Do you guys know anything about this building off Gratiot? What it was used for and when it was built and closed.
http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/w...9/101_0045.jpg
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Do you guys know anything about this building off Gratiot? What it was used for and when it was built and closed.
http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/w...9/101_0045.jpg
It was a passenger terminal for the interurban transit line to Port Huron.
I posted a picture of it at the end of this thread:
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?t=409
Thanks, Mike. I wonder when it went abandoned.
Just before reading Mike's response my first thought was a transport link. I though a depot for streetcars. Was my first guess. Not far off the mark but not correct anyway. :)
The whole idea behind the building is nowadays in fashion again. There are numerous trasferpoints around the city of Amsterdam. Station Sloterdijk on the west has a massive parking. People take the Haarlem to Amsterdam line [[the oldest trainconnection in the Netherlands, build 1839) to reach city center. In the west the Amsterdam football [[yes football, I hate the term soccer) ArenA is also doubles a transferpoint [[outside matchdays).
Clever chaps back then, they should have copyrighted it.
Thanks for the info MikeM. That linked thread and picture of the Gary Terminal had escaped me.
I shot the site in November 2006; so here is a little webisode.
Gary Terminal is part of a re-foresting 17 acre lot. My primary objective for visiting the site was to find the remains of a trailer park that once was there. [Does anybody know its name? I made a delivery in its fading days during my former life as a Sears delivery driver. I recall it being all Euro-American.] As befits so many of these sites, it had become a tire dump. Ever wonder what that tire disposal fee we are forced to pay for is used for?
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2010...iler-44508.jpg
Let's take a look inside. Fire had ravaged the interior so only exposed structure remains.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2010...rior-44516.jpg
The full frontal outside view reveals that only the right wing [bus side] remains. I can't remember if I found any rails on the train side.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2010...full-44510.jpg
A tire strewn road leads into the trailer park and forest that lies behind. Fading outlines of lots and infrastructure remain, but the trailers have been removed.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2010...road-44513.jpg
Except for this one...
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2010...Ruin-44512.jpg
The only other remains I found was this structure, which I speculate may have been a management facility.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2010...ager-44514.jpg
I wondered if attempts to sell it had been abandoned, like this run-over sealed bid auction sign advertising the site. Or maybe a new owner removed it. Since it has considerable Gratiot frontage it would seem to have good value.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2010...sign-44518.jpg
Finally, since it fits, I have copied over the picture that MikeM wrote about above.
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/attachm...1&d=1240068607
Long before the thread I linked to, there was another thread about the interurbans where someone had posted a picture of it from what looked like the 1950s or early 1960s. I can't remember when the interurban ceased operations, but the picture made me think it was used in some way [[bus depot?) for some years afterward. I have no idea when it was abandoned or who the final owner was.
If this historical marker, beside the interurban power plant on Grand River just west of Orchard Lake Rd., is to be believed the DUR aka interurban came to an end in 1930. This was also the junction for the line leading up to Pontiac.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2010...aker-52272.jpg
be careful hanging around in those woods...there's an extremely territorial pack of about 4 or 5 stray dogs who call it their turf.
they like to slowly surround you using pack-hunting techniques. unless youre very observant and cool headed, you could end up in trouble, because while the others are more bark than bite, the alpha is deadly serious...
I found that the Gary Terminal opened in March 1925. The interurban line to Port Huron, the Rapid Railway, ceased operations in January 1928. The city ran street cars up the line to Mt Clemens for a short while, but it looks as if the line was abandoned in 1930. As I look back at the DTE aerials to 1949, it looks as though it was never in use. Whatever picture I saw of it posted here must have been from earlier in the decade.
MikeM and Lowell, you guys are absolutely amazing!!! Thanks for this thread and all of the information you provide. Historians of the First Class. = 1KD =
To me this building look like some thing that resembles the buildings at the state fair. When did it lose one of it,s wings?
Nice shots Lowell. I love that you left the tires and real estate sign in the shots.
I could be wrong but I never noticed that angle in your photography before. The bits and pieces that most dont bother to collect is what I love to see.
Whats the cross st to this ruin?
Detroitfunk post:
http://www.detroitfunk.com/?p=1683
Great stuff....
I can only imagine what Detroit was like in its prime.
Nice photos Lowell! Kinda eerie, but great nonetheless. Thanks for sharing.
The Gary Terminal, just like the Oakwood Terminal on Fort Street just west of the Rouge River drawbridge, was built by the Detroit United Railway [[DUR) in 1925 to serve as an interurban/bus transfer station for its interurban routes. Plans were to also build another one along Woodward in Highland Park, but it was never built.
Passengers would transfer from the interurban cars to express buses to continue into downtown. The DUR decided to build these transfer stations for two reasons, 1.) because the increasing motor traffic congestion downtown delayed the service into and out of town, and 2.) because after the DSR took over the DUR's city street railway operation, the city of Detroit now charged the DUR a millage fee to operate within the city of Detroit, ironically along the same rails the DUR initially built.
As a result, the DUR decided to terminate its interurban routes at these stations and used its People's Motor Coach Co. [[a DUR subsidiary) to operate express buses from the transfer station into downtown. After the DUR went into receivership the DSR purchased a number of the PMC's buses, hired many of its drivers and took over the company's city express routes, effective July 1, 1926.
According to an article in Motor Coach Age magazine [[Jan-Feb 1991) the DSR rented the Gary Terminal [[and an adjacent 50-bus garage) from the DUR and used it to house buses for its Cadillac Express [[which originated at the Gary Terminal), Warren East, Harper, Schoenherr and Wilshire bus routes. The DSR leased the Gary Garage until November 14, 1930.
That history is interesting. Sounds like the city of Detroit put the DUR out of business. And without the DUR feeding suburban passengers onto the DSR system, it is no wonder that they too eventually went out of business. And here I was led to believe it was all because of the "Great Streetcar Scandal".
I believe the trailer park used to be called the "Airport Trailer Park".There used to be a sign with the name at the entrance gate on Gratiot.
Thanks for the info MikeM. I snapped some shots of the terminal and had wondered what it was....:cool:
Looking at the old picture with the rail cars beside it and the current Bing map of the building, it appears that the rails has been moved 100 or so feet in the direction of French Road since the building was built. But it looks as if the original rails would have gone through the cemetary across Gratiot if the original rails did exist. Or was the rails going up to the building a spur off the current existing rail-line?
The rail line you're seeing is the Detroit Terminal RR - no relation to the interurban line. The terminal was served by a spur off of the Rapid Railway which ran along Gratiot [[where the northbound lanes are).
I agree... it was right alongside the white cement fence.Quote:
Originally Posted by KENSINGTONY
From the Internets......
From 2004....."In the city of Detroit, Standard Federal Bank will benefit from brownfield tax capture valued at about $241,500. The revenue will be used to repare blighted property at the corner of Gratiot and Conner for construction of a new 5,000-square-foot bank branch. The property is part of a 17-acre parcel formerly known as the Airport Trailer Park. Site preparation activities will include removal of concrete debris from demolition of mobile homes and abatement of contaminates including arsenic and lead. The city of Detroit, through the city's brownfield development authority, will capture more than $152,145 in local property taxes to assist with site preparation."
More recently......."The Gratiot Trailer Park was an abandoned 16-acre trailer park in northeast Detroit [[Wayne County) MI, that devolved into a dumpsite. Together with three derelict buildings, 20 collapsed, overturned and burned trailers, a few vagrant cars and boats, deteriorated above-ground storage tanks, and illicitly dumped trash littered the grounds. The site was partially fenced, but access was not effectively restricted. Industrial properties, airport property, and a park adjoined the site. This information is from ATSDR’s 1999 health consultation, conducted as part of a brownfields project.
ATSDR Conclusion: In 1999, ATSDR concluded that because of the physical hazards from the trash, trailers, tanks, and other debris, and the lack of effectively restricted access, this site was a Public Health Hazard [[Category 2). Also, some contaminants in soil were present at concentrations high enough to be of concern. The abandoned buildings definitely contained asbestos in amounts that required removal, and likely contained lead paint. Exposure to soil containing antimony, arsenic, benzo[[a)pyrene, copper, dibenz[[a,h)anthracene, lead, manganese, or PCBs was also possible.
In general, trespassers were considered unlikely to be exposed to doses that would cause adverse health effects. If, however, the site were developed for residential use, exposure to these contaminants might pose health risks.
U.S. EPA Update: The Gratiot Trailer Park site is not a federal site and is not included in the CERCLIS database.
The Michigan Department of Community Health Update: The area around Gratiot Trailer Park is being redeveloped commercially. A new bank is on the northeast corner of the site. See http://www.maps.live.com [cited 2008 August 21]. The rest of the site has yet to be addressed. MDEQ lists the site as "Airport Trailer Park, Former." Available at:
http://www.deq.state.mi.us/part201ss...t&pollutant=nu ll&source=null&submit=Submit [cited 2008 August 28].
IJC-critical Pollutants Identified within ATSDR Documents: During ATSDR’s assessment of exposure-related issues, the IJC-critical pollutants PCBs, lead, and B[[a)P, were identified at this site."
There is some type of pending construction project request for clearing of the Airport Trailer Park here: http://wire.forconstructionpros.com/...F7283AC1606%7D
The website requires registration to find out more details.
The city website used to show that a large chunk of that land belonged to the Michigan National Guard.
I was at Gary Interurban recently
Attachment 4808
detroitbob, I took a bunch of interior pictures when I was there recently too. Just wondering, are you an avid urban explorer?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DetroitZack
DetroitZack, Yes I am an avid explorer. I got my start years ago as a drug addict hanging in the abandoned buildings, now I have been clean for a few years. I was then doing it somewhat legal for my job as an outreach social worker with a local Detroit agency. Now, I continue on my path and have been into many buildings Detroit has to offer.
Attachment 4823
DetroitZack,
What about you? I see some of your pictures. Are you also an urban explorer in Detroit?
Yes I am, I am usually out exploring about once a week. Send me a private message if you care to join sometime.
Hello all. I grew up in the Airport Trailer Park from 1964 to 1985. My mom moved out in 1990. I haven't been in the area since and I had wondered what had happened to the park. It is rather upsetting to see what has happened to the place where I grew up. The park was on it's last legs when my mom moved, but it had once been a nice place to live. Full of working class families whose kids all played together. I had also often wondered what this building had been originally. The park used it as a club house and storage facility. I had my 16th birthday party in the building and also had my best friend's bridal shower there. I probably have some pictures from those events that show the interior of the building from the late 70's and early 80's. If I can find them, I can post them if anyone is interested. I am sure I also have pictures of the park from the early 70's. I was wondering if you have more pictures of the current condition of the park? The picture of the other building in the park is probably the old laundry. That building was already closed up when I was a kid, but my mom said it had once been a second laundry. I only remember that it was used for storage when I was a kid. Is there another building still standing in the park? It would have been near the center. That was the park office and laundry. The building also housed a shower room that really wasn't used by the 70's, but the park had been there a long time and at one time had been a "travelers' court" and at that time many of the "travel trailers" didn't have bathrooms or showers. Anyway thank you for posting these pictures.
Hell this is right by the GSCC. Shows how Westside I AM.
From the trailer parks that I have lived in [[six over the years), I think that most states had laws which required trailer parks to have shower and bathroom facilities dating back to the early days of "trailers". I have never lived in a park which didn't have them though most were disused except by the office staff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mardee
I'd love to see those pictures if you can find them Mardee. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mardee