Remembering White Tower....and Detroit
Detoiters nostalgic for White Castle "sliders" may remember a rival chain, called White Tower. Since there was a Tower less than a block from home in the W. Vernor/Springwells neighborhood, that got most of my patronage. I attended WSU in the sixties and worked late in a downtown bank. After hanging out with friends at the Alcove or Verne's I'd board a Woodward bus and connect with the Baker in Cadillac Square, often about 2 AM - around midnight on work nights. After a 25 minute ride home I'd stop for some burgers at the White Tower. I loved the friendly waitress, the smells of the coffee brewing and the burgers and onions on the grill, the tang of the condiments, and the quiet of the night. After many years in California I retired last year to Ann Arbor, and I recently went to a White Castle, remembering those little burgers of so long ago. Of course it wasn't the same. I guess my real nostalgia was for a Detroit where I rode around town late at night on buses, got home safely, and tucked myself in, those little burgers fortifying me until morning.
Little hamburger joint on the corner of Michigan and Stecker
A2Mike
Back in the1960’s I use to drag race on Stecker, between Michigan and Southern, which is just around the corner from where you use to live. There was a little hamburger joint on the corner of Michigan and Stecker where we’d eat some greasy burgers and hang out all night. It was a real popular racing place for a long time. Maybe you remember it.
Mikeg Kodachrome pictures
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mikeg
Thank you for the Kodachrome pictures. I was in grade school most of the fifties but I vividly remember trips to Belle Isle and the Ford Rotunda, and those Kodachrome colors do make everything look like it all happened yesterday. I was at WSU when the Kern block was demolished and shortly afterward I ran into Hawkins Ferry at the Art Institute and discussed with him some of the proposals I had seen in the papers for possible projects for the property. He seemed pretty noncommittal about any of them and I've always wondered if had been considering the longer term prospects for the city's viability - the 1967 riots may have made a lot people pause to think about where Detroit was headed.