map showing mid-twentieth century manufacturing sites

[tfrodent]

I’m seeking help from some of the experts who people this site, in finding a good mid-twentieth century map of Detroit that identifies manufacturing sites throughout the city. I know what I want exists. Here is an image posted by Mikem from a March, 2005 post[[http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/39227.html), from a map he states is from 1947:



I would dearly like to see this entire map—even better a similar map from 3-5 years later. Can anyone [[maybe Mikem?) tell me the source? I have a suspicion that it may be a Sanborn map, but don’t know. Can anyone help, or suggest a source for such a mid-century map of this beautiful quality? There are many excellent and detailed posts [[particularly old atdetroit.net, circa 2005-6) on individual factory buildings, but it’s hard to get a clear mid-century perspective without a whole map like this.

[MikeM]

This was a 1947 map published by R. L. Polk, the directory publisher. I can't remember where I bought it; eBay or an antique store or a used book store. I suspect it was ripped off the inside cover of a city directory. I have it scanned into nine sections. I highlighted most of the industries but missed a few, and I no longer have the original scans without the highlighting, but I still have the original map.

Compared to most maps, it's difficult to read since it doesn't differentiate the the street types - a major street like Woodward is depicted the same as a short residential cul-de-sac. It does label a several of the major factories around town - more than most. Some have the building layout depicted like above, while others are just blank spots with the company name. I have some gas station maps from the 1950s which show the major factories, but not as many as this one. Search eBay and other online sites, or antique stores and used book stores for vintage maps from the era; some are more detailed than others.

I have a 1943 directory that has a list of significant industries in the city. Some day I might try to map them out either with Google Maps or GIS software. There were a few different directory or street guide publishers such as Federal and Polk and Sauer that made directories like this:

[Wheels]

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/78791.html

[tfrodent]

This was a 1947 map published by R. L. Polk, the directory publisher. I can't remember where I bought it; eBay or an antique store or a used book store. I suspect it was ripped off the inside cover of a city directory. I have it scanned into nine sections. I highlighted most of the industries but missed a few, and I no longer have the original scans without the highlighting, but I still have the original map.

Compared to most maps, it's difficult to read since it doesn't differentiate the the street types - a major street like Woodward is depicted the same as a short residential cul-de-sac. It does label a several of the major factories around town - more than most. Some have the building layout depicted like above, while others are just blank spots with the company name. I have some gas station maps from the 1950s which show the major factories, but not as many as this one. Search eBay and other online sites, or antique stores and used book stores for vintage maps from the era; some are more detailed than others.

I have a 1943 directory that has a list of significant industries in the city. Some day I might try to map them out either with Google Maps or GIS software. There were a few different directory or street guide publishers such as Federal and Polk and Sauer that made directories like this:

MikeM,

It would be hard to imagine a quicker or more pertinent reply! I recently acquired a 1953-4 Polk Directory, but no luck on a map like this. You still have the scans--any chance I could get them? What I'd propose to do is to stitch them together into one using Photoshop, very possibly writing as a losslessTIF file, though big. What I'd then do to repay the community is to upload it to one of the free upload/download sites such as Rapidshare. That way anyone who wanted it could download a high quality copy.
I also don't recall seeing in my 1953-4 Polk a listing of manufacturers such as you found in the earlier one. If it's not too much of a pain to scan [[well, somewhat of a pain), I'd really encourage you to post to the forum.
Thanks, again, MikeM. Looks like Santa found some time tonight to come through.

[tfrodent]

Great resource, Wheels--been through them all [[and there are other threads, though not officially part of this series, with similar information). Maybe someday someone will organize all these posts on old factories by dates of operation and/or location! Unfortunately, due to file size restriction/resolution issues alone, there are no comprehensive maps included. What would be great would be to organize all these posts and to add in comprehensive city maps every 10 or 20 years, beginning around 1900.