  Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 250 Registered: 07-2006 |
Hi everyone, Last summer, I visited Detroit for a day, and took about 250 pictures. While I can identify many of them because I have been reading this forum and checking out this website for some time (along with other side reading), there are some sites that I cannot identify. Since I am trying to put together a good, well-described set of pictures to eventually post online, I would like to ask all your help identifying them. First off, though, I would like to thank this Forum's Kathleen. She took me and my girlfriend around the city last August on an absolutely beautiful day, and showed us just about as many sites as one could possibly see in one day in Detroit. As I post some pictures over time, you will be able to tell the absolutely incredible distance we covered. Also, given Kathleen's knowledge, I know that she can probably help identify most of these photos (and please do help me, Kathleen!), but I figured it might be fun to post them for everyone, and to perhaps help spur discussion, in ways only this Forum can! So, here they go! #1: I am not sure where I took this picture, but we were somewhat close to the Scott Mansion, I think, or at least on our way from it back to the Detroit Institute of Arts area. Does anyone know where these buildings are? What businesses/residences they once held? Can anyone tell exactly where this was?  #2: This picture was taken from the People Mover, so that limits the possibilities. What building was this? What is it's location? It looks like it was residential at one time, but I could be wrong.  #3: Which downtown buildings are these? Where are they located? This one should be pretty easy for the Forum, I think.  #4: Which theater is this? As a Forum-er, I should know this, and I know Kathleen mentioned the name, but I forget! Also, where is it located?  #5: This is simply an empty lot downtown, but I do not recall exactly where I took the picture. Therefore, I cannot figure out what it is! Was this taken someplace near the Statler site? What is the building in the background? This picture was also taken from the People Mover.  #6: Where exactly is this Ivy Covered House? I think it made for a great picture, though getting a good picture of it at dusk was difficult with my camera, which does not take low light pictures well. I believe this was near the Scott Mansion, too.  Thanks in advance for everyone's help, and once again, thanks to Kathleen! | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 585 Registered: 12-2006 |
#4 is the National Theater and #5 is the old AAA building. EDIT: #2 is the same building as #5. (I believe) (Message edited by SCS100 on March 13, 2007) | ||
Gumby Member Username: Gumby Post Number: 1540 Registered: 11-2003 |
#3 free press building #4 National Theater on Monroe. #5 Statler site. That is what remains of the AAA building | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 251 Registered: 07-2006 |
Thanks for all the help so far. Scs100, #2 and #5 could be the same. I looked at the photo meta date, and one was taken only one minute after the other. If I was going towards the building in #5, then I could have snapped #2 a minute later as I was passing it. Having gotten on at the Cadillac Center stop, would that make sense? (Message edited by cman710 on March 13, 2007) | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 586 Registered: 12-2006 |
Yes. Cadillac to anything past Grand Circus Park would have made that make sense. | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 358 Registered: 11-2006 |
cman- yep, it is the same building | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 252 Registered: 07-2006 |
Thanks. I am having trouble finding pictures of the AAA building before the fire. Does anyone have any links? | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 290 Registered: 04-2004 |
I think I might have a few of it, but I'll have to do some digging. I don't keep my photos too organized. | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 126 Registered: 04-2006 |
I seem to remember someone posting an old pic of it on here recently, might've been one of Ookpik's Old Photo threads. | ||
Chub Member Username: Chub Post Number: 469 Registered: 11-2003 |
#1 is on Cass right next door to what use to be the Gold Dollar parking lot. The Gold Dollar can be seen in the background. Many great Detroit bands played there first shows back around the late '90s and early '2000s. at the Gold Dollar. As for the building you took a picture of in #1, I have no idea what it was used for back in the day. It's been abandon for many years, as is the Gold Dollar. | ||
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize Post Number: 142 Registered: 02-2007 |
Darn, Chub beat me to it. It appears it could of been an abandoned retail building owned by the Chinese who lived over there (ChinaTown/Cass Corridor). | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2063 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hi Cman710!! That was a beautiful day last August to be touring around Detroit! Just a couple added comments: #2 and #5 are indeed two sides of the AAA Building as seen from the people mover (#5 taken first as we passed the Statler site and #2 taken as we got to the Times Square people mover station). #3 - the red bldg. on the right is the Detroit Club (1892; designed by Wilson Eyre, Jr.; http://www.thedetroitclub.com/ tradition.html) #6 is one of the Peterboro houses east of the Scott Mansion. I believe that it is owned by Joel Landy and awaiting renovation. Thanks, Chub, for ID'ing #1...I would not have been able to place it! Let me know when you're headed back to the D! | ||
Renf Member Username: Renf Post Number: 47 Registered: 11-2003 |
Number 6 is the VanHusan-Gillman home: http://www.detroit1701.org/Van Husan-GillmanHome.html | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2066 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks, Ren. I had no idea that the house had a name!! I will definitely file that info future reference. | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 253 Registered: 07-2006 |
Thanks, Kathleen! That really was a beautiful day. Right now, it looks like my girlfriend will probably make a return trip next August as well. As the time gets closer, I'll be sure to let you know. I already have a list of places I want to visit next time that I've discovered since the last time! I could also go for another sandwich from Eph McNally's! | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 254 Registered: 07-2006 |
Thanks, Chub, Renf, Spirit, Urbanize, Wolverine, and Bearinabox! I will be interested to see if anyone has any knowledge of what had been in #1. If we could figure out its address, one of the Forum-ers with access to old maps and directories might be able to help. | ||
Stromberg2 Member Username: Stromberg2 Post Number: 11 Registered: 10-2006 |
#6 is not the same house as the link that Renf posted. #6 is 2 houses west of 61 Peterboro. A friend of mine lives in 61. Stromberg2 | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 691 Registered: 12-2005 |
The AAA of Michigan building can be seen in this old photo from Ookpik's collection. | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 255 Registered: 07-2006 |
Thanks, Mikeg. While you can not see the building very well, the photo nicely provides the building in its historical context. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2069 Registered: 10-2003 |
Stromberg2 is right. The house in question is 2 doors east from 61. Back in July 2005, there was a sign on the fence surrounding the house and the one to the west said "Peterboro-Charlotte Redevelopment Project, 45 Peterboro, 1870's Historic House...contact Cass Avenue Development...." | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 55 Registered: 02-2007 |
Building #2 was the scene of a running orgy between a homeless couple last summer. They lived behind the shrouded fence. This was a big stir on another web site that I stumbled across somewhere. Who knows, they may have been throwin' down while you and girlfriend were snapping away. | ||
Quozl Member Username: Quozl Post Number: 352 Registered: 07-2005 |
Hey Craig, what is up with that other website? They seem to be out of service now. | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 256 Registered: 07-2006 |
Stromberg2, You are definitely correct. I did some research, and I think I have the situation figured out. First, if you simply compare my picture to the house in the link (http://www.detroit1701.org/Van Husan-GillmanHome.html), you can see that the styling of the two houses is different. For example, note that the Van Husan-Gillman Roof line comes parallel to the street for a short distance on each end in the front of the house. In the house in my picture, the roof is simply slanted. Also, consider the photos below. Though taken in different seasons, I think that they help explain the situation. Note that in my photo above, there is a run down, grayish house to the right of the house in my picture. I think that places the house as I indicated in both pictures, below. One problem is that the house to the right of the Van Husan-Gillman house is blue, while in the picture below, it is red. I can only guess was has been repainted at some point.   Let me know what you think! | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2071 Registered: 10-2003 |
Cman710: You are absolutely right! And the house at 67 Peterboro which was once painted a beautiful blue and white is now (in my opinion) a not-so-attractive maroon and gold. Great job digging up those photos and adding the notes!!! | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 257 Registered: 07-2006 |
Hi Kathleen, So what building exactly is 45? Would it be the one to the right of the house in my picture, as indicated in the last photo immediately above? That house appears to have no roof, so it would be quite a project! | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 258 Registered: 07-2006 |
Here is the picture from last summer that I took of the house to the right of the one in my picture #6. Kathleen, this is the one I am asking about regarding whether it was the one marked 45 Peterboro in your old picture. As you can see from my shots above, this front facade is really the only substantial part of the house left standing.  | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2073 Registered: 10-2003 |
I may have to drive by to ascertain...but if 67 is the 4th house, and 61 is next to it, I would think the roofless house is an address in the 50s, making the 1st house, the one in your photo, 45. Mapquest seems to bear that out. Will let you know if I am able to drive by and pinpoint it. | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 259 Registered: 07-2006 |
Thanks, Kathleen! Mikem, or one of our other map specialists: Is there any way to access maps that indicate what addresses are assigned to which lots? I recall the Sanborn maps may be useful, but I am not sure. And regardless, not being an MI resident, I do not have access to them. Thanks for the help! | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 260 Registered: 07-2006 |
bump | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2079 Registered: 10-2003 |
I drove by late Thursday afternoon.... #1 - This building has no address or name on the building. No identifiable markings at all. #6 - There are actually 5 houses along this stretch of Peterboro. Starting from Woodward on the east, the first two, including the roofless house, have no numbers. I'm guessing based on my photos from 2005, that the roofless house is 45. Next is 55, then 61, and finally 67. Hope that helps! | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3195 Registered: 10-2003 |
#1 is on the west side of Cass between Charlotte and Peterboro. Here's a list from 1940 of what was crammed into that short stretch of Cass:  Charlotte intersects 3107 Colten Pharmacy 3113 vacant 3117 vacant 3119 vacant 3123-25 Hong Y Gee, restaurant 3127 Gold Dollar Bar, beer garden 3131 Alfred Hurner, confectioner 3141 Edward Synder 3143-45 Hong Y Gee, restaurant 3153 Lachar Kosher Catering Co 3157 Myrtle VonBrandt, dressmaker 3163 Kroger Grocery & Baking Co 3167 Charles Coobatis, shoe repair 3169 Reid Apartments, (11 apartments) 3171 Louis Frank, cleaners 3177 Leo Geyer, auto parking Peterboro intersects My guess is, that is the Reid Apartment building, with the cleaners and the shoe repair and maybe Kroger on the ground floor. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2094 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks, Mikem, for the photo and all the info. Certainly the Reid Apt. building makes sense from the above list. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3196 Registered: 10-2003 |
South side of Peterboro, Woodward to Park, year 1935, resident and occupation if known: 25 Jack Ruskin, clothes cleaner 27 Joseph Rafferty, upholsterer; Neville Richardson; Anna Trettin, dressmaker 31 Mrs Eva Leland 39 Samuel Accora 45 Robert Bruce; Edward Snook 53 Arthur McEarchern 61 Robert Gillman, physician 67 Mrs Jennie Murphy; Mrs Beatrice Cummings, nurse 73 Detroit Edison Co, branch 81 Scott Apartments Hotel; Rachael J Stewart Realty Co; Andrew C Wood Realty Co; Hugh J Wood | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 6 Registered: 12-2006 |
God, I just love those Second Empire houses in Brush Park, Peterboro, Alfred, etc.! That's my favorite style of house, and the rarest in the country. Makes me think of what Detroit was like pre-auto industry days. What a cool place it must have been back then! No wonder they called it the "Paris of the West". Wish we could perserve that area to its 1870s condition. St. Louis did it, quite successfully. | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 78 Registered: 02-2007 |
Quozl asked "Hey Craig, what is up with that other website? They seem to be out of service now." My source says "hacked," but it is coming back to life. Evidently someone is going to get their legs broken. |
