  Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4177 Registered: 10-2003 |
Anybody have have any memories, stories? Below is an exchange with friend of mine who has been trying to track it down. We put together this image including a match book he picked up off ebay. The listing is from my 1940 Polk City Guide.  "In my archeological journey to my past, one place that has particularly gripped me is this spot my father used to take me, The Clam Shop. It's address was 2675 E. Grand Blvd." "So what did you eat there? Clams?  Wondering about the emotional attachment... The blue arrow on your map would quite likely be the correct address. I found it up in my 1940 Detroit City Guide. It would have been the second building from the corner so you building is a definitely candidate. Also since the corner building had many tenants, it must have been larger and, I am guessing, was probably torn down when a bend in E. Grand Blvd. was created to accommodate the I-75. I also checked and made sure that odd numbers are on the south side of E. Grand Blvd." "It was surrounded by smoke spewing industrial buildings then, wall to wall, and reminded me of that Art Spiegelman graphic story "Maus", don't know if you know of it. Spiegelman captured this quality of Poland under Nazi Germany ...very ominous dark scary, albeit satirical... that's how the Clam Shop neighborhood was, at least to this little kid. But inside, it was a rip-roaring speak-easy sort of place that served amazing seafood (duh). Just bought those matches for $4 on e-bay. Truly rare." | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1895 Registered: 04-2005 |
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Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 20 Registered: 08-2007 |
In '69, I had a roommate who praised The Clam Shop as his favorite Detroit restaurant. Years later in '73, I took a date there, my future wife and ex. She threw up off the porch of her parents home when I took her home that night. We only went there the one time. | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 4992 Registered: 10-2003 |
And Hornwrecker steps in with another map pulled from his utility belt! | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3483 Registered: 10-2003 |
This is the building pointed to by the blue arrow. An address sign on the side shows 2679, but it probably is referring to the building next to it or behind it.   | ||
Walloon Member Username: Walloon Post Number: 1 Registered: 09-2007 |
I think the above is just west of 2675. But I wanted to ask Hornwrecker how to get aerials from the 50's/60s as he did. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3484 Registered: 10-2003 |
If that's the case, then the building is gone. For aerials: http://tools.comm.wayne.edu/me dia/low_res/aerial_photos/inde x.htm | ||
Neilr Member Username: Neilr Post Number: 583 Registered: 06-2005 |
I remember it being a smaller free-standing building up on a bit of a hill. | ||
Downtownguy Member Username: Downtownguy Post Number: 66 Registered: 07-2004 |
The building in the photo above is the Pioneer Building (2679 East Grand Boulevard) home to several artist's studios. Website is here: http://www.thepioneerbuilding. com/ Open house on Oct. 6! | ||
Dabirch Member Username: Dabirch Post Number: 2418 Registered: 06-2004 |
Oddly, I have never seen an artist studio space that size that is predominantly filled with middle-aged women. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1896 Registered: 04-2005 |
 Looking at the 1921 Sanborn map for that area, the bldg that Mikem posted was the Trippensee Mfg Plant #2, auto body maker (in green). 2675 EGB was a 2 story bldg just to the east of it (red). | ||
Downtownguy Member Username: Downtownguy Post Number: 68 Registered: 07-2004 |
From the Pioneer Building website: "Constructed as a factory in 1914, the Pioneer Building was converted to artists’ studios in the mid-1990s. The building and its artists are part of a national trend to resurrect industrial spaces, transforming them into vibrant workplaces. The Pioneer Building is located at 2679 East Grand Boulevard in Detroit, one mile east of Woodward Avenue and just east of Russell Street." Not sure why the Sanborn map's addresses don't jive, but the website's photo of their building matches Mikem's. Nice family owns the building. |
