Poletown Area?

[Thomcat52]

Just joined, and enjoy reading the Detroit forums. Especially anything pertaining to the 60s era.My family left Detroit in '68 when I was 15. We lived on the corner of Grandy & Medbury. I am assuming this was poletown.
Would be great to hear from someone who lived in, or went to the area schools, [[Greusel Jr. High and, Ferry elemetary from '63 to 68. I haven't been back, but have toured the area using google maps. Why do I have this urge to keep looking back? Those were exciting times, with everything that was happening. Racial tensions, Vietnam War, the peak of Motown music, Apollo space program, and of course the Tigers! I think mostly it was my youth, which can never be captured again.
We moved to Detroit in the late 50s from NE Alabama [[insert your favorite stereotype here), where my father worked as a crane operator in the River Rouge Ford plant. Places we lived included Wayne, Tecumseh, Dearborn, and Monroe, before giving it up and returning to the south. Currently living in Savannah Georgia. Thanks

[rjk]

Here's a thread from the old forum that covers Polish communities in Detroit.
There's a lot of stuff on the area you speak off though not in the specific time period you mentioned.

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/80673.html

[slick]

Thomcat52

Hi, you were one of the public school person. Grandy and Medbury I believe is still intact. It was the area North of I94, between Mt Elliot and St Abuin that became the Cadillac plant.

I went to St Stannies, graduated 1967. Maybe you knew Frank Jakubowksi, lived Grandy and Medbury.

I now live in the Lansing area. Yes, that was a great area to live in, a real melting pot.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Slick

[Thomcat52]

Yes slick, I was in public school system. Actually, I believe Medbury was [[is) south of I-94. South of Hamtramck. Probably passed you every morning going to school. All the uniform kids [[liked the girls checked skirts) headed the opposite way. Didn't know Frank by name.

Thanks for the link rjk. I will take a look.

[jcole]

Thom, where was Gruesel School located?

[Meddle]

Image dated June 2007 from Google Earth. Grandy & Medbury is located near the top-center of the picture S/E corner of what looks like a park or ballfield.

[Thomcat52]

Thom, where was Gruesel School located?

Corner of Moran, and Medbury. No longer there, does anyone know when it was torn down?
Link [[hope it works) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...01703&t=h&z=19

[Thomcat52]

Hey Meddle, that's, exactly the location of our former home. The park was there during the 60s, and periodically was staffed and ran by volunteers. Lots of fun had there! Looks like the only building still standing on Grandy, is the old potato chip factory. In reading the history from the above links, it was originally a bakery. http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/83789.jpg

Google street level http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...12,297.85,,0,5

[Thomcat52]

Thomcat52

Hi, you were one of the public school person. Grandy and Medbury I believe is still intact. It was the area North of I94, between Mt Elliot and St Abuin that became the Cadillac plant.

I went to St Stannies, graduated 1967. Maybe you knew Frank Jakubowksi, lived Grandy and Medbury.

I now live in the Lansing area. Yes, that was a great area to live in, a real melting pot.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Slick

Image of St. Stanislaus from a Livedog2 post. http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/82927.jpg Great looking school. Rumors were that nuns were tough. All I know is I didn't feel right till I received a good whack from some teachers paddle. The paddles were made in woodshop, and had their own names. In those days if your parents found out you were paddled, you were likely to get another one. The less my parents knew of my unruliness, the better off I was.

[rjk]

Quite an extensive research project was done on Chene St and the surrounding area. Though it doesn't appear that it can be accessed over the Internet as of right now.
http://creativegene.blogspot.com/200...t-project.html

What was Chene St like in the 60's? Was it in any state of decline or did businesses still pretty much line the street? Am I right in assuming that Chene extended into the area that is now occupied by the Poletown plant?

[slick]

All the uniform kids [[liked the girls checked skirts) headed the opposite way.
Rumors that the nuns were tough.

Thanks for the map, the above mentioned Frank lived at Medbury and Mitchell. got my streets mixed up.

Yes those checkered skirts would be heading to St Stanislaus.
The nuns were tough, not a rumor. Today I refer to them as biker nuns.

Yes Chene street extended down to Jos Campau and the Blvd.
Witkowski clothes, Chene Trombly bowling alley, trophy shop next door, HOME theater, [[25 cents Saturday double feature with 10 cartoons.) dime store, lot of viable businesses I cannot remember.

[nativegirl]

Hi TomKat,
My dad's folks grew up in that area. Wasn't Northeastern High School on Grandy or near about? If so, NE have a big all class reunion each year at the park where the school use to sit. I have gone with my dad and step mom, who also grew up in the area, to the reunions and they were a blast. My dad is a few years older than you based on the age you gave when you moved out of the neighborhood.

[Thomcat52]

Home theatre was the highlight of any week during the 60s for me. Gladiator, and King Kong movies were popular. Took my first "date", some girl named Gail there when I was in the 7th grade. A lot of making out went on there when the lights went down. She lived in Hamtrammck.

Chene was bustling with activity, from banks to mom and pop stores. Mostly a commercial street. I do remember a tank stationed at that corner [[Chene & Medbury) during the '67 riot.

[Thomcat52]

Hi nativegirl, yes Northeastern was in that area. I left after the 9th grade, so didn't attend HS in Detroit.

Northeastern

[Danny]

Poletown was destroyed by Coleman A. Young in order to rid of white problems out of his mind and by General Motors in order to make money and boost more jobs in Detroit and Hamtramck.

[Thomcat52]

Anyone have a photo of Greusel Jr. High, or info on its demise?

[FerryGirl]

I am sooo excited to see this thread!!! I grew up on Medbury too! [[and before that we lived on Grandy!). I went to Ferry and St. Stanislaus. We moved in the late 60's. I am DESPERATE to find photos of this area from the 50's and 60's. I dunno what it is, but I have always been rather obsessed about my childhood home. I loved it so much. We were fairly poor and have no photos of the school/streets/general neighborhood. I live in Ann Arbor now and am definitely going to check out the Bentley Library.

I remember seeing "Flipper" at the Home theatre. And "Pinnochio" at the Fox. Ferry Elementary was fantastic. We had "Auditorium" class, speakers from the DIA came with paintings to discuss, we learned how to put on a radio show and make sound effects. I later learned it was quite a good 'Lab" school for innovative ideas in those days. I was rather traumatized by the switch to St Stannies, where we were in one room all day and frequently had to wear our coats indoors in the winter. And yes, those nuns were very very mean.

How about Ferry Market? Butzel Library [[it was so beautiful! Fireplaces in every room! Huge window seats looking out onto East Grand Blvd. Jo Gees [[spell?) and Werners on Chene St. Oh... anyone else wanna share stories?? And photos... any photos??

I still dream of my house [[ok,, a little upstairs flat) and the neighborhood all these years later. Guess that keeps it in my mind so much.

What happens to all the photos that the schools took? Would Ferry still have any photos of the teachers or children?? What about Stannies?

Thanks for any help or ideas,

[Vox]

I am sooo excited to see this thread!!! I grew up on Medbury too! [[and before that we lived on Grandy!). I went to Ferry and St. Stanislaus. We moved in the late 60's. I am DESPERATE to find photos of this area from the 50's and 60's. I dunno what it is, but I have always been rather obsessed about my childhood home. I loved it so much. We were fairly poor and have no photos of the school/streets/general neighborhood. I live in Ann Arbor now and am definitely going to check out the Bentley Library.

I remember seeing "Flipper" at the Home theatre. And "Pinnochio" at the Fox. Ferry Elementary was fantastic. We had "Auditorium" class, speakers from the DIA came with paintings to discuss, we learned how to put on a radio show and make sound effects. I later learned it was quite a good 'Lab" school for innovative ideas in those days. I was rather traumatized by the switch to St Stannies, where we were in one room all day and frequently had to wear our coats indoors in the winter. And yes, those nuns were very very mean.

How about Ferry Market? Butzel Library [[it was so beautiful! Fireplaces in every room! Huge window seats looking out onto East Grand Blvd. Jo Gees [[spell?) and Werners on Chene St. Oh... anyone else wanna share stories?? And photos... any photos??

I still dream of my house [[ok,, a little upstairs flat) and the neighborhood all these years later. Guess that keeps it in my mind so much.

What happens to all the photos that the schools took? Would Ferry still have any photos of the teachers or children?? What about Stannies?

Thanks for any help or ideas,

Well, there is this thread here that you've obviously not seen yet. It's was in the archives of the old forum, and can't seem to access it now, but Google's so kind as to have an archive of the discussion and pictures.

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache...&ct=clnk&gl=us

I'm sure you've seen the photos from the Library of Congress HABS program, havent you? All about the upper half of Poletown razed by GM.

Of course you know this building.



PM me here if you need more info or pictures.

[UFO]

Anyone have a photo of Greusel Jr. High, or info on its demise?

No photos but it was demolished in the early 80s

[Ststannies]

St. Stannies, Chene Street, Werner's soda fountian, the Home Theater, Dan & Vi's Pizza, etc. all bring back so many memories of growing up in this part of Poletown. I remember trick-or-treating at Halloween when the nuns at Stannies convent would give out apples and we;'d hit all the busniess on Chene street. In the bars the guys would give us nickles and dimes. In the relatively short strip from Ferry to Milwaukee there were three dime stores [[Neisner's, Lendzon's Woolworth) two soda fountains [[Jo-Gees and Werner's), Martin's restaurant, Nowak hardware and Nowak Hall [[above the bakery on the corner of Palmer and Chene), Trudy's flowers, John's [[the drunk) Barbershop, The bowling alley and pool hall near Milwaukee, the chocolate shop next door to Home theater, the Ferry Farmer's market, Ignaczak, Sheprak, Dlugoselski, Jendrzejewski, Bukowski, Pusinski, Czerwenka, Bogdanowicz, Mowinski, Modzelewski, Glowacki, etc were just a few names from Stannies. On Satruday's we'd take the Chene bus downtown and catch double-bill matinees at the Grand Circus, Madison, United Atrists, Fox, Michigan, Adam theaters. This whole working class area was really active and something was always going on. On hot summer nights everyone was outside on their porches and eveyone knew their neighbors. As kids we played all over the place and our parents, who had no idea eaxactly where we were, never had cause to worry. I look back very fondly at the years spent growing up there and am sad that so much [[if not most of it) is nothing but a memory now. Most of the buildings along Chene street are gone and, asdie from one gas station at the freeway, there's virtually nothing opened on Chene street anymore.

[Stinger4me]

Slick; Did you know a John Jakubowski? I think he worked as a Police Cadet at the 7th Precinct.

[slick]

bowling alley and pool hall near Milwaukee

Ststannies, the bowling alley was Chene and Trombly, pinboys 30 lanes, 10 down and 20 upstairs. Kitty corner from Home theater. Last time I drove down chene street I got to Ferry and Chene and did not know what street I was on all the landmark building were gone.

stinger,
I know a Frank Jakubowki, retired carpenter living up north somewhere.
He lived on Mitchell near Medbury.

[Vox]

St. Stannies, Chene Street, Werner's soda fountian, the Home Theater, Dan & Vi's Pizza, etc. all bring back so many memories of growing up in this part of Poletown. I remember trick-or-treating at Halloween when the nuns at Stannies convent would give out apples and we;'d hit all the busniess on Chene street. In the bars the guys would give us nickles and dimes. In the relatively short strip from Ferry to Milwaukee there were three dime stores [[Neisner's, Lendzon's Woolworth) two soda fountains [[Jo-Gees and Werner's), Martin's restaurant, Nowak hardware and Nowak Hall [[above the bakery on the corner of Palmer and Chene), Trudy's flowers, John's [[the drunk) Barbershop, The bowling alley and pool hall near Milwaukee, the chocolate shop next door to Home theater, the Ferry Farmer's market, Ignaczak, Sheprak, Dlugoselski, Jendrzejewski, Bukowski, Pusinski, Czerwenka, Bogdanowicz, Mowinski, Modzelewski, Glowacki, etc were just a few names from Stannies. On Satruday's we'd take the Chene bus downtown and catch double-bill matinees at the Grand Circus, Madison, United Atrists, Fox, Michigan, Adam theaters. This whole working class area was really active and something was always going on. On hot summer nights everyone was outside on their porches and eveyone knew their neighbors. As kids we played all over the place and our parents, who had no idea eaxactly where we were, never had cause to worry. I look back very fondly at the years spent growing up there and am sad that so much [[if not most of it) is nothing but a memory now. Most of the buildings along Chene street are gone and, asdie from one gas station at the freeway, there's virtually nothing opened on Chene street anymore.

Most of the names mentioned are very familiar names to me. As is the description of the neighborhood.

[Ststannies]

I remember bowling at Chene & Trombley. There was also a Chene & Trombley Market run by the Niedbala's. They had two son, Gerry and Kenny, and has a terrific lottery business. When the GM plant came in they moved the store to the Ford Freeway service drive closer to Mt. Elliot and eventually they sold it and moved on. Another Niedbala [[brother?) ran a grocery store on Mitchell [[Mitchell Market) near Hendrie. Hank Dolinski ran the very small gas station cater-corner from St. Stannies church and his wife was once the 3rd grade teacher [[I should know, she taught me). Both he and his wife were some of the nicest folks you could ever know. Mrs. Piskorski taught kindergarten and Sister Mary Humiliana I think was fourth grade; she used to fall asleep at her desk sometimes. One of the worse days of my life was the first day of class when I was in 8th grade and we came in that morning and discovered that Rosemary Jozwiak, the same teacher we just had in 7th grade, was also going to be our 8th grade teacher. She was [[and still is) my wosrt memory from Stannies. This would have been Sept 1967-June 1968. I didn't move out of the neighborhood until 1979 and my folks were there until they finally left around 1983-84. While the neighborhood was already well on the decline, it went very quickly after that. Funny how [[aside from Rosemary Jozwiak) you tend to remember only the good things.

[mikeinmotown]

Does anyone remember the Fredrick Bakery on Fredrick and Chene? In fact I think there were 2 of them.