Where is your first home?

[Buy American]

Lived on Montclair, between Vernor and Kercheval in the late 40's, 50's and 60's. The neighborhood had different ethnic groups, Syrian, Scottish, Irish, Italian, Southern, We used to run the alleys, playing kick the can, hide and seek, baseball. I was in every tree from Vernor to Kercheval, in every backyard and no one was upset. People kept their homes neat and clean and we all watched out for each other. All the adults sat on their front porches after dinner and we all talked to one another. My family had a party line until the late 50's. I went to Howe Elementary, Foch Jr., and Southeastern. Leo's Market on Vernor between Lemay and Fairview was where we bought our groceries. Mac's Soda fountain was on the corner of Lemay and Vernor and Bogus Market was on Lemay and Vernor on the North side of Vernor. We played outside all the time, when the street lights came on we had to be home. I wouldn't trade those days for a million dollars and am very sad to see how the neighborhood went dowm so terribly. Our old house on Montclair is still there but the back of it is practically gone.

[Rochelle St.]

15018 Rochelle.
The house was built in 1927, my parents bought it from an elderly german couple in 1964.
It was probably once a farmhouse from what I'm told, had to have been one of the first homes built in the Diegel subdivision.
We moved out in 1997.

[DetroitVideoDaily]

Hi,
Thought I would make my first post in this thread. I grew up in Westland, but currently living in Detroit. Lots of differences between the two, but I've been lucky to have good neighbors, both growing up, and now.
Here is a photo I snapped recently. The old phone number on the building always intrigued me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/detroit...7627648224666/
Anyways, hello to the DetroitYES! Forum
-Roger

[sarge]

6080 Rosemont, Warrendale

[corktownyuppie]

Right. Some of the alphabetic prefixes persisted into the 1970s:

"The letter system was phased out, beginning before 1965 [[though it persisted ten years later in some places, and was included in Bell of Pennsylvania directories until 1983), but alphabetic dialing remains as a commercial mnemonic gimmick, particularly for toll-free numbers. For example, one can dial 1-800-FLOWERS to send flowers to someone, or 1-800-DENTIST to find a local dentist."

from following article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_A...Numbering_Plan

This is a nice thread. I can't add to it - born in the Thumb - but some relatives lived in Detroit near old St. Anne's and we visited them often.

Thanks to you an Ray1936 for this. That's pretty cool. Jimaz, I had heard about the low-digit area codes before, and now when I hear an area code, if it's a really low number, I think, "this must've been an important city in the 1950s lol. MikeM, thanks for the pre-fixes. i will start referring to my old numbers as DRexel and TUxedo..that's awesome.

It's interesting to look at major cities at different periods of American history and learn about how different areas have moved up and down through the echelons of power and status:

NYC was on the brink of bankruptcy in the 70s
New Orleans was the wealthiest US cities in the 1830s and 1840s
Las Vegas was nothing until the 40s and 50s
And, of course, Detroit in the early 20th Century

===

Detroitej72, I do remember most of those places. My only recollection of Chatham's grocery store was on a rainy, rainy day. I must have been in 1st or 2nd grade at most. I didn't know Kelly/Morang drugs, we went to Merit Drugs. [[can't remember the street?) I also very, very vaguely taking the bus to Eastland mall, because my older cousin had a computer class at Hudsons, where they were selling Apple II's. I also remember the first time I had "crazy bread"...it was at a Little Caesar's not to far from the Sweetheart Bakery.

Good times....

[pkbroch]

Red brick house on the corner of Corbet and Barret, When I checked on google street view it was still there, Lived there in the mid forties. Lakepointe in GPP in the early fifties and Memorial near Schoolcraft and Southfield in the mid fifties, went to St. Mary's of Redford.

Parents moved to Farmington in 1956. Reason, cheaper taxes, very big lot, and modern house with the ability to put in a pool.

[shirlselects]

1322 Stanley, Detroit 2, Michigan [[Between Trumbull and Hamilton
TRinity 24383

Wen to McKinley Grade school on Stanley and Hamilton. It was closed down to build the express way and finished grade school at Tilden. Wento to Hutchins Intermediate until the 9th grade then moved to Livonia. Would probably have gone to Northwestern High on the Boulevard. Life was great back then. Hardly anybody locked their doors and they all mostly opened by skeleton keys anyway.

We played in the alleys and by the railroad tracks. Would go to the Greenwood show on Hamilton. Other shows in the area were The Strand and the Globe. Don't remember the streets they were on. I think there were a lot of boarding houses around us so there was a mixture of people. We were only a few blocks from Woodward were we took the streetcar downdown. The DIA on Woodward was also a favorite place to walk to. I did not realize it at the time but I guess since we were inter-city, we were considered underprivliged and got to go to all kinds of places for free. A bus would take us to parks, concerts etc all for free.

If any one else is from the area, would love to see any photos or read their stories

[rid0617]

Don't remember numbers but as a baby I was brought home to an apartment on Chalmers. When my brother was born we moved to a house on Mack Ave. From there moved to East 8 mile road. Last stop was on Tyler Ave in Berkley and after that my parents moved to Florida. I didn't want to go but at 14 didn't get a lot of say in the matter.

[ndavies]

My first home was my Grandparents 600 Year old farmhouse in Ebbw Vale, Wales, Great Britain. It's so old it's address is Just its name. Bwlch-y-garn Farm. My cousin still owns and operates the farm. My Grandmother sold the farm to her brother after my grandfather had died and her 2 sons had emigrated to the US. It's a working sheep farm. They also breed and train award winning Welsh ponies.

[stromberg2]

^^
Love that story, Ndavies!

Stromberg2

[Maof]

^^me too^^

[pgn421]

3472 Bishop,in EEV. Lived there from 1956-1989. Went to St.Clare, then Bishop Gallagher.
Neighborhood was nice, knew all the neighbors. I miss it.

[Detroit Stylin]

I was born in a very tiny house at 19932 Prairie Street near Pembroke in 1972. I guess you can say I spent my first 11 years living in a little house on Prairie [[*rim shot*)...ok I guess not. But the neighborhood back then was beautiful and when i rolled through there earlier this year and the neighborhood still looks nice. Its amazing for me to see now how not only me, my three brothers, mother and father all managed to fit into the tiny two bedroom house, but also manage to accomdate the amount of company we kept!. The house looks almost the exact same as it did the day we left. with the exception of the two large trees that used to be in the front yard. I remember during the summer we used to play in the alley lighting fireworks. The elevation difference between Monica Street and Prairie Street was so stark that when we took our trash out we actually had to walked down a three foot concrete stairway from our back yard down into the alley.


Since we moved from that neighborhood in 83, when i was only 11, the only school I attended in that area was Pasteur Elementary from K -5 three blocks away on Pembroke and Santa Rosa. As a kid during the summer we used to walk to Palmer Park and my momz would make it a point to take us through Sherwood Forest on the way just to see how the rich people lived...lol

[milt721]

Anyone else been google street viewing these addresses? Most of the neighborhoods are still in good shape.

[Buy American]

I had family living on Houston-Whittier back in the 70's. It was a busy street and the homes were little bungalows. The news had a story on yesterday of two men shot and killed in a home very near that family members old home and I couldn't believe the look of the street when the camera panned the neighborhood. When the people left the home in the early 80's, the neighborhood was pristine, the homes well maintained and occupied. Today, I would think a street in Iraq looks better....very very sad, indeed. Absolutely no need for people to let their neighborhoods get that way, poor or not, black or white. We were pretty poor back then, cashed in pop bottles many times to take our children to McDonalds for a "special" treat. Our home, our neighborhood, never looked like that.

[Blueidone]

softailrider...my family lived on Littlefield as well! But I was just an infant and I don't remember the address or anything about it. This would have been in mid-1949. We had to move out of there after I was born...not enough room. Then it was on to the 'burbs...Lathrup Village, then Pleasant Ridge, then Berkley. Parents divorced in 1956 and we moved to Huntington Woods. In 1965, we moved out to the country...Washington Twp [[26 Mile & VanDyke).

[Blueidone]

Welcome to the Forum, DetroitVideoDaily!

[mikefmich]

First 6 months of my life I lived at 11850 Woodrow Wilson.

Then I shot north to Royal Ave. in RO for 2.5 yrs., then near Moross & Chester just a few blocks inside HW in 1953.

[canuck]

My first home was my Grandparents 600 Year old farmhouse in Ebbw Vale, Wales, Great Britain. It's so old it's address is Just its name. Bwlch-y-garn Farm. My cousin still owns and operates the farm. My Grandmother sold the farm to her brother after my grandfather had died and her 2 sons had emigrated to the US. It's a working sheep farm. They also breed and train award winning Welsh ponies.

Only a stone's throw from Bwich-y-garn to Michigan eh?

[ndavies]

Only a stone's throw from Bwich-y-garn to Michigan eh?

Yes, just a short stones throw, Two other countries and almost a half century ago.

And as for the wonders of the welsh language, Thats not an i in BWLTH-Y-Garn, It's an L. W is a vowel in Welsh. At least I wasn't born in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogochWales. I'd hate to have to enter that every time they asked for my birth place.

[detroittrader]

First 6 months of my life I lived at 11850 Woodrow Wilson.

Then I shot north to Royal Ave. in RO for 2.5 yrs., then near Moross & Chester just a few blocks inside HW in 1953.

Woah!...I grew up at 1413 Royal in Royal Oak! I lived there from 1963-1983.

[Donovan]

I was just looking at Howe on google. looks like a new school, and the playground is gone. I remember our baseball team from the St Jean, Charlevoix area venturing over to Howe to play the area kids at baseball.

[ct_alum]

Mine was on Ashland between Jefferson and Kercheval in the early sixties. Lived in the "Valley" - VA4-8535. Entire block is almost all vacant fields, as is where Ives Elementary was over on Phillip - You can see straight through from Ashland over to Phillip and beyond. Same for Grandma's house on Phillip between Essex and Avondale. The entire far east side has been decimated. But I'm not bitter...........................

[birwood]

The first house I lived at was 14276 Cruise and I attended Burns Elementary. My Dad worked for the DSR at Coolidge Terminal and basically walked to work. In 1954 we moved to 13953 Birwood where we lived until I entered the USAF in 1968 but I attended Monnier Elementary, then St. Brigid School, Detroit Cathedral HS [[ where I did Hard Time) and was later parolled to Mackenzie. My parents moved while I was overseas to 8449 Penrod

[milt721]

I was just looking at Howe on google. looks like a new school, and the playground is gone. I remember our baseball team from the St Jean, Charlevoix area venturing over to Howe to play the area kids at baseball.

Howe was indeed new about 4-5 years ago. Soon it will no longer be Howe, as it's being renamed.