  Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 102 Registered: 10-2007 |
I stumbled across a web site that I never had seen before: buildingsofdetroit.com. It's filled with well written information and cool photos, and is featuring something I was only vaguely aware of: Detroit's old city hall. Participants on DY should enjoy this. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 4022 Registered: 10-2003 |
They guy that runs it is here all of the time. | ||
Mopardan Member Username: Mopardan Post Number: 96 Registered: 11-2008 |
Here's one I found by accident yesterday. I haven't gone through it much, but it looked interesting. http://www.detroit1701.org/ | ||
Renf Member Username: Renf Post Number: 38 Registered: 11-2003 |
I just introduced a new homepage for the www.detroit1791.org site. If you have suggestions of sites or buildings that I should add, please let me know. My e-mail address is on the homepage. | ||
Mopardan Member Username: Mopardan Post Number: 98 Registered: 11-2008 |
Renf, I think you meant to type "1701" instead of "1791". That's the site I was checking out yesterday. I hope to look more in depth today. Thanks for putting it up by the way. | ||
Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 104 Registered: 10-2007 |
www.detroit1701 is a fantastic site. The maps and charts under the census heading are wonderful. | ||
Big_baby_jebus Member Username: Big_baby_jebus Post Number: 43 Registered: 09-2008 |
http://www.detroit1701.org/ Cool I was looking for Census info, thanks. Here is our latest from the OND site, historic Michigan Central Pictures 1973 / 2008: http://onlyndetroit.com/ enjoy ;-) | ||
Staticstate Member Username: Staticstate Post Number: 21 Registered: 07-2008 |
those pictures of MCS are amazing. that Matty Moron needs a good butt kicking for allowing that building to sit in that condition. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2902 Registered: 01-2004 |
Hey Renf - how about Eastown and Vanity ? | ||
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 1234 Registered: 10-2003 |
While I liked the pictures, the grossly incorrect info on the boat club and the significant grammatical errors are enough that, if it were my kid's paper, I wouldn't let him hand it in! | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 1064 Registered: 04-2006 |
buildings of detroit is wonderful. run by a wonderful local lad. I refer to him as "my dude." he's been spotted at a number of local brew-pubs around town. if you see him around town he is worth chatting to. | ||
Gralr Member Username: Gralr Post Number: 50 Registered: 12-2008 |
good work renf we will be looking lot at your site. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2135 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks, BigBabyJesus! The MCD overview with its narrative and "now and then" photos is terrific!! Thanks to the OnlyNDetroit guys! And thanks to Keith Jolly for sharing his photos. | ||
Sumas Member Username: Sumas Post Number: 594 Registered: 01-2008 |
Thank you for the links. Later today, I will structure time to look at and study all this great stuff. | ||
Johnnie_sue_bridges Member Username: Johnnie_sue_bridges Post Number: 18 Registered: 08-2007 |
Fantastic side-by-side photos of the Train Station, Big_baby_jebus. I grew up in Detroit. I love this place. I can't seem to go any place else but this site today. Very much caught up in my hometown and lovin' it! God Bless Johnnie Sue Bridges | ||
N7hn Member Username: N7hn Post Number: 147 Registered: 02-2008 |
Im doubting some of the info on it tho. I went to "the Fox" theatre page and says "although it never fell into serious disrepair" and "refurbished extensively in 1997 and 1998" ........ I know both of those are untrue. I remember going to fundraisers to save it in the 80's when they wanted to tear it down and you couldnt go into the theatre part because the ceiling was falling in. Even the lobby was in horrible shape with no gold leafing and looked like it was about to fall in as well. I can see maybe "disrepair" is open to ones idea of what is bad, but to me falling in and severe leaks is pretty bad. I also was still in detroit when it was restored and I left in 1994. I seem to remember the restoral being in the late 80's. I was so happy the buildig survived. I am enjoying the new site tho, but will concentrate on the pictures...... Im glad u guys posted it. | ||
Leland_palmer Member Username: Leland_palmer Post Number: 512 Registered: 08-2004 |
Should I mention all of the historic photos that they have slapped their watermark and copyright on when clearly the photos were taken before they were born? | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1629 Registered: 11-2005 |
"While I liked the pictures, the grossly incorrect info on the boat club and the significant grammatical errors are enough that, if it were my kid's paper, I wouldn't let him hand it in!" Care to elaborate on the grammatical "errors"? And there is no page on the site for the Boat Club. Do you mean the Yacht Club? | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1630 Registered: 11-2005 |
"Im doubting some of the info on it tho. I went to "the Fox" theatre page and says "although it never fell into serious disrepair" and "refurbished extensively in 1997 and 1998" " Which site you talkin' bout N7hn? I don't see that at all on the Fox page on buildingsofdetroit.com. | ||
N7hn Member Username: N7hn Post Number: 151 Registered: 02-2008 |
here ya go rhymes, its under Auditoriums and theaters http://www.detroit1701.org/The aters.htm click on "Fox Theater" (Message edited by n7hn on January 25, 2009) | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1634 Registered: 11-2005 |
I'm sorry, N7hn, I thought you were talking about buildingsofdetroit.com, since that's what the thread was about. I didn't realize you were talking about another site. | ||
Shirlselects Member Username: Shirlselects Post Number: 10 Registered: 08-2007 |
Looking at buildingsofolddetroit.com was fantastic. I remember so many of them from when I lived in Detroit in the 40's and 50's. I took dancing lessons in the old mansion next to the Maccabees Building on Woodward. That whole area on the west side was really a great area to be in. Of course I didn't know it at the time. I keep looking for pictures to help me remember, so hope there are many more sites like these. Shirl | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4367 Registered: 02-2005 |
These are some good ones. http://theincorrigiblecity.blo gspot.com/ ^ there's been some good work at this site lately. | ||
Shirlselects Member Username: Shirlselects Post Number: 11 Registered: 08-2007 |
Thank you Mackinaw. Soon as I'm off work I'll have time to check out all of those photos. Looks like a lot of them. Shirl | ||
N7hn Member Username: N7hn Post Number: 153 Registered: 02-2008 |
oh,Rhymeswithrawk, thats what i thought i was talking about too, I just hit the link in one of the posts, guess I should be more careful. Sorry | ||
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 1235 Registered: 10-2003 |
Rymeswith, I did the same thing as N7hn. I hit the link shown earlier. The buildings of detroit site is actually very good | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2945 Registered: 01-2004 |
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Richie Member Username: Richie Post Number: 63 Registered: 08-2007 |
Sad, Sad, sad when looking at the http://onlyndetroit.com/ before and after photos of the building. I photographed nearly inch of it back around 1986 (And a few before) when it was cleaned up, floors polished etc. for it's next roll as a Great Lakes trade center. It looked fantastic. I saw the inside of it only once since and was apalled at the stripped out wreck it had become in very short order. I went and explored the building many times with coworkers during an extended lunch hour when working at nearby Cadillac Engineering (Now closed and the plant demolished) Conrail still had offices there so the building was perfect and exploring it was not a problem if you walked past the guard and looked as if you belonged there. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1178 Registered: 11-2003 |
It's obvious that the author of the onlyndetroit page about the MC Depot cares greatly about the station, and he has certainly done some homework about the building's history. However, the text could have benefited greatly from proofreading. These corrections should not detract from the incredible, rare quality of the photos and all the time the author of the site put into constructing it. "...1973, just six years after the fifteen-floor office tower and the main "grand" lobby of the Michigan Central Depot closed." The office tower didn't close until Oct. 1987, when Conrail moved its regional headquarters and some 400 office workers to Dearborn. The waiting room did close around 1967, and its functions moved to the concourse. The waiting room eventually reopened (see further down in these corrections). "thirty-five years of decay inside The Michigan Central Station." Although decay was certainly in progress in 1973 (notably in several water damaged spots in the ceiling), the vast majority of it has occurred only since 1988. "The Fort Union Station was already located down town...Despite already having a site for rail transit, city planners decided to start the construction of the new Michigan Central Depot anyways." City planners didn't decide to build the MC Depot, the railroad did. The MC Depot did not replace Fort St. Union Depot, but rather the old MC station downtown on 3rd St. "Today these tunnels are used by smugglers to bring illegal aliens across the Detroit River. The Ambassador Bridge handles most of the international transportation these days." It should be clarified that the railroad tunnel is still in use by Canadian Pacific Ry. freights. "Located on the west side of the passenger tunnels were the freight operations that kept the station in business so long." Express freight and less than carload shipments evaporated long before the last passenger train left. Regular freight trains' operations didn't substantially affect the station's operations, and vice versa. "One by one the city's rail yards disappeared..." Many of the smaller ones disappeared, but many are still in operation. "After a brief closing in the early 1970s, Amtrak purchased the station" I've never read any reference to the building closing to passengers at that time. An extensive 2-part article from Trains Magazine in 1978 doesn't mention anything like that. Also, Amtrak never purchased the depot. It was sold by Conrail no later than 1985 to the first of a series of owners. Amtrak moved out at least in part because Conrail was no longer sharing the costs of utilities and upkeep. "not included in the new renovations or the reopening was the main "grand" lobby. It still sat empty." Most if not all of the benches were eventually removed from the waiting room, but Amtrak at some point did re-open the front entrance to the waiting room and passengers were allowed into it. "...a freight train would have a pair of engineers and conductors to operate the engines. Depending on the size of the train, there could be dozens of men on board." Perhaps true for the largest passenger trains, but never for freights! A crew of five or six was tops, even in the "golden age." "Due to the dwindling industrial economy in Detroit, foot traffic in the depot declined and the vendors slowly evaporated." Usage of the depot was declining by the late '40s, when Detroit's industries were still going full tilt. "disconnected its electric streetcar service in the 1950s. The trolley system was the last connection people in the city had with the rail system at the Depot as it affordably shuffled passengers from downtown to Roosevelt Park and back." The streetcar connection to the depot ended a good many years before the city's last streetcars quit in 1956. "By the end of the stations existence, great trains like the "California Zephyr"...stopped pulling into the depot." The California Zephyr has never operated into Michigan. "Besides the Mercury train to Chicago, only daily routes to Ann Arbor on an electric-engine were still operating." The Mercury quit running long before the station closed. At the time of closure, there were three trains to Chicago daily (one of them originating in Toledo), and three trains from Chicago to Detroit daily (one of them continuing on to Toledo). Only diesels, no electrics, pulled the trains. -------- | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2947 Registered: 01-2004 |
yeah, proofreading, plus that whole graffiti vandal thing you guys love so much. Love a building; why not paint your stupid logo on it ?   | ||
Brownfieldguy Member Username: Brownfieldguy Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2009 |
Thanks for listing that web page. I wil check it out. I used to look at the Detroitblog.com website as it was full of urban exploration stuff from buildings the author has been in. I have been in many old structures as part of ongoing or possible redevelopment projects. At times I KNEW exactly where he/she must have stood to take the photos. Now a days the website is contains more local population stories and is still an interesting website. Spookiest place I was ever in was the Statler Hotel. I was doing lead and asbestos sampling as part of its demolition. It was was cold, rainy, and windy with clanking chains, rumbling old windows, and dripping noises from water infiltration. It started to spook the heck out of me. I loved the exterior of that place, but inside it was a nightmare and the floor plan shape didn't work well for much. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 776 Registered: 10-2003 |
Burnsie.... .....should also be noted that the owner of MCS were competetors of the owners of Fort Street Union Station. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2972 Registered: 01-2004 |
here is a great detroit site with near perfect photography at times: http://picturesofdetroit.blogs pot.com | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1685 Registered: 11-2005 |
Union Depot history and photos: http://buildingsofdetroit.com/ places/union | ||
Danindc Member Username: Danindc Post Number: 4330 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Once Monica Conyers is done avenging all her personal beefs and the disrespect that has been done to her, I'm sure she'll be right on it! | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1687 Registered: 11-2005 |
Maybe we can tell Conyers that Matty was talkin' smack about her, and she'll go give him a whoopin'! As Monica said in regards to the brush with Kenyatta: "When you bring it, you’ve got to get it." |
