Hamtramck Street Names - Were They Changed?

**kathy2trips** · February-06-16, 12:30 PM

You guys are the authority on all things Detroit history so I thought I'd ask you first.

I was looking up my Dad's records on the 1930 Census and I can't find the street he lived on: Dublin. According to the census records, it's in the same census area as Whalen and Cashmere.

Does anyone know the new name of this street, or where it's located? Or perhaps I'm missing something? Thanks!

**Detroitnerd** · February-06-16, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by kathy2trips

You guys are the authority on all things Detroit history so I thought I'd ask you first.

I was looking up my Dad's records on the 1930 Census and I can't find the street he lived on: Dublin. According to the census records, it's in the same census area as Whalen and Cashmere.

Does anyone know the new name of this street, or where it's located? Or perhaps I'm missing something? Thanks!

Yup, some of the names are different today. Somebody with an old map or an old street index should be able to help. If you want a fast answer, call Greg Kowalski at the Hamtramck Historical Museum.

**EastsideAl** · February-06-16, 01:29 PM

Renamed Pulaski St., after that great Polish hero of the American Revolution, Casimir Pulaski.

As shown on this very helpful [[but not always entirely accurate) page [[and checked with an old map and present-day Google):
http://stevemorse.org/census/changes/DetroitChanges.htm

At least you're lucky that the street your father lived on still exists. Research on my grandfather ran into a bit of a snag when his childhood address came up as on Walnut St. Try finding that street on your east side map today [[hint: you can't, it's completely gone). Fortunately, some other information I had on grandpa, my father's vague recollections, and a memory from junior high school, led me in the right direction.

**Hamtragedy** · February-06-16, 02:48 PM

My house was originally on Lorraine Street, before the name was changed to Neibel. Neibel apparently was a shop-keeper in early Hamtramck.

**Wesley Mouch** · February-06-16, 04:48 PM

History is constantly erased by the victors. In this case, Walnut was a generic name... so a Polish American Revolutionary hero is a great name for a street in an area of Polish immigrants who want to assimilate.

If I were Hamilton Avenue today, I'd be very afraid. Times change. Wise people remember history.

**kathy2trips** · February-08-16, 06:19 PM

Thank you so much for your quick and accurate responses! I'm sending the census link to relatives in "the old country" who like to look stuff up on Google Maps. The DetroitYES Brain Trust has never failed me! Much appreciated!

**kathy2trips** · February-10-16, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

History is constantly erased by the victors. In this case, Walnut was a generic name... so a Polish American Revolutionary hero is a great name for a street in an area of Polish immigrants who want to assimilate.

If I were Hamilton Avenue today, I'd be very afraid. Times change. Wise people remember history.

How peculiar that Hamtramck, a formerly French settlement, would have a street name of an Irish city. Did Hamtramck formerly have a substantial Irish population.

I love history, too! My 90 year old aunt recently revealed to me that back in the 40s, they often identified her neighborhood as "old Germantown". The German names of streets in [[the now named) Islandview reveals the origins of that area. In those days, there were still a lot of Germans there, as well as Belgians [[mostly Flemish) and Italians.