History DETROIT Looking for more photos of The Motor City in its prime

I will be the first to say that modern Detroit is somewhat a wasteland. Auto industry woes and bad economy have kicked the crap out of us. But for a long time it was a happening place. The greatest manufacturing city in the WORLD. Detroit and it's industries played a huge part in our hobby and in our success as a nation. With all the bad media it has been getting I could use some visual reminders of what it used to be. (and could be again)

 

Kind of like Cleveland, ohio what a waste land this has become here to with all the steel mills closing. I was just in cleveland the otherday taking pic's of all the big empty warehouse up there, very sad.

 

It seems like the midwest has been used up and thrown away by the rest of the country. VERY sad.

 

Throw South Bend in that club too.

On the other hand, the decay makes for some cool photos:
http://abduzeedo.com/27-super-cool-pictures-detroit

 

Alot of good memories here:
http://www.detroitmemories.com/newsletters.html

 

Woodward then:




Woodward now:

 

My father grew up at 6Mile & Schaffer, born in 41', i'll see if he has any snapshots.

 

If you lived in Detroit or the Suburbs,.... You would usually listen to,
WKNR, "Keener 13" (formerly WKMH)
OR
CKLW,.... "The Big 8"

 

The Ford ROTUNDA,.... always something going on there, Including Hot Rod & Custom car shows,...... what a loss,.......

 

Very cool;I grew up in Flint,'bout 60+ miles north of the "D". Lived in the Detroit area in '74-5,and probably should have stayed.

Ford Auditorium;wow,saw some great concerts there. Acoustics were better than most venues.

That shot of Woodward is amazing;most of the area looks like that now-rather barren and devoid of the vitality that was Detroit. Bloody sad. Will it ever return to that? Doubtful;the hatred of autoworkers and the decimation of the jobs that built Detroit will guarantee that the demise will continue. My daughter lives in Pittsburgh,and has seen the same thing there. The community turned on the Steelworkers and their income;now with the mills gone and the workers out of jobs,it's the same as Michigan,Indiana,Ohio et al. Can't be too hard to see that when the jobs are gone,the communities die.

 

Check out www.detroityes.com,Lots of links to great stuff. Dave

 

Cool shot on Wikipedia, I use it for wallpaper on my shop PC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan_&_Griswold_circa_1920.jpg

 

Pittsburgh and Dayton are the same way. I guess one good thing about Pittsburgh is with most of the mills gone you can actually see Pittsburgh. (1/2 joke, 1/2 truth)

I will have to look around and see what I can find, there was some gov't archive site I was pulling pics off of for a while.

 

Like your avatar

 

All of these are awesome.

The one from wiki is great. -Probesport.
And here it is...

 

Used to see the Wings play at the Olympia. good times!!

 

I picked up a great book at Wal Mart, of all places, called Historic Photos of Detroit.
A most excellent book, and it was only 6 bucks.
If you get a chance, check it out.

BTW, I can remember listening to CKLW AM in the 80's going to Hamtramck with my grandparents. Good memories too.

JK

 

Detroit is a much maligned city. I grew up across the river and Detroit was a magical place for us. Everything from smuggling clothes across the border (bought at Hudson's) to the Post Bar and the Rhinoserous Club.
BobLo Island was a thrill with the wood roller coaster. Now it's filled with condos.
I hope it makes a revival in some way.....

 

I remember the BIG 8. When I first moved here to the states in '71, my uncle bought me my first AM radio for my 11th birthday. I used to fall asleep at night with the radio under my pillow and the volume turned down so no one else in the house could hear it. The old William Ford Elementry school I went too that was built sometime in the '20's or '30's on Chase and Ford Rd. got torn down some years back and they built a new one on the old playground. Sad. At least Fordson High School is still standing.

 

Where are all the before and after shots- I have seen just a couple. I really want to see this place for real sometime.

 

I grew up in Canton, been there since I was one year old.
I'd kill to have an Edsel Ford Thunderbirds jacket though.
JK

 

I'm near the Ford Rouge Assembly Plant on Miller Rd. where they built the "Deuces" and "Stangs" at. I could cruise by there and take some cell phone shots of it if you want. And maybe go too the Henry Ford Museum for even more shots.... Let me know!!

 

Sad the city can't have been better run and saved. Houston since the 60s has changed in areas so much sometimes you can get lost. Areas which were heavily industrial are now filled with condos, lofts, etc. and others areas which were empty are now packed with homes, clubs, businesses. A good diversity of economic growth keeps a city vibrant and alive. Even as one segment suffers the many others go on and soften the blows.

 

For those who would like more of this,check out "Keener13.com". Love the Detroit Dragway commercials,and a lot of other cool ads from the way-back machine.

 

So....... How did it all end?? I've got a pretty good idea on how it all went too hell. But I'm not going to start pointing fingers being I'm an FNG here so I'll keep those comments to myself. Most of you know what I mean. I will say this though........... I do love my '05 FORD!

 

The Summer of '67

My Grandmother had passed away several years before, But Grandpa still lived near the thick of things,... My Dad, Brother and I (armed with baseball bats) went and got him before it got really harry,.... a few tense moments, but we got him out,.... We lived about 20 minutes west of Detroit, Nothing ever happened in our neighborhood that summer (except some drive by brick and rock tossing,... and windows being shot out with BB guns ) ,.....

Dad gave us strict orders on what to do if something started to happen, we set up a watch (2 hours each, in shifts) ,..... that was the wound that Detroit never recovered from, (IMHO)

 

Anyone from Michigan will know at least one guy in this picture !