 
Supersport
Member
Username: Supersport
Post Number: 11312
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 2:43 pm: |    |
I was thumbing through a book today called Historic Photos of Detroit. It covered the years after the civil war up to the 1950's or so. It got me thinking, if you could go back in time and visit Detroit from days past, when would you visit?
Perhaps it's a period in time which you lived through, or maybe it's a period before you were born. Whether or not it's a day, a year, or a decade, I'd love to hear everybody's thoughts are reasons for when they would pick. |
Tetsua
Member
Username: Tetsua
Post Number: 1119
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 2:48 pm: | |
I wouldn't mind seeing
1 The street car era, to see all the foot traffic that I've only seen in pictures
2 The 20s to see Black bottom / Paradise Valley |
Thejesus
Member
Username: Thejesus
Post Number: 647
Registered: 06-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 2:50 pm: | |
Definitely the 1920s...auto industry was in full swing at that time...Detroit was Silicon Valley back then...plus you'd get to bear witness to the construction of all the skyscrapers that were built in that decade, such as the Guardian building, Penobscott, Book-Cadillac, Masonic Temple, Fisher building, etc... |
Stecks77
Member
Username: Stecks77
Post Number: 279
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 2:51 pm: | |
Hmmmm... Tough choice. The first period that comes to mind for me is the early settlement years of Detroit when the French where here. All the ribbon farms, landscape, early structures, and way of life would be interesting to witness and compare to the contemporary version.
My second choice would be 1920's Detroit when the building boom was underway. I would love to see the activity of the city back then and the construction of the skyscrapers that currently define our skyline. |
Tiorted
Member
Username: Tiorted
Post Number: 64
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 2:51 pm: | |
around 1950, pre-freeways and maximum population era |
Southwestmap
Member
Username: Southwestmap
Post Number: 704
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 3:11 pm: | |
I'd like to meet the Cadillac's - especially Madame Cadillac. So I'd like to time-travel back to Frontier Detroit. I'd bring some things along - as much as my pockets could hold of things they could use.
I'd also like to return to WW II era Detroit. I'd sleep on Belle Isle a breathless hot night, I'd visit my young Father working at a defense job at the U.S. Rubber Co. before shipping off to the South Pacific. I'd ride on the East Jefferson Trolley and the Interurban. |
Dabirch
Member
Username: Dabirch
Post Number: 2087
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 3:12 pm: | |
Late 80's -- so i could try to piece together what i actually did
I am certain that the era of River Rock, Gallaghan's, and Pacifico's -- not to mention all you can drink Shelter nights and the fudgery -- rivalled the glory that is downtown today. It is just that we have all forgotten it. |
Crew
Member
Username: Crew
Post Number: 1117
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 3:25 pm: | |
2164
just to see our grandchildren shake their heads at all of you who feel so cavalier about tearing down mid-20th Century gems like Ford Theater and the Lincoln HQ |
Hardhat
Member
Username: Hardhat
Post Number: 193
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 3:37 pm: | |
Interesting question, Sport, because thinking about individual years or even decades makes you realize how quickly time flies. Decades that many of us have strong memories of, like the 50s, or 60s, were individually just little specks of time in the big picture.
Hell, somehow we're already seven years into this decade.
Compare Detroit from say, 1968 forward to 1975, and you realize how much change can take place in just seven years. Downtown Detroit has changed for the better in the last seven years, too.
I used to look at old photos from the 1950s and it was easy to imagine that the City of Detroit was that vibrant for a long time.
But having worked just outside of downtown for the last 18 years, and in other Detroit odd jobs for another five years, I realized that I've been around here for the same period of time as the end of World War II in 1945 to the riots in 1968.
What a completely different experience that would have been. I think it would have been great to work downtown during that period of time.
So for the record, stick me in a time machine, and send me to work in downtown Detroit, circa 1945. But only if I could bring a laptop. And there would have to be Internet access, too. |
Patrick
Member
Username: Patrick
Post Number: 4077
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 3:41 pm: | |
1750-1770. This is one of my favorite eras to study in all of history. It was quite a dynamic time for Detroit especially with the French and Indian War as well as new settlements and a growing population. I'd like to go to the sites of current landmarks and see what ws there before they were built as well. |
Rickinatlanta
Member
Username: Rickinatlanta
Post Number: 29
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 3:48 pm: | |
Definitely the early 1930's so I could see my Dad box in Arena Garden's and the Olympia, check out the speakeasy's, walk all the grand "new" high rise buildings downtown. |
Esp
Member
Username: Esp
Post Number: 38
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 3:54 pm: | |
About the middle of March 1907 around Wight and Franklin Streets. Watch my grandfather, as an 18 year old boy, checking out his new home (boarding house) looking for a NICE girl to marry. He worked at Buhl Malleable for a bit. Wish I could find photos from that area and time period ???
And then anytime post WWII and the 1950s. |
Angry_dad
Member
Username: Angry_dad
Post Number: 140
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 4:02 pm: | |
Of course, back in the 50s when the Lions were winning championships. |
1953
Member
Username: 1953
Post Number: 1312
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 4:04 pm: | |
Angry_dad...
I'm convinced it is only a myth that the lions ever won anything...
1953 |
Scottr
Member
Username: Scottr
Post Number: 320
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 4:11 pm: | |
First choice would be the 1920's, hands down, to see the buildings going up and the enthusiasm and energy in the city. I don't think much else could compare to that.
Second choice, after the fire of 1805, to see the city rebuild after being completely destroyed.
Third choice, 1950s, to see the city at its peak. |
Detroitrulez
Member
Username: Detroitrulez
Post Number: 157
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 4:17 pm: | |
First choice, hands down, would be July 14-17 1980, during the Republican Convention at Joe Louis Arena. The Convention nominated former Governor Ronald W. Reagan of California for President of the United States and George H. W. Bush of Texas for Vice President. Reagan, running on the theme "Make America Great Again," stayed in Detroit Renaissance Center, at the time the world's tallest hotel, and delivered his acceptance speech at Cobo Hall. Decorative awnings were affixed to the Statler Hotel. Journalists were afraid to leave their hotel rooms. |
Southwestmap
Member
Username: Southwestmap
Post Number: 705
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 4:24 pm: | |
hey, Esp, my great, great grandmother, who came from ireland with her children in 1856, owned a boarding house on Iron St. at Wight in the 1870's and '80's.
She died in 1890. |
Southwestmap
Member
Username: Southwestmap
Post Number: 706
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 4:29 pm: | |
I also regret that I could have gone to hear Martin Luther King give his "I Have a Dream" speech downtown. I was a big girl then and could have taken the bus. But, who knew?
Also, my parents didn't take me to hear JFK on Labor Day in Downtown Detroit - again, who knew? |
Goat
Member
Username: Goat
Post Number: 9235
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 4:44 pm: | |
Early '50s before the freeways.
My second choice would be late '20s. |
E_hemingway
Member
Username: E_hemingway
Post Number: 1068
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 6:37 pm: | |
I'm reading "Arc of Justice" right now, and I am amazed by how much detail the author is getting in about 1920s Detroit and the characters in it. I'd like to go to the 1920s Detroit during the time period of the book just to see how accurately it's portrayed. |
East_detroit
Member
Username: East_detroit
Post Number: 975
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 6:40 pm: | |
1967... help stop the riot/rebellion from occurring. |
Dabirch
Member
Username: Dabirch
Post Number: 2091
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 6:40 pm: | |
quote:I also regret that I could have gone to hear Martin Luther King give his "I Have a Dream" speech downtown. I was a big girl then and could have taken the bus. But, who knew?
You could have taken the bus all the way to DC? |
Fareastsider
Member
Username: Fareastsider
Post Number: 124
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 6:40 pm: | |
1927 when the city was BOOMING! |
Rbdetsport
Member
Username: Rbdetsport
Post Number: 231
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 6:53 pm: | |
The time when the subway was being decided on. Maybe I could try to make it actually happen. |
Softailrider
Member
Username: Softailrider
Post Number: 7
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 8:28 pm: | |
I'd like to go back to the late 50's early 60's , In the northwest side neighborhood where I grew up ( Littlefield between Vassar and St. Martins ) The city was a fantastic place to live. Absolutely the best years of my life , but , of course I didn't know it . |
Jimg
Member
Username: Jimg
Post Number: 792
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 9:20 pm: | |
mid-40s onwards, bebop emerged, civil rights movement started to gel, Blue Bird Inn, Klein's, Frolic Show Bar, John Lee Hooker, Willie Anderson, John R ("the street of music"). |
Pam
Member
Username: Pam
Post Number: 1092
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 9:30 pm: | |
Late 1800's. I'd like to ride around in my horse and buggy and check out the new mansions in Brush Park and on Ferry St. |
Fury13
Member
Username: Fury13
Post Number: 1366
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 9:30 pm: | |
1880-1910. |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 2454
Registered: 02-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 9:35 pm: | |
Great question. I would love to see for myself what the late 40s, when everyone was coming home from the war, were like. From what I've read, i.e. Origins of the Urban Crisis, Detroit actually had overcrowding at this time, and the justified demand for outward movement, i.e. the the NE and NW corners of the city, was growing. I would love to see a city where population density was as much as 60,000/sq. mile in some spots; the bad part about this time was that, of course, the segregation was awful, and racism in housing was only getting worse with the debate over restrictive covenants as blacks moved out of the substandard (overcrowded) lower east side with their new upward mobility. There was also the debate about where to put housing projects at this time. Freeways and urban renewal projects (de-slumming, more like de-urbanization i.e. Lafayette Park) were first being talked about If I could time travel I'd inform everyone about why they shouldn't do these things. Seeing my beloved east side without low-density modern housing between I-75 and Mt. Elliot would be priceless.
I would also love to see the 20s, that ultimate era of good feelings, when Detroit was a world-class cosmopolitan destination. The population was growing at 100-200 percent/decade 1910-1930, and the skyscrapers were going up. Aside from the prohibition, it would have been a good time.
With all this having been said, it's never been more important for Detroiters to look to the future. |
Pam
Member
Username: Pam
Post Number: 1093
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 9:40 pm: | |
quote:If I could time travel I'd inform everyone about why they shouldn't do these things
When we go back to the past, we can't interfere with history. Have we learned nothing from watching Star Trek?!  |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1154
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 10:20 pm: | |
First of all, 1700 before Europeans set foot on the embankment. Follow the Savoyard River up to Grand Circus Park site. See how steep the banks were at river's edge. Go over and follow the pure Rouge River up into Oakland county. Blaze a trail to my favorite Oakland county lake, Lower Pettibone, to see what the creek looked like way before Ford's Dam created Moore Lake. See how the native Americans lived at the time. Then I'd stick around for July, 1701, just to see Cadillac land and see if he really said, "Everyone outta da canoe". |
Detroit_stylin
Member
Username: Detroit_stylin
Post Number: 3880
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 10:22 pm: | |
lol ray |
B24liberator
Member
Username: B24liberator
Post Number: 25
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 11:51 pm: | |
Mackinaw, good post. I was waiting for someone to take off the rose colored glasses which showed the idyllic Detroit of the 20's or whatnot, and realize this wonderful past was meant for and experienced by only persons of the 'correct' hue... Being on the wrong side of town, and of a 'dusky' persuasion could get you a corrective billy club upside the head back in these good ol' days... |
Kathinozarks
Member
Username: Kathinozarks
Post Number: 206
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 11:59 pm: | |
I would like to be one of the first persons to set foot on the grassy shore of Lake St. Clair and proclaim it mine.
I bet it was astounding! |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 2456
Registered: 02-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 12:29 am: | |
Thanks, B24. I realized in the course of learning some history that Detroit may have been 100 times more vibrant and may have had much more of its urban character back in the day, but it had even worse social problems, and as much as we like to decry the problems of this region today, there were some serious problems that were even more racialized then. Housing segregation was basically institutionalized until the 50s, and restrictive covenants weren't just what those evil Grosse Pointers used to keep minorities out, it's what most Detroit neighborhoods had as long as they were able to keep them.
This doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to go back in time. |
Nighternock
Member
Username: Nighternock
Post Number: 11
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 12:33 am: | |
Early 90's East Warren between Mack and Alter Road and sometimes beyond. Fun times. Although at the time we seemed to be bored out of our minds half the time. But to go back knowing what I know now. |
Peachlaser
Member
Username: Peachlaser
Post Number: 64
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 10:09 am: | |
Late 1940's and early 1950's. WWII was over, Detroit had prospered, the population was peaking and Detroit was a vibrant city, I hear. My Mother loved to talk about walking downtown through the snow to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Those were her favorite times and I wished that I could of experienced those times. |
Kathleen
Member
Username: Kathleen
Post Number: 1974
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 10:13 am: | |
Great question, Sport!
I would like to go back to the early days of Detroit, maybe 1705, after the city had been established for a few years, so that I could pick the brains of my ancestors who travelled from France to Quebec and then onto to Detroit, some with Cadillac and some a little later after the fort and town was established.
Second choice would be the 1900s, through the infancy of the automobile industry to established car companies. I'd also take the opportunity to learn about my ancestors' immigration from Germany and Ireland to Detroit. |
Mcp001
Member
Username: Mcp001
Post Number: 2432
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 10:47 am: | |
I wouldn't mind seeing how things were in Prohibition-era Detroit, the Purples notwithstanding. There's just something about reading about that time compared to watching everything unfold first-hand.
My next Deloran stop would be late 60's early 70's, with a gianormous set of rabbit ears and a DVR in tow (with maybe a few extra hard drives to boot). It'll be a great opportunity to record several hundred hours of local TV when it was actually worth watching! |
Nighternock
Member
Username: Nighternock
Post Number: 17
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 10:49 am: | |
Another choice for me would be late 60's Grande Ballroom. |
Burnsie
Member
Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 868
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 10:50 am: | |
I'd visit 1953, the peak year of sales for Hudson's and the estimated peak population year for Detroit. I'm not trying to romanticize the past by wanting to go back to that year, or saying that everything was wonderful then, but being able to experience the city at its peak density and activity level would be incredible. |
Opus
Member
Username: Opus
Post Number: 34
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 11:24 am: | |
Just post war, say 1946-1947. A couple of key decisions here and there with the MASSIVE amount of wealth that existed at that point could have totally changed the history of Detroit. Mass Transit vs. Freeways. Confronting racial tensions and attempting to ease them before any riots would have occured. Accepting the fact that the auto industry needed to learn to market to those "little" foreign markets and not just worry about producing vehicles for the US. These among many other things could have really changed the path for Detroit. |
Charlottepaul
Member
Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 555
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 12:52 pm: | |
I love architecture = I love Detroit 1920s |
Hardliner
Member
Username: Hardliner
Post Number: 17
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 12:47 am: | |
first choice... between 1906 and 1960's... all of those decades...
second choice 1800's...
-HL |
Gistok
Member
Username: Gistok
Post Number: 3686
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 1:37 am: | |
My choice would be the spring of 1929 (6 months before the stock market crash). I would visit all the old movie palaces that were built in the previous few years... the old Fisher, the United Artists, the Michigan, the Oriental, the Hollywood, and the Grand Riviera.
And I would visit (in their original condition) the Book Cadillac and Statler Hotels, the old Romanesque style Federal Court House, the old City Hall, the MCS, Belle Isle and Water Works Park, and take a drive down Lakeshore Drive in the Grosse Pointes to view all the original palatial mansions.
And then I would go to a nearby bank and obtain rolls of half dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies of the 1920's, all in mint... and worth hundreds to thousands of dollars (each coin) today!
Did I miss anything? |
Gannon
Member
Username: Gannon
Post Number: 8412
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 1:51 am: | |
I'd like to be around 'just' before the major calamities of our history, to see if I could spot that damned Nain Rouge critter.
I'd LOVE to witness the work my paternal grandfather did at Ford during the mid to late thirties up until the mid-sixties, I never knew enough of that man.
Wouldn't mind tracking my maternal grandpappy, either, as he trekked around Vernor/Junction during the same time period, I'm SURE they attended a few of the same masses at ol' Holy Redeemer.
Then, I'd hang around a decade or so earlier to see where the Purple Gang hid their loot... |
Southwestmap
Member
Username: Southwestmap
Post Number: 714
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 1:49 pm: | |
Dabirch: MLK gave the speech he made in Washington in 1963 right here in Detroit in June, 1963. It was obviously a (great) work in progress that he refined before he gave it in Washington.
"I have a dream that one day, right down in Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to live together as brothers.
I have a dream this afternoon (I have a dream) that one day, [Applause] one day little white children and little Negro children will be able to join hands as brothers and sisters.
I have a dream this afternoon that one day, [Applause] that one day men will no longer burn down houses and the church of God simply because people want to be free.
I have a dream this afternoon (I have a dream) that there will be a day that we will no longer face the atrocities that Emmett Till had to face or Medgar Evers had to face, that all men can live with dignity.
I have a dream this afternoon (Yeah) that my four little children, that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin. [Applause]
I have a dream this afternoon that one day right here in Detroit, Negroes will be able to buy a house or rent a house anywhere that their money will carry them and they will be able to get a job. [Applause] (That's right)
Yes, I have a dream this afternoon that one day in this land the words of Amos will become real and "justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I have a dream this evening that one day we will recognize the words of Jefferson that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have a dream this afternoon. [Applause]
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." [Applause]
I have a dream this afternoon that the brotherhood of man will become a reality in this day.
And with this faith I will go out and carve a tunnel of hope through the mountain of despair. With this faith, I will go out with you and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. With this faith, we will be able to achieve this new day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God almighty, we are free at last! [Applause]
From the Detroit Speech: |
Dabirch
Member
Username: Dabirch
Post Number: 2095
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 1:58 pm: | |
Thanks southwestmap.
Learn something new everyday... |
Terryh
Member
Username: Terryh
Post Number: 169
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 2:06 pm: | |
The prohibition era: I would walk by the Oakland Sugar House Purple Gang hangout. |
Umstucoach
Member
Username: Umstucoach
Post Number: 126
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 3:17 pm: | |
I would like to have seen Detroit at the turn of the 20th century just before the automobile stage when the city population was under 300,000, and it was considered one of the prettiest cities in the US. Right before anybody had an inkling of what was to come with the automobile. |
Kenp
Member
Username: Kenp
Post Number: 219
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 3:36 pm: | |
I would pick the early 50's. Just to walk and explore the city would be a thrill. And I would make sure I saw the Lions win a championship, something that I dont see happening any time soon. |
Ednaturnblad
Member
Username: Ednaturnblad
Post Number: 8
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 3:53 pm: | |
1961 - Oh, the style! JFK in the White House and downtown still buzzing....gone is the garishness of the 50's and the elegance of new era. I could walk right into Crowley-Milner's as proud as you please and buy a smart looking clutch purse and a new Westinghouse washer.... |
Detroitbill
Member
Username: Detroitbill
Post Number: 164
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 4:04 pm: | |
I d like to be walking down Woodward on a busy day in 1950,, see the energy |
Sticks
Member
Username: Sticks
Post Number: 227
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 8:51 pm: | |
What? No Back to the Future references yet? |
Swiburn
Member
Username: Swiburn
Post Number: 61
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 8:57 pm: | |
I would have loved to have met Fr. Gabriel Richard back in the early l800s and we would sit by the beautiful, clean Detroit River and talk with him about all of his plans and hopes for Detroit. |
B24liberator
Member
Username: B24liberator
Post Number: 32
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 10:56 pm: | |
Hey sticks! There is a DeLorean reference somewhere above (mid-thread). |
Quozl
Member
Username: Quozl
Post Number: 255
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 11:02 pm: | |
The year 2100. What will remain, will it be a vast wasteland, population less than Livonia? It took 270 years to build Detroit up (1954), how long before she truly hits "rock bottom" and rebuilds in earnest? |
Scottr
Member
Username: Scottr
Post Number: 337
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 11:12 pm: | |
I thought of the same thing, Quozl, although I was slightly more optimistic, hoping we've already hit rock bottom and are on the rebound already. Then i decided since the question said 'history', I'd stick to the past... Plus, I'm not sure I really want to know what great buildings they have yet to tear down. That could be depressing. |
Quozl
Member
Username: Quozl
Post Number: 257
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 11:28 pm: | |
I agree Scottr, though if I really HAD to go back in time, it would be about 20 years before I was born, mid 1930's. I bet Detroit was loads of fun then, neighborhoods being transformed from farms, loads of jobs, etc.
I am sorry that I was not more optimistic, but unless something REALLY drastic happens, I believe Detroit and SE Michigan will continue to decline well after I am checked into my grave at Holy Sepulchre in Southfield.
It is not like loads of companies are relocating to Michigan from overseas or even here in the USA. |
Scottr
Member
Username: Scottr
Post Number: 338
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 11:52 pm: | |
Honestly, although reluctantly, I have to agree with you, Quozl. Things are not looking good. However, I hope with the work that is in progress, even if things do go further downhill, our great buildings may last to see a better day.
Besides seeing the construction of so many buildings and seeing the movie palaces in their glory, I'd also like to see the 20's cause I just found out last weekend my late grandfather was a rumrunner or something in Detroit during Prohibition. I haven't learned the full story yet, unfortunately, but intend on learning more. Before that, I didn't know he had even lived in Detroit. |
Karl
Member
Username: Karl
Post Number: 6383
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 - 11:58 pm: | |
Either the '20s or the 40's, when Detroit was the wealthiest city on the planet. Shortly after each of these decades, the money had been spent, the buildings built, and that might be a good time also - save for the depression in '29 and later. Seems like being around the GM building during the '50's with all the giant new finned cars would be pretty surreal - then heading down Woodward and checking out the architecture and stores.
I asked my 85 yr old stepdad and here was his answer: 1910. He recounts that when his dad arrived in Detroit (1910) and lived near the Packard plant, Detroit was just starting to cook and was a very, very pretty town and doing well. He loved taking walks thru the city, riding the ferry to Canada (no bridge yet) and just stayed on back & forth. He recalled an industry built around buffalo bones from out West, shipped in by the trainload for various products - something I'd never heard about until tonight.
My stepdad worked at Hudsons starting in 10th grade, working from 6:15pm until approx midnight, sometimes 2am around Christmas. Took streetcar both ways, working in accounting. All sales were written up on slips, copy to customer got the copy, original went to accounting. Dad added up all slips for that day's sales, both cash & charge. He worked thru HS and quit the day he graduated (1940) going to work for Aeronautical Products near Ryan & Nevada (pics welcome!) This operation made aircraft engine parts for Pratt/Whitney, who built the final engines and shipped them to England. |
Professorscott
Member
Username: Professorscott
Post Number: 221
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 1:15 am: | |
It would have been interesting - not good, just interesting - to have been around when the City was in the process of making the following decisions, which have served it so well up to now:
1. Tearing out the very popular streetcar system and replacing it with buses which have never been as popular;
2. Deciding to extend water and sewer service to far-distant suburbs;
3. Blaming for the past sixty years "racism" and other red herrings for the (fairly obvious) results of the previous two decisions. |
Corktown_paddy
Member
Username: Corktown_paddy
Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 12:11 am: | |
1.Would have been incredible to see Detroit growing in the 1890's
2.The late 20's when speakeasies ruled, the party was on and so was the boom.
3. The 1950's and even into the 60's when the auto industry WAS Detroit. |
Craig
Member
Username: Craig
Post Number: 15
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 2:09 am: | |
Hi Prof - if the infrastructure had not been expanded we would have all stayed packed into this city, with the races tearing out one another's throats and all living in the shadow of loud, polluting factories. Expansion gave us breathing room and the time and space to mature into a society where (for example) blacks can now live in Dearborn. Stranding us all in the City would have been the same as banging two hornets' nests together, IMO. |
Irvine_laird
Member
Username: Irvine_laird
Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 10:21 am: | |
1. 1920s
2. Early 1950s
By the way, the Detroit Historical Museum is planning a 1920s exhibition for sometime in the next year. I don't know if it's just about architecture or if it covers the "big picture" in the city during that decade. |
Barnesfoto
Member
Username: Barnesfoto
Post Number: 3101
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 10:31 am: | |
I would have slipped into a blind pig on 12th street on a hot night in July, 1967, and told people that the cops were coming. |
Gannon
Member
Username: Gannon
Post Number: 8490
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 12:52 pm: | |
I think y'all talking about decline are simply unaware of the sea-change going on, we are only able to use that negative word IF we look at this city from a corporate capitalist perspective.
Detroit is NOT in decline, the Spirit is merely shaking off the stuff that keeps it from flowing. I'm cool with that...just have to find a way to keep the masses of sheople opiated enough to remain calm through the horrible things that keep arriving at our door. MANY more are on the way!
Karl, great post.
Good one, Barnes! |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 1171
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 8:07 pm: | |
Barnesfoto said: "I would have slipped into a blind pig on 12th street on a hot night in July, 1967, and told people that the cops were coming."
I would have slipped into the Tenth Precinct station and told the Cleanup crew to forget the raid. |
Urbanize
Member
Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 30
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 8:11 pm: | |
The 50s, particularily the early 50s. |
Bulletmagnet
Member
Username: Bulletmagnet
Post Number: 93
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 1:38 pm: | |
Great question Supersport, and all good answers! There were times when I would fantasize about this very question and could never settle on just one time. But I suppose the time when the city was at its peak during the 50’s would be it. But also I would like to go way back to the beginning too, just as the settlers were coming here. And oh yes, the 90’s, and for the same reasons mentioned earlier in this thread. The Civil War times would be neat too. But I still would want to come back to now, to be with the ones I love. But most of all, the one day that I would most like to go back to is May 9th, 1960, the day before my mother died when I was five years old. Just to look into her eyes again…....I’m crying now…
(Message edited by Bulletmagnet on March 04, 2007) |
Ladyinabag
Member
Username: Ladyinabag
Post Number: 14
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 4:05 pm: | |
40's & 50's on Hastings Street. I bet there was some really cool Blues and Jazz there. I missed the whole thing. |
Flanders_field
Member
Username: Flanders_field
Post Number: 197
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - 9:40 pm: | |
1965-80 just to relive my youth, I would appreciate growing up in my NE Detroit neighborhood so much more.
I would also buy a good camera and take pictures often, probably using up rolls and rolls of film. |