Old Pictures of Dexter/Davison Neighborhood

I have been reading this forum for years, but just recently joined. I grew up in Detroit as a member of Generation Y [[born in the late 80s). I lived near the corner of Dexter and Davison. Back in the 90s the area looked pretty bad, but now it has gotten even worse. There are far fewer people walking down the street, in the stores, standing at the bus stop, etc. I heard that in the 1960s and 70s it was a very dense, bustling neighborhood. I was wondering if anyone had pictures from that time or if someone could tell me where to find them.

It was pretty dense in the 70s, which I recall, but nothing like the density and urbanity of the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, from what I understand. I'm not Jewish, but the history of Detroit's Jewish community is very interesting, and a lot of it involved Dexter-Davison.

Have you checked out photos on the Reuther Library site, which often show up here?

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Originally Posted by Carey

It was pretty dense in the 70s, which I recall, but nothing like the density and urbanity of the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, from what I udnerstand. I'm not Jewish, but the history of Detroit's Jewish community is very interesting, and a lot of it involved Dexter-Davison.

Have you checked out photos on the Reuther Library site, which often show up here?

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It was pretty dense through the early 90s too, especially on Dexter east of Davison. It was reminiscent of Philadelphia or parts of Brooklyn. In the early 90s I had relatives who owned a 2-family flat over there. They would babysit me during the summer while my parents were at work. It wasn't the best neighborhood, but it was pretty stable and all of the houses were still occupied. But that seems like a completely different era now. I drove through the area about 2 years ago and now it just looks totally discarded, almost post-apocalyptic compared to what I remember from the early 90s.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

It was pretty dense through the early 90s too, especially on Dexter east of Davison. It was reminiscent of Philadelphia or parts of Brooklyn. In the early 90s I had relatives who owned a 2-family flat over there. They would babysit me during the summer while my parents were at work. It wasn't the best neighborhood, but it was pretty stable and all of the houses were still occupied. But that seems like a completely different era now. I drove through the area about 2 years ago and now it just looks totally discarded, almost post-apocalyptic compared to what I remember from the early 90s.

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It's amazing how fast things change. In the 90s I used to think the neighborhood was bad, but not compared to now. It's a shame that our once great, inner-city neighborhoods have been left to rot. Does the Reuther site have a search feature?

My old 'hood... my old stomping grounds! I lived not too far from this area from infancy in the 70s until I moved out of the city in '04. And yes, it was relatively rough back then, but what a difference a decade makes...

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Originally Posted by NativeDetroiter

It's amazing how fast things change. In the 90s I used to think the neighborhood was bad, but not compared to now. It's a shame that our once great, inner-city neighborhoods have been left to rot.

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Yes, it is incredibly sad. There are so many places where friends lived that are now abandoned shells. But we'll always have our memories...

I grew up in Russell Woods and currently live on the other side of Dexter near Central High. As a current resident, the entire area should be treated -- much like Detroit itself -- as a street-by-street, almost block-by-block case. Some of the two-family streets are still well-occupied. Go over one street, and you'll see two-family homes falling down and boarded up. Our biggest problem are the empty apartment buildings. My part of the neighborhood is all single-family: Very well occupied, mostly homeowners with some renters scattered in between. But all is not lost. As I've said on this board before, while we're far from being a Midtown-type neighborhood, we still have churches, schools, some urban gardens and a few businesses in the area and shouldn't be lumped in with the East Robinwoods and other bombed-out areas of the city.

We've recently re-energized our block club/neighborhood association to target what we can do about addressing specific concerns, particularly the empty apartment buildings, potholes and getting more stop signs on the side streets. The Food Farm grocery store on the corner of Lawrence and Dexter has a new owner, I'm told, and should be opening sometime this year. Soul Brothers Eatery is doing well, and we've seen homes for sale go quickly to new owners just as fast as they come on the market. Don't count us out yet.

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Originally Posted by afoley

I grew up in Russell Woods and currently live on the other side of Dexter near Central High. As a current resident, the entire area should be treated -- much like Detroit itself -- as a street-by-street, almost block-by-block case. Some of the two-family streets are still well-occupied. Go over one street, and you'll see two-family homes falling down and boarded up. Our biggest problem are the empty apartment buildings. My part of the neighborhood is all single-family: Very well occupied, mostly homeowners with some renters scattered in between. But all is not lost. As I've said on this board before, while we're far from being a Midtown-type neighborhood, we still have churches, schools, some urban gardens and a few businesses in the area and shouldn't be lumped in with the East Robinwoods and other bombed-out areas of the city.

We've recently re-energized our block club/neighborhood association to target what we can do about addressing specific concerns, particularly the empty apartment buildings, potholes and getting more stop signs on the side streets. The Food Farm grocery store on the corner of Lawrence and Dexter has a new owner, I'm told, and should be opening sometime this year. Soul Brothers Eatery is doing well, and we've seen homes for sale go quickly to new owners just as fast as they come on the market. Don't count us out yet.

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What I like about this area as opposed to other parts of the city is its organization. It had a good mix of apartments, single family homes, and storefronts. The bus stops were well placed and very accessible. The area can be revitalized, but I don't see it happening unless our local economy turns around. Many of the apartments are outdated and no longer desirable places to live. If a revitalization occurs I would love to see some renovations. Additionally, new apartments, lofts, condos, and houses could be built. There needs to be some type of "anchor" though. Midtown has the museums and educational institutions to keep it relevant. Dexter/Davison would need something like this to draw residents.

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Originally Posted by NativeDetroiter

What I like about this area as opposed to other parts of the city is its organization. It had a good mix of apartments, single family homes, and storefronts. The bus stops were well placed and very accessible. The area can be revitalized, but I don't see it happening unless our local economy turns around. Many of the apartments are outdated and no longer desirable places to live. If a revitalization occurs I would love to see some renovations. Additionally, new apartments, lofts, condos, and houses could be built. There needs to be some type of "anchor" though. Midtown has the museums and educational institutions to keep it relevant. Dexter/Davison would need something like this to draw residents.

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I don't think it necessarily needs an anchor. It just needs to be a good place to live with amenities within the neighborhood and easy access to other areas of the city by way of transit.

It is pretty close to University of Detroit-Mercy. Build a rail line up Grand River from downtown, and a spur along Dexter up to UDM at Livernois and McNichols. That could connect to a spur of the Woodward line along McNichols, continuing on to the Lodge and then northwest into Southfield, you'd connect Marygrove College, Lawrence Tech University and major job centers.

DDOT's 16 Dexter is also one of the busiest bus routes in the city, probably second or third. But the city is planning to lower frequency and discontinue 24hr service [[on all 24hr routes). Another blow to a neighborhood that was built with reliance on streetcars that provided easy access to downtown and various industrial areas.

I live real close to Davison and Dexter and it really isn't the greatest neighborhood but we haven't had any problems and have two pit bull's to greet anyone wanting to try to break in to our house. I'm not sure what the area looked like back in the 50's and 60's but before the 67 riots I'm sure the area was a nice dense neighborhood. We don't plan on moving away from here either.

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Originally Posted by afoley

I grew up in Russell Woods and currently live on the other side of Dexter near Central High. As a current resident, the entire area should be treated -- much like Detroit itself -- as a street-by-street, almost block-by-block case. Some of the two-family streets are still well-occupied. Go over one street, and you'll see two-family homes falling down and boarded up. Our biggest problem are the empty apartment buildings. My part of the neighborhood is all single-family: Very well occupied, mostly homeowners with some renters scattered in between. But all is not lost. As I've said on this board before, while we're far from being a Midtown-type neighborhood, we still have churches, schools, some urban gardens and a few businesses in the area and shouldn't be lumped in with the East Robinwoods and other bombed-out areas of the city.

We've recently re-energized our block club/neighborhood association to target what we can do about addressing specific concerns, particularly the empty apartment buildings, potholes and getting more stop signs on the side streets. The Food Farm grocery store on the corner of Lawrence and Dexter has a new owner, I'm told, and should be opening sometime this year. Soul Brothers Eatery is doing well, and we've seen homes for sale go quickly to new owners just as fast as they come on the market. Don't count us out yet.

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We definitely won't! Thanks for the update. For so many years, up until my last immediate family members moved out in 2008, that was home for me... just to hear that intersection named brings back so many memories...

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Originally Posted by English

My old 'hood... my old stomping grounds! I lived not too far from this area from infancy in the 70s until I moved out of the city in '04. And yes, it was relatively rough back then, but what a difference a decade makes...



Yes, it is incredibly sad. There are so many places where friends lived that are now abandoned shells. But we'll always have our memories...

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English, do you remember what it was like there in the 80s? Were there a lot more stores, restaurants, etc? Was there more racial diversity? Was there a huge decline between the 80s and 90s or did the major decline occur in the 2000s? My first memories of the neighborhood are from the early 90s, since I was born in the late 80s. I've always been curious about the things I may have missed that occurred right before that time.

The Dexter-Davision block was jam packed with mom and pop stores from its Jewish owned businesses to black owned. It started to decline in the late 1990s due the flow of forclose homes and businesses and street drugs. Today the area has turn into a prositute, DEAD [[C) CRAK HEAD corner.

Some buildings house churches that were synagogues....

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The Dexter-Davision block was jam packed with mom and pop stores from its Jewish owned businesses to black owned. It started to decline in the late 1990s due the flow of forclose homes and businesses and street drugs. Today the area has turn into a prositute, DEAD [[C) CRAK HEAD corner.

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DPD patrols our area quite heavily, with both traffic enforcement and undercover gang squad units. Having spoken with the staff in the 10th Precinct personally, the increased patrolling has resulted in a significant decrease in crime [[and increased police response time). On the Central High side of Dexter, a major drug bust a few years back curtailed some [[but not all) of the drug use in the area. A gas station on Dexter was shut down as well, as it was a front for another drug operation. Patrols went up on the Russell Woods side after the elderly woman was raped in her home not too long ago. I don't doubt there is prostitution in the area, but streetwalkers on every block and hookers on every corner? Not at all.

Yeah, I was born in the 60's and what is was - was splendid. That whole area was flanked with small businesses, store fronts with apartments on the second level -- a thriving hardware and a large grocer on Dexter. Dexter's intersecting streets had some of the most splendid upper and lower two family flat brick houses, full drive ways, some with two baths per unit.

Most of these properties had leaded glass windows, wrought iron, decorative plaster treatments and walls, hard wood floors, and fireplaces. Many of the regal apartments along Dexter are gone now. A friend had a deluxe flat on Fullerton with a marble inlaid landing at first level. Now the place is gutted, no windows, not even boarded up. I rarely drive down Dexter now. Just too sad....

Clairmont also once nice, is becoming a horror. Several house abandoned, laying open -- as if there is a shortage of wood most of these dwellings are not even boarded up. Just wide open: every window, door, etc. removed by the scrappers.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

It was pretty dense through the early 90s too, especially on Dexter east of Davison. It was reminiscent of Philadelphia or parts of Brooklyn. In the early 90s I had relatives who owned a 2-family flat over there. They would babysit me during the summer while my parents were at work. It wasn't the best neighborhood, but it was pretty stable and all of the houses were still occupied. But that seems like a completely different era now. I drove through the area about 2 years ago and now it just looks totally discarded, almost post-apocalyptic compared to what I remember from the early 90s.

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July 1956 photos of apartment buildings near Dexter & Chicago Blvd: thread 1, thread 2

Photos of a June 1959 art show in Russell Woods Park.