Economy Printing Building - Detroit Riots

[Argonne18]

Can anyone of you old time Detroiters tell me what
year the Economy Printing building, [[the blind pig that
hosted the party igniting the 67' riot) was torn down?

[Dexlin]

Old post, but to go along with this, was Economy Printing at the southwest corner of 12th and Atkinson? I see 12th and Clairmont mentioned all the time, but some of the photos from that time taking a picture of this seem to show pictures looking north standing in the middle of that intersection as opposed to looking TOWARD the intersection of 12th and Clairmont.

Actually, given the old address, 9125 12th, perhaps the building was at the alley splitting the block between Clairmont and Atkinson, and that residential properties were directly across the alley to Atkinson?

During RFK's visit looking north; you can see the building in the background on the left:

[stasu1213]

Old post, but to go along with this, was Economy Printing at the southwest corner of 12th and Atkinson? I see 12th and Clairmont mentioned all the time, but some of the photos from that time taking a picture of this seem to show pictures looking north standing in the middle of that intersection as opposed to looking TOWARD the intersection of 12th and Clairmont.

Actually, given the old address, 9125 12th, perhaps the building was at the alley splitting the block between Clairmont and Atkinson, and that residential properties were directly across the alley to Atkinson?

I think that it was on the North West corner

[Dexlin]

Couldn't be northwest corner of a block; see picture above. All I'm trying to figure out is if the cross-street is Clairmont or Atkins.

[Ray1936]

Couldn't be northwest corner of a block; see picture above. All I'm trying to figure out is if the cross-street is Clairmont or Atkins.

The traffic light in the photo was at Clairmont.

[Zacha341]

^ Wow! What a memory maker. I was a kid, but later before much of that entire corner was torn down a private photo studio remained.

Noted also the Cancellation Shoes sign in photo. Long gone but I recall it thru the 80's. Look at all of the trees too! Mostly Dutch Elms I bet.

[MikeM]

Old post, but to go along with this, was Economy Printing at the southwest corner of 12th and Atkinson? I see 12th and Clairmont mentioned all the time, but some of the photos from that time taking a picture of this seem to show pictures looking north standing in the middle of that intersection as opposed to looking TOWARD the intersection of 12th and Clairmont.

Actually, given the old address, 9125 12th, perhaps the building was at the alley splitting the block between Clairmont and Atkinson, and that residential properties were directly across the alley to Atkinson?

During RFK's visit looking north; you can see the building in the background on the left:

Like you said, you are looking north on 12th Street. Economy Printing was not on a corner. There was an empty lot with a playground next to [[north of) Economy Printing giving it the look of being on a corner. In the photo, the Parker Bros Cancellation Shoes and Men's Wear was on the northwest corner of 12th and Clairmount [[9101 12th). Economy Printing was at 9123 or 9125 12th, depending on the source, then the empty lot. I think there were a couple of storefronts between Parker Bros and Economy.

[Kathleen]

If the traffic light is at Clairmont, is Economy Printing at the half-block [[or alley) towards Atkinson? And that whole block is now Gordon Park?

This posting has a photo showing Economy Printing with a fenced area north of the building.
http://www.detroits-great-rebellion....-Printing.html

[Dexlin]

If the traffic light is at Clairmont, is Economy Printing at the half-block [[or alley) towards Atkinson? And that whole block is now Gordon Park?

This posting has a photo showing Economy Printing with a fenced area north of the building.
http://www.detroits-great-rebellion....-Printing.html

Ahh, thanks, Kathleen! Yeah, this was what I was curious about. It's exact relation to the block. There is an alley through the block, even now, though it now ends at the park instead of continuing through to Rosa Parks/12th.

Was curious if Economy Printing was north or south of this alley now that we've nailed down at this wasn't the corner of Clairmount and 12th.

[MikeM]

Yes, the alley did not go through to 12th, but if it did, the building would be south of the alley.

[MikeM]

As to the OP, a church purchased the print shop but I thought all that area was cleared out by 1972.

[Dexlin]

Yes, the alley did not go through to 12th, but if it did, the building would be south of the alley.

Thanks, Mike!

[Lowell]

Just catching up on this, but I see MikeM has nailed it. I was going to add that a quick location giveaway was that the address was an odd number. That meant it had to be on the west side of of 12th / Rosa Parks.

There is a historical marker in Gordon Park at roughly where the 9125 address would have been. In the background is a sculpture by my former Highland Park housemate Jack Ward.


It is interesting to note that the sculpture was not related to the uprising. A smaller park, about a third the size of the current Gordon Park, was created in the mid 1970's at the corner of Clairmont and 12th/Rosa Parks. No mention was made of the riot, the riot was then being viewed as an embarrassment, and there was a seemingly tacit effort hush that fact and move on. Jack won the competition for the sculpture but was unaware at the time of the significance of the location where it would be placed.

[Dexlin]

Great story, Lowell.

I've been so happy to see what they've done with Gordon Park.

[Kathleen]

Love all the contributions to help the OP get the answer to his question!

Thanks, Lowell, for the mention of Jack Ward's sculpture in Gordon Park.

Here's one of his works on the Wayne State campus:
https://artcollection.wayne.edu/pict...olumn-ii-37301

[Ray1936]

Sigh. Decades ago.

[shovelhead]

Sigh. Decades ago.

Hmmm,didn’t see the side views of those much, saw them in my rear view mirror more often than not……

[stasu1213]

Sigh. Decades ago.

I wonder what brand of car is he on? Chrysler or GM

[jcole]

I recall most of the cars my dad drove as being Dodge, Plymouth or Ford. Don't recall many GMs up until 1973. After that, I don't know.

I wonder what brand of car is he on? Chrysler or GM

[stasu1213]

Old post, but to go along with this, was Economy Printing at the southwest corner of 12th and Atkinson? I see 12th and Clairmont mentioned all the time, but some of the photos from that time taking a picture of this seem to show pictures looking north standing in the middle of that intersection as opposed to looking TOWARD the intersection of 12th and Clairmont.

Actually, given the old address, 9125 12th, perhaps the building was at the alley splitting the block between Clairmont and Atkinson, and that residential properties were directly across the alley to Atkinson?

During RFK's visit looking north; you can see the building in the background on the left:

The traffic light is an optical illusion giving one looking at the photo an idea that there's an intersection there. There are buildings still intact after the riot

[Jimaz]

I wonder what brand of car is he on? Chrysler or GM

It says "Bel-Air" on the side, as in Chevrolet Bel Air.

[K-slice]

Live in the area, often wish we still had a dense commercial corridor on "12th Street".

The new streetscaping will help but it just looks so bad with the west side being ugly 80's townhouses and a strip mall, and the west side of the street being nothing at all.

[masterblaster]

Live in the area, often wish we still had a dense commercial corridor on "12th Street".

The new streetscaping will help but it just looks so bad with the west side being ugly 80's townhouses and a strip mall, and the west side of the street being nothing at all.

The re-configuration of 12th Street/Rosa Parks is deplorable from an urban design standpoint. One of the biggest missteps of the city of Detroit was the complete destruction of that dense 12th commercial corridor due to the aftermath of the riots. It significantly reduced the potential for walkability of the near-west side.