The Temple Street buildings
I saw the images of the vacant houses on Temple St. and was compelled the post. I and my now Ex-husband owned 52 and 56 Temple St. My ex sold the two properties to an "undisclosed" buyer in May of 2009. I did a lot of research on these two buildings. For me they are a fascinating look into a true neighborhood architecture fragment of old Detroit.
I'll start with the oldest house, 56 Temple which you only see a corner of in the one pic was built in 1864 by John F. Munro, an immigrant from Scotland. He lived there with his wife Sara and three children. He was a surveyor, he was the first to survey the Saginaw valley from what I could find.
It started as a home lighted by gas. The gas light pipes are still in the walls, just plastered over a bit. This house is an example of a family that owned an acre or so, and as JFMunroe got older he sold off parcels to keep money coming through his retirement. This is the oldest home in the downtown area. Would be a excellent dig site since there is sure to be an outhouse site under the alley's cobble stones.
52 Temple, the blonde brick Romanesque house was built by Dr. Louise Orlemann in 1894. Her husband who was a grocer died while the house was being built. She was a German immigrant, she graduated from U of M med school in 1882 in Homeopathy. She practiced out of her home and was the first female OB/GYN to be hired at Hutzel woman's hospital.