Shorpy does it again!

[Ray1936]

A wonderful 1913 look at old City Hall and surrounding area at http://www.shorpy.com/node/7399?size=_original

I wonder what the guy with the wheelbarrow by the streetcar tracks was fixin?

[Patrick]

Well, those people just dont look like me so why should I care lol

[gnome]

I spied a couple of interesting things, many of the cars had the steering wheels on the right side and there are a couple of sightseeing "busses" parked on Woodward near Fort in front of City Hall.

Ray - spotted a couple of traffic cops with their white gloves ... by 1913 they'd dropped the Keystone Cop get-ups. Didn't see you though.

[LodgeDodger]

I spied a couple of interesting things, many of the cars had the steering wheels on the right side and there are a couple of sightseeing "busses" parked on Woodward near Fort in front of City Hall.

Ray - spotted a couple of traffic cops with their white gloves ... by 1913 they'd dropped the Keystone Cop get-ups. Didn't see you though.

Oddly enough, after 1908, most steering wheels were placed on the left. I can only spot one car with the steering wheel on the right. Probably my old eyes...

[Ray1936]

I think I was behind the desk that year. Bunions, y'know. But by 1914 I had hemorrhoids.

[Whitehouse]

Only two towers from that era still remain.

And there was a question in the "Unbelievable that this is lost" thread:

Yes! There were still horses on the street.

I'm still a bit of a topographical analfabeth. [[Improving every day ) But where was Cityhall precisely? Is it on the footprint of Ernst & Young?

Wiki had this picture.



supersize.

[MichMatters]

Yes, the site went from City Hall, to Kennedy Square, to now One Kennedy Square.

[Kathleen]

Magnificent!!! Thanks for posting, Ray!!

I spy three buildings that still stand today....

Ford Building
Original 1903 Penobscot Building
Dime Bank Building

[Fury13]

Magnificent!!! Thanks for posting, Ray!!

I spy three buildings that still stand today....

Ford Building
Original 1903 Penobscot Building
Dime Bank Building

I think the original Penobscot was completed in 1909 [[as was the Ford).

[Kathleen]

Not long after I started working in the Penobscot Building in 1979, a letter from an elementary student hit my desk. He lived somewhere in northern Michigan and was studying skyscrapers so mailed a letter to the Penobscot Building and somehow it got into Gale Research and into my hands. I remember doing the research on the building and came up with 1903 for the original 13-story building, 1917 for the 22-story building, and 1928 for the 47-story tower. Those dates hold [[give or take a year or two) across the various websites that cover the buildings of Detroit, especially given dates of groundbreaking versus the actual opening date for the building. So I'll stick with the 1903 date on the original Penobscot Building.

[gnome]

Does anyone remember what kennedy sq was called before it was kennedy sq? It must have been something between 1961 and 63.... or was it under construction?

[eno]

Wasn't it called Cadillac Square?

Great photo. Did anyone notice the window cleaner on the building behind City Hall?

Is that a Whole Earth flag atop the Dime Building?

[Fury13]

Does anyone remember what kennedy sq was called before it was kennedy sq? It must have been something between 1961 and 63.... or was it under construction?

There was another name to be given to the park... can't remember it, but I believe it was sort of generic... then, Kennedy was shot shortly before the park was finished, and that was the catalyst for the new name.

Kennedy Square Park was one ugly expanse of cement.

[eno]

There was another name to be given to the park... can't remember it, but I believe it was sort of generic... then, Kennedy was shot shortly before the park was finished, and that was the catalyst for the new name.

Kennedy Square Park was one ugly expanse of cement.

Wasn't it Cadillac Square before it was renamed?

[Fury13]

Wasn't it Cadillac Square before it was renamed?

No, Cadillac Square is on the other side of Woodward. It doesn't include the site of Old City Hall.

[eriedearie]

Ya know, seeing those pictures of the once beautiful statues in parts and the bell sitting there amongst weeds...I can't help but think of the people that made those objects for display in Detroit. The people must have thought at the time they were making them, that once they were put in place that they would be there forever. More like a testament to them as a person. Like, look what I created? It will be here long after I am gone. This will probably stand here forever. Not!

Why is it "out with the old - in with the new?"

I'm glad those cannons are on display Ray. I've always had a thing about cannons - don't know why.

[eno]

No, Cadillac Square is on the other side of Woodward. It doesn't include the site of Old City Hall.

Exactly, the photo was taken from Cadillac Square looking across Woodward.

[eno]

There was another name to be given to the park... can't remember it, but I believe it was sort of generic... then, Kennedy was shot shortly before the park was finished, and that was the catalyst for the new name.

Kennedy Square Park was one ugly expanse of cement.

http://www.hellodetroit.com/Images/B...uare1-1942.jpg

[buildingsofdetroit]

http://www.hellodetroit.com/Images/B...uare1-1942.jpg

That's 1942, so City Hall was still there. It didn't come down until 1961.

[Fury13]

http://www.hellodetroit.com/Images/B...uare1-1942.jpg

The identifier in the pic is misleading. But the camera is pointed away from Old City Hall, and vaguely toward Cadillac Square.

[Retroit]

I wonder what the guy with the wheelbarrow by the streetcar tracks was fixin?

Looks like a jumbled pile of bricks, then a neat stack of bricks. Perhaps they are replacing some of the broken bricks on the street [[at least between the rails). Also that track seems to just dead-end, yet I would expect there to be some type of bumper to stop the cars. Could this be a new track?

I find myself doing the same thing: wondering what people in the photo are doing and what the different objects are.

[Ray1936]

When they demo'd the City Hall in 1960, I thought it was kind of a shame then, but the papers reported that the building was in poor shape structurally. Then as I watched the wrecking ball tear in to it, I was inclined to agree. The interior walls were all 2x6's, very dry and very easily shattered when that big steel ball hit them. The north and south wings came down first, leaving the central section with the tower for the last.

About every other swing of the ball on the upper floors resulted in long-misplaced stacks of paper flying into the air and breeze, and work halted while the artifacts were checked for any value. There must have been tons of paperwork stored on the top level.

There were four statues atop the center tower. They were carefully removed prior to demo. Anybody knows who they represented and where they may be today?

[eriedearie]

Great find Ray! When I see pictures like this of Detroit I wish I had a time machine to take me back to those times so I could have an awesome adventure. I picture myself in the midst of everything! Just daydreaming me!

P.S. Wonder if those cannons are still around?

[MDoyle]

Ray, A few years ago the bell, cornerstone, and parts of the statues were found in the weeds behind one of the buildings at Fort Wayne. There was a big uproar over these historical pieces sitting in a heap but I never heard word on what was done with them. Possibly moved into storage at Fort Wayne. I recall the Historical Museum being contacted but their collection is massive and they have very little funding to move and store these pieces.

[eriedearie]

Eno - I searched and searched for your window washer and could not find him. Took a break and came back to the picture and he just about jumped out at me! You have REALLY good eyes!