looking for old photo of Trumball Ave. home

[grander54]

Prior to 1921 street renumbering it was 102 Trumball., afterwards it was 1246. Any suggestion besides the Burton Collection on where I might find a photo of this home. Apparently it is now commercial property. Thanks!

[southofbloor]

Wayne State University has a great archival collection of searchable photographs here:

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...view=thumbnail

[preserve]

It's Trumbull

[Brock7]

This can be a good source of buildings with a specific address if it survived to the mid 1970's.
http://www.placepromo.com/search.php

However there's nothing for your address on Trumbull.[[<- be sure to spell it correctly when you search)

[mccarch]

That address would be on the east side of Trumbull between Howard and Abbott. If the house lasted until after WWII, it was probably demolished as part of the Corktown Urban Renewal project of the 1940s-50s. I would research at WSU [[as southofbloor recommended) and at the Burton Collection looking for photos from that uban renewal project, and hope that you'll find one that will show the house. Good luck.

[jcole]

Check out this blog for info on the renewal that removed so many homes.
http://corktownhistory.blogspot.com/...ndustrial.html

and this link from Dyes:
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...-Urban-Renewal

And check out this page of the corktown history blog; lot's of tips:
http://corktownhistory.blogspot.com/...town-home.html

[jcole]

And here's a search I ran for "Trumbull" on the Virtual Motor City site; you'll have to page through to see if there is anything of interest.

Forgot the link:
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...view=thumbnail

[grander54]

Thanks all for your suggestions and correction on the spelling! What a great group of helpers!

[southofbloor]

No prob - good luck with it!

[DetroitHabitater]

It was likely torn down during the west side industrial project as described in the corktownhistory blog.

Here is the 1921 Sanborn of it.

the '2' means 2 floors
F means "Flat" [[multiple units)
Vend means "Veneered"
The hash marks along the sides indicate second floor windows [[because of 2 hash marks)
Single Story front porch.

[mccarch]

I forgot about my new toy! Last Sunday, I found a Bresser's Cross-Index Directory of Detroit. It lists everyone who had a phone by their street and house number. A problem is that there's no date, and the title page [[where I assumed there was a date) is torn and missing the vital chunk. I'm guessing that it's early 1950s?

The numbers from DetroitHabitater's Sanborn:

1236 Trumbull - not listed [[which means there was no phone at the address)
1238 Lagana Jas
Van Marter Delbert
1244 not listed
1246 Sobier Amos
1252 not listed

[grander54]

Thank you DetroitHabitater for the Sanborn Map!!! So cool. And Mccarch for yet another resource! You guys are the best. I pretty sure my family was gone by then as the name should have been Abraham. I love adding another source for future reference. I'm still hopeful for a photo.

[p69rrh51]

Listing for 102/1246 Trumbull in the R. L. Polk City Directories.
!931 Polk Directory-Mrs Ellen Abraham no phone.
1927 Same as above
1921 Same as above.
1915 Same as above.
1910 same as above.
1906 same as above. First time listed in the Polk Directory.

[DetroitHabitater]

I'm not trying to dash your hopes, but a picture is going to be a longshot. My friend [[the author of the corktownhistory blog) and I have been gathering photographs of corktown now for about 5 years. This is what we have so far

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corktownhistory

The house wasn't built by 1897
[[not on 1897 sanborn). From sanborn description it probably looked similar to this house which was around the corner.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corktow...57628093919480

[grander54]

Again, you astound me with your work and sharing great old photos of Corktown! Thank you so much. Ellen Abraham was my gr gr grandmother. Her son Leo Abraham was in business with my gr.grandfather Charles Ritter, he owned an auto trimming business. I found ads in the old city directories. Ritter Mfg. Co. [[general contractors to the auto trade)1903-1914 and then Wolverine Garage Co. at 248 Jefferson Ave. E. [[1915-1917), later going into real estate. I've had to find this on my own as my immediate family had NOTHING on my father's side [[Ritter). Great fun and exciting to see what you have come up with also!

[southofbloor]

I'm not trying to dash your hopes, but a picture is going to be a longshot. My friend [[the author of the corktownhistory blog) and I have been gathering photographs of corktown now for about 5 years. This is what we have so far

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corktownhistory

The house wasn't built by 1897
[[not on 1897 sanborn). From sanborn description it probably looked similar to this house which was around the corner.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corktow...57628093919480

Wow fantastic set of photos! Thanks for posting.

[p69rrh51]

Again, you astound me with your work and sharing great old photos of Corktown! Thank you so much. Ellen Abraham was my gr gr grandmother. Her son Leo Abraham was in business with my gr.grandfather Charles Ritter, he owned an auto trimming business. I found ads in the old city directories. Ritter Mfg. Co. [[general contractors to the auto trade)1903-1914 and then Wolverine Garage Co. at 248 Jefferson Ave. E. [[1915-1917), later going into real estate. I've had to find this on my own as my immediate family had NOTHING on my father's side [[Ritter). Great fun and exciting to see what you have come up with also!

Ritter-any relation to the family that owns Specmo Enterprises?

[PSewick]

If the house was standing in the mid-1950s when half of Corktown was demolished for the West Side Industrial District, then the Burton has a photo from soon before the demolition. [[That house is definitely in the project area.) The Detroit City Plan Commission photographed every structure that they intended to knock down to document "blight". If you ask the librarian at the desk in the Burton for the index of the City Plan Commission's files in their manuscript collection, you should find the box and folder numbers for the property photos. However, the photos themselves are not indexed and you will have to flip through a few hundred until you find the one you're looking for. The individual photos are clearly labeled.

[grander54]

not that I know of

[grander54]

O.K., really good lead for researching at the Burton Collection. I'm in California, so will need to check on resources for helping with that. I was successful in finding a few items at the Burton Collection back in '08 when I went on a research trip.

[PSewick]

gander54: I found a photo of 1246 Trumbull. It's the middle house in this photo, taken in 1956 [[it's labeled misleadingly--the right house is in fact the middle and not the one on the right):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corktow...n/photostream/

[grander54]

to PSewick...you are an angel! Thank you for finding and posting photo for me. I have a cousin in Norway that will be happy to see this!

[313rd]

This group of people on this Forum are amazing!


How about 3437 Bagley Ave - Building History - Pictures?

For about 30 years from 1950's thru the late 1970's, my grandparents owned a business in the building. It was called Pacini Novelty Co. specializing in plaster statue's and such. I'm trying to find some old photo's and/or history of the building. I'm putting together a little something for a gift.

Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[PSewick]

313rd, I don't have any photos from that far west, but a search through the directories suggests that the building you mentioned was built around 1892, when it first appears listed. Its original address was 571 Baker Street. The number changed in 1921 and the street name changed in the 30s. The first occupant was the butcher shop of Ernest J. Schmidt. If you go to the Burton, ask them to help you look up that name in the biographical files. If you're lucky, there might be something about that individual. Also have them check that name in the business photo index. But if your grandparents owned that store since the 50s, they are obviously the best possible source for old photos!