quonset huts in conner/warren area

[shortly]

I'm looking for any information available on the quionset hut housing on Conner in the late 1940s. My mother and her husband lived there and I'm curious as to the origins of the quonset hut idea, what the neighborhood was like, what businesses were in the area, etc. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[oladub]

I remember this being touched on in another Detroit YES thread so I did a Google search. I didn't find that thread but there were other conversations about those quonset huts. Google " quonset huts warren conner ".

This link included two photos of the outside of quonset houses somewhere and the inside of one of the Warren Conner units.

[Detroitnerd]

Quonset huts were pretty common in the 1940s, when there was a need for structures not just in the wilds of the South Pacific, but in crowded Detroit, where every building [[and garage and barn) seemed to house war workers. I thought it was interesting that so many people who came out of Wayne State University during and after the war remembered the Quonset huts on campus, even though few people thought to photograph them at the time...

[MikeM]

Some related threads:

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/62684/73103.html

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?3836

http://tinyurl.com/79yerjl

[shortly]

Thanks to all who responded. Your courtesy and assistance are appreciated.

[mikefmich]

My memory is telling me there were some along Conner very close to Harper...am I just fuzzy after 50+ yrs., or is that correct?

[EastsideAl]

That whole area along Connor, from Warren to Gratiot, was full of quonset huts during the war and in the housing shortage years that followed. My uncle and his family lived in one just off Gratiot when he came out of the Army Air Corps after WWII.

When I went to MSU in the 1970s there was still a little grouping of quonset huts left over from WWII on the western edge of campus [[where the Breslin Center is today). Some had been used for student housing as late as the late '60s. I worked at WKAR radio, which was then run out of 3 or so huts linked together.

[carterjan48]

In answer to shortly, I lived in the Quonset Huts from 1948-1956. Can't remember exactly how many huts were in the project but there were families of many nationalities. The huts were erected for the men coming home from WWII from what I understand. There was shopping at Warren and Conner and a few stores along Conner to shop, mainly small grocery stores, bowling alley. City airport was on Conner and Gratiot and the Police Department was at Conner and Gratiot. There was a huge factory and I think it was the Hudson Motor car plant. The building is still there but don't know how much longer it will be there.The men on their lunch hour would throw coins down to us kids. I am trying to find out what was on the property before the huts were there. I was in contact with a fellow that lived there in the 50's and that family was forced to move because of a reddish substance that came up through the ground and into the hut and made the family ill. I don't know what that was. As a child a group of us were digging around our hut and found hundreds of government cans of food, tea, coffee, jams etc. I personally think the area is hazardous. I have tried to talk to Wayne State and Michigan Historical society but it seems when they find out where the property is they won't give any information. The huts were very hot in the summer. The families used to pack up and go to Belle Isle to sleep. In the winter they were pretty cold. I don't know what the insulation was. Two families lived in one hut. A wall divided the two families. Some families that did not live in the huts would not allow their children to play with the ones that lived in the huts. I personally wouldn't trade growing up there for anything. It was wonderful growing up there. I am in contact with a few people that lived there and they all have great memories. My sister and I have quite a few pictures but we need more as we would like to publish an Arcadia book on the Quonset Huts. I feel it was an important part of history, especially in the Detroit area. Hope this helps. If you would like I can post some pictures of that area.

[grampsphil]

to carterjan48
I would love to see photo's of that area as I lived on Malcolm [[Harper / Conner area ) and started bowling as a tot at Conner Recreation bowling alley. I went to Macolm grade school and family was forced to move due to I-94 construction.

[56packman]

The factory on that corner was a Briggs Body plant that was built in 1940 for airplane part production, switched to making auto bodies for Packard after the war and became the body fab and assembly plant for Packard from September of 1954 until June of 1956 when Packard's Detroit operations were shut down by the new owners, Curtis-Wright. Chrysler bought Briggs in December of 1953 and Packard leased the Conner plant from Chrysler. It was demolished by Chrysler in the summer of 1959.

[swan]

There is a quionset hut on the south side of 22 Mile between mound and Ryan in Shelby Township that I am sure was purchased when they were removed from Conner Ave and rebuilt at this location. It now appears to be used for storage. A friend of the family purchased one back in the early 60's and moved it to his property north of Rochester and used it to board his horses. Not sure if it is still standing.