ||
Waz Member Username: Waz Post Number: 43 Registered: 11-2006 |
Thanks for setting me straight on the Polish Century Club, Dbc. I thought I had it right but wasn't completely sure, and as you point out it can be confusing. | ||
Qdaddy77 Member Username: Qdaddy77 Post Number: 11 Registered: 05-2007 |
does anybody know of another Ukrainian Club besides the Ukrainian Workers Home? | ||
Detroit_uke Member Username: Detroit_uke Post Number: 8 Registered: 02-2007 |
Hey Qdaddy - I remember the Ukrainian National Temple on Michigan and Martin. It was soldyears ago. I see they've done some remodeling. It's not too far from St. John's Ukrainian Catholic Church (Clippert & Edward). We used to have our school functions at the "Temple". They had a bar and small hall downstairs. Upstairs was the large "ballroom - nice wooden floors, a huge kitchen, a stage and a balcony. There was another smaller Ukrainian Hall on Cicotte. I forget the name of it. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5325 Registered: 11-2003 |
The Jewish Community Centers of Detroit has a long history of Jewish Communal Service. One was connected to the Temple Beth El, Woodward and Elliot, then one at Woodward and Clairmont, one on W. Davison and Dexter, another on Meyers and Curtis Rds. They continue today in suburban locations. The programs are cultural, recreational, arts, dance, music, drama, travel, services for elderly, pre-schools, Jewish Day Schools, etc. Detroit and Michigan Jewish history is also a topic of interest. jjaba, Westside Bar Mitzvah Bukkor. | ||
Ewo Member Username: Ewo Post Number: 26 Registered: 05-2006 |
My dad was very active in a German club from the late 50's and was involved in the plans for the new Deutches Haus that was built in the 60's. It was on Outer Drive right by the Polish Century Club. I showed him the pic of the original Deutches Haus and he said he didn't know much about it, when he joined the club the building wasn't used by them. When I asked why, he said he was pretty sure the club *lost* the building shortly after World War 1 started. He didn't have many details but would check with a friend who knew more of the history of the building. When I get more info I'll post. | ||
Jeffrey_thomas Member Username: Jeffrey_thomas Post Number: 49 Registered: 10-2005 |
The "Czechoslovak National Hall" at 3900 Tillman listed in Mikem's list is still standing. About 20/25 years ago while leaving the old senate coney island on michigan ave. I noticed 2 older gents quite intoxicated trying to get in a car that they locked there keys in. When I asked if they could use any assistance they asked if I could give them a ride to tillman so they could get a spare key, so I took them to the parking lot side of 3009 tillman. When I refused to take any money from them so they insisted on me to accompany them into their "club" for a drink, there was a old fashioned detroit style bar set up in the club and my new friends ended up getting me quite drunk right along with them. The last I remember from that night was they wanted me to join their club and I could get my own key, some of the younger members where a little apprehensive of there older members suggestion which I understood. After I couldn't see straight I left and never returned. I always wonder what the heck kind of club it was and only figured it out after mikem's excellent work above. I drove by this morning and it appears to still be in operation, it has some czech reference engraved at the top of the building. The upper floors appear to be in need of repair but that side door is still painted red and looks like it's still in use. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6013 Registered: 02-2004 |
So that's where most of the ethnic halls. IN THE SUBURBS. Well at least there's still a Puerto Rico Club on W. Fort St. near West End. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 3878 Registered: 10-2003 |
Jeffrey, that 'Czech' Hall is the Bohemian House [Bohemians are a part of today's Czech Republic]. It is very much in operation, but not as an ethnic hall. It is now known as the Bo-House and is an arts venue which has garnered a lot of acclaim in its new life. This week it is hosting an excellent jazz festival. | ||
Jeffrey_thomas Member Username: Jeffrey_thomas Post Number: 50 Registered: 10-2005 |
I'm glad it is getting a new life, I miss the way that neighborhood was when I was growing up. It sounds great: http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/bohouse49.aspx (Message edited by jeffrey thomas on June 09, 2007) |
