Mack Avenue History

[Hermod]

I'll add to that it was also the stomping grounds of all kinds of predatory drug dealers later. Maybe already back then? [[If someone knows, I'm curious when drugs became a problem in the neighborhood.)

There were a lot of factors, clearly.

I wonder how much keeping the streetcars would have helped.

I'm also interested in any other theories.

Houston-Whittier from Hayes to Kelly to Harper was a vibrant and busy shopping area in the 40s and 50s. There was never a streetcar there. Today it is a wasteland.

[kathy2trips]

I don't remember Hanson Chevrolet but my folks won a TV in a drawing there in the early 50's when they were a new product.

That was a very big deal. TVs were expensive. My mom worked in the office at Hanson Chevrolet and Jefferson Chevrolet, too. My uncle sold cars at Ewald Chevrolet.

[Gina Tree]

Thanks very much for these lists. My mother grew up just off the corner of Mack and Alter Rd and I remember taking the street car line. It would stop in front of their house turn around and head back downtown on Mack Avenue. I'm writing a novel that covers 1927-1955 in that area. I was just a kid in the fifties, but have heard lots of stories. If anyone has photographs of Mack Avenue I'd be happy to see them.

[Gina Tree]

Hi Exequar,
I am a novelist who grew up in East Detroit, but my mother grew up on Alter Rd one building south of Mack Avenue. It's now a parking lot for a drugstore strip mall. I'm writing a novel that takes place in Detroit, home base right ther on Alter Rd, 1927-1950. I have many photos of that corner with the 8 children who grew up there and brought their grand children back every week. But I don't have photos of the stores along Mack Avenue during the depression and during WWII. My grand mother used to take me to an A & P and Kresge's and Sanders but that was in the 50s. I don't live in Detroit any more but will be there for a few weeks in August. If you have any suggestions where I might find photographs of interest, please respond. Also does anyone remember The Drop Inn Bar on Mack Avenue between Alter and Wayburn? I'd like to find the address.

[Gina Tree]

I am a novelist who grew up in East Detroit, but my mother grew up on Alter Rd one building south of Mack Avenue. It's now a parking lot for a drugstore strip mall. I'm writing a novel that takes place in Detroit, home base right ther on Alter Rd, 1927-1950. I have many photos of that corner with the 8 children who grew up there and brought their grand children back every week. But I don't have photos of the stores along Mack Avenue during the depression and during WWII. My grand mother used to take me to an A & P and Kresge's and Sanders but that was in the 50s. I don't live in Detroit any more but will be there for a few weeks in August. If you have any suggestions where I might find photographs of interest, please respond. Also does anyone remember The Drop Inn Bar on Mack Avenue between Alter and Wayburn? I'd like to find the address.

[archfan]

Gina, have you tried Virtual Motor City photo archive? Also, you might check the Burton Collection at the Detroit Public Library.