Shorpy again!

[Ray1936]

Beautiful old 1910 photo of old City Hall and Woodward Avenue. Everyone in the photo looks like they know what they are doing, unlike some who wander in the area today! LOL

http://www.shorpy.com/node/12683?size=_original

[canuck]

Yep, I like it. Look at that guy in the little flivver on the corner. Look at those awnings! Boomtown!

[EastsideAl]

What a great picture. It seems, from the cars stacked up on Fort St., that there was already a parking problem downtown in 1910.

Everytime I see a picture of old City Hall I am always amazed by the shifts in taste that found this building the height of monumental municipal modernity [[say that 3 times fast...) in the late 19th century, and an embarrassing civic eyesore to be eliminated by the mid-20th century. And now, when you show pictures like this one to people today, they find it hard to believe that such a building was purposely torn down.

Makes me a little more careful in my own aesthetic judgements about what is and is not dated or ugly.

Buildings still standing that are in this picture: Central Methodist and St. John's Episcopal churches up Woodward and the Bagley Fountain [[although not in the same spot). Any others?

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

I love the canon on the lawn in front. You don't see enough canon used in landscaping these days...

[Ray1936]

I love the canon on the lawn in front. You don't see enough canon used in landscaping these days...

Pachelbel would agree with you. Anyway, those cannon were removed to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum when the City Hall was demolished. Still there, for all I know; they were relics of the War of 1812.

[ddaydetroit]

where is that fountain today ?

[canuck]

Just happened on this picture from a series of before and after studies on Spacing Montreal, an urban landscape blog. This shows the Keefer building [[1924) and a 1968 improvement [[ahem!)


Apparently, this was not a demolition but an enlargement and recladding job.

[Gistok]

What a great picture. It seems, from the cars stacked up on Fort St., that there was already a parking problem downtown in 1910.

Buildings still standing that are in this picture: Central Methodist and St. John's Episcopal churches up Woodward and the Bagley Fountain [[although not in the same spot). Any others?

The Schaworsky Music Building is on the NE corner of Woodward and Grand River is still there. The towers of both Central Methodist and St. John's are closer to the middle of Woodward than they are today [[they got moved during the 1930s Woodward widening).

[EastsideAl]

where is that fountain today ?

It's now across Woodward in the middle of Cadillac Square.



The triangular topped building in the background on the left [[1 Kennedy Square) is on the former site of City Hall.

The Bagley Memorial Fountain is the only work in Michigan of the great architect H.H. Richardson.

[Gistok]

I've mentioned this before.... but most people who see the Old County Building think that the now gone older City Hall were of comparable sizes, but nothing could be further from the truth. If you check old Sandford maps of downtown, the Old County Building has a footprint that is something like 3 times that of Old City Hall. And when you take into consideration the number of floors, the total square footage must have been 4:1 in relation to each other. Old City Hall was really a much smaller building.

[Whitehouse]

What a great picture. It seems, from the cars stacked up on Fort St., that there was already a parking problem downtown in 1910.

Everytime I see a picture of old City Hall I am always amazed by the shifts in taste that found this building the height of monumental municipal modernity [[say that 3 times fast...) in the late 19th century, and an embarrassing civic eyesore to be eliminated by the mid-20th century. And now, when you show pictures like this one to people today, they find it hard to believe that such a building was purposely torn down.

Makes me a little more careful in my own aesthetic judgements about what is and is not dated or ugly.

Buildings still standing that are in this picture: Central Methodist and St. John's Episcopal churches up Woodward and the Bagley Fountain [[although not in the same spot). Any others?

You mean, in 50 years they will mourn the loss of the Ford Theatre?

And also, that church is strictly spoken also not on the same spot, having some of it eliminated due to widening of Woodward.
Edit: Was mentioned above.

[EastsideAl]

You mean, in 50 years they will mourn the loss of the Ford Theatre?

Exactly. I thought Ford Auditorium was plain and unlovely, dated and outmoded, and it was certainly unused, uncared for, and had been a serious failure in its main use as a symphony hall. I felt that it was past its useful life, and that it was really time for it to go. But from older relatives I've come to understand that's pretty much how people at the time felt about City Hall too.

So, I have to wonder if, at some time in the future, people will look at photos of Ford Auditorium and wonder "why the hell did they tear that down?" In much the same way we look at pictures of old City Hall today;

[Gistok]

Exactly. I thought Ford Auditorium was plain and unlovely, dated and outmoded, and it was certainly unused, uncared for, and had been a serious failure in its main use as a symphony hall. I felt that it was past its useful life, and that it was really time for it to go. But from older relatives I've come to understand that's pretty much how people at the time felt about City Hall too.

So, I have to wonder if, at some time in the future, people will look at photos of Ford Auditorium and wonder "why the hell did they tear that down?" In much the same way we look at pictures of old City Hall today;

That's been my fear all along. Just like the Quo Vadis Theatre [[a Yamasaki design)... we may not now appreciate mid 20th century architecture [[I'm not keen on it myself)... but at some point we may look back and say that.... from that era it was among the best we had, design wise.

Granted, the acoustics were mediocre at Ford Auditorium... but even today... as much as people love the design of the famous Sydney Opera House... they can't even perform Grand Opera there because of the limitations of the venue...

[cman710]

Given how long I have been posting on this forum, I should know the answer to this question, but what is the building to the right of City Hall?

[jcole]

Given how long I have been posting on this forum, I should know the answer to this question, but what is the building to the right of City Hall?

Caption below the picture on Shorpy:

The Motor City circa 1910. "Campus Martius. Detroit City Hall, Bagley Fountain and Majestic Building." Detroit Publishing glass negative. View full size.

[MikeM]

The local U.S. Weather Bureau office was in the Majestic Building at the time, hence the weather instruments on the rooftop.

[Gistok]

Given how long I have been posting on this forum, I should know the answer to this question, but what is the building to the right of City Hall?

As was just stated, that was the Majestic Building, which came down to put up 1001 Woodward back in the 60s. The Majestic and Hammond Building [[where Chase Tower is today) and the old Ponchartrain Hotel [[where First National Building is today)... were the first tall buildings in downtown...

[cman710]

As was just stated, that was the Majestic Building, which came down to put up 1001 Woodward back in the 60s. The Majestic and Hammond Building [[where Chase Tower is today) and the old Ponchartrain Hotel [[where First National Building is today)... were the first tall buildings in downtown...

Thanks everyone for the helpful information.

[Single Malt]

The local U.S. Weather Bureau office was in the Majestic Building at the time, hence the weather instruments on the rooftop.

Looks like a weather man up there too. Is that a person in the crows nest??

[grumpyoldlady]

I like the window washer on the bank building next to the City Hall. Don't see any harness. Is that building the Majestic Building you refer to?

[tarkus]

Looking at a lot of the Shorpy pics I notice most if not everyone is wearing a some type of hat. I realize that fashion was part of the reason but does anyone know why most were covered even little kids?

[Gistok]

Looking at a lot of the Shorpy pics I notice most if not everyone is wearing a some type of hat. I realize that fashion was part of the reason but does anyone know why most were covered even little kids?

Interesting observation... hats seem to have fallen from favor in America in the last 60 or so years. In Britain hats are still in fashion, at least among the posher classes. You wouldn't be caught dead at Ascot without one.

[EastsideAl]

Shorpy posted a very nice, but almost wholly unrecognizable, view up Griswold yesterday. Were it not for Capitol Park clearly visible in the background, I would have had trouble orienting myself. Not a single building left from this picture I believe.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/12714?size=_original

[Ray1936]

Looking at a lot of the Shorpy pics I notice most if not everyone is wearing a some type of hat. I realize that fashion was part of the reason but does anyone know why most were covered even little kids?

No hair spray back then.

[Gistok]

Well there's one building on the right side... the 12 story United Way Building, which was built in the mid 1890s, but it's been remodeled quite a bit since...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...vices_Building