Mourning a name: Harmonie Park

[Detroitnerd]

Cities are more than just a collection of people living in one place. They are filled with historical sites, collective memories, stories that bind us together. They aren't just parcels of real estate that we slap a name on and "brand" as a development. These identities have developed over time, but, even as they dissolve, like the fading words chiseled onto an old building, they provide a hint of what once was there. For a city so determined to knock down its past, a Detroiter gets to feeling mighty vulnerable about what remains, and what is lost.

Which brings me to Harmonie Park. First of all: What a great little urban space. It's like an oasis in the middle of the city. The triangular and trapezoidal chaos of Judge Augustus Woodward's failed 1807 plan bore some fruit here, creating a walkable little spot near all the major thoroughfares. It's a beautiful place, and it's no coincidence that it has served as a vibrant little enclave for different milieus over the years, from ethnic groups to artists. It was the site of the Harmonie Club, which likely took its name from the park. As for the name itself, I don't know where it came from, but it has summed up this little area for more than 150 years.

At least it's still standing, of course. The old nearby Paradise Valley entertainment district is completely gone now. The last club of the old black entertainment district was demolished to make way for Ford Field, and now only a Michigan historical marker shows that anything was ever there. This represents just another failure of the local imagination, another loss for our local identities as Detroiters, another break in the continuum of culture. It's gone and I mourn that I never got to see, touch, feel or experience it.

As much as I mourn that which I never saw -- Paradise Valley -- I understand that it is gone and cannot be reproduced. Which makes me wonder why the city is so hell-bent on taking Harmonie Park and renaming it Paradise Valley. This isn't how history works. You don't demolish one historical area and then take another area and try to "rebrand" it as what's gone. This doesn't make a lick of sense, and actually goes some way toward removing even more of the actual identity of a place. It's as if -- after long hard work and lots of thinking -- Detroit's leadership has found a way to pervert historical continuity without hiring Adamo. Why, oh, does the city think we should now call Harmonie Park by the name of the entertainment district that the city helped destroy? Discuss.

[Kathleen]

Here's my two cents: Pine Knob.

The powers that be can change the name, but they can't make us call it by its new name!! Harmonie Park will live on....

[BrushStart]

Actually, what is happening is exactly how history works.

By erasing old history, new history is created. When history is made [[and it is always being made), it is almost always self-serving to the people of the present. Whether it is rebranding the past, glorifying it, or attempting to fade it from memory alltogether, it is the way we humans leapfrog though time.

I understand your aingst over the rebranding of Harmonie Park. Why do such a thing when it is not an accurate representation of the past? Because people in the present believe that doing so will affect how the past is remembered. Such in itself is the history of Harmonie Park.

[Detroitnerd]

Actually, what is happening is exactly how history works. By erasing old history, new history is created. When history is made [[and it is always being made), it is almost always self-serving to the people of the present. Whether it is rebranding the past, glorifying it, or attempting to fade it from memory alltogether, it is the way we humans leapfrog though time.

I don't quite buy this. If erasing old history creates a new, equally viable history, then why mourn anything? For instance, so what if somebody burned the library at Alexandria, which had books on steam power among thousands of other books of ancient wisdom? The burning of the library created a new history, one that is equally viable history without all that wisdom? No, there's still something there to mourn. I am not comforted by this.

I understand your aingst over the rebranding of Harmonie Park. Why do such a thing when it is not an accurate representation of the past? Because people in the present believe that doing so will affect how the past is remembered. Such in itself is the history of Harmonie Park.

It's not angst; it's despair. And what you describe -- which I take to be a sort of revisionist history -- also is no comfort to me. Yes, to a certain extent, the story of history is a palimpsest, as different people write their stories upon the same document, but I think there's something about this naked, government-driven marketing effort that seems offensively revisionist to me. If they wanted a Paradise Valley, they should have ... saved Paradise Valley, yes?

[eno]

I recall Harmonie Park as being a small tree-lined shaded oasis away from the urban hubbub around it. It seemed to be dedicated to the arts with a photo studio and Detroit Artist's Market among the storefronts. Down one adjacent leg was the former Borzoi Gallery with it's attendant dog lending it's name. I don't recall much more than that.

[Johnlodge]

I don't quite buy this. If erasing old history creates a new, equally viable history, then why mourn anything? For instance, so what if somebody burned the library at Alexandria, which had books on steam power among thousands of other books of ancient wisdom? The burning of the library created a new history, one that is equally viable history without all that wisdom? No, there's still something there to mourn. I am not comforted by this.

Alexandria? You mean Rhacotis? That is, until stupid Alexander came along and decided to rename the place.

[Detroitnerd]

Alexandria? You mean Rhacotis? That is, until stupid Alexander came along and decided to rename the place.

Haha. Thanks for adding to the knowledge and the ongoing irony, JL.

[boogiechillen]

I'm with you, Detroitnerd. I think it is ridiculous to rename Harmonie Park, which itself is a historic district. I will always refer to that area as Harmonie Park. Maybe they should put up a historical marker for Paradise Valley and Black Bottom smack in the middle of I-375 for all the motorists to see, instead of forgetting that these areas were destroyed by renaming other historic districts in their honor.

[marcwigle]

Cities are more than just a collection of people living in one place. They are filled with historical sites, collective memories, stories that bind us together. They aren't just parcels of real estate that we slap a name on and "brand" as a development. These identities have developed over time, but, even as they dissolve, like the fading words chiseled onto an old building, they provide a hint of what once was there. For a city so determined to knock down its past, a Detroiter gets to feeling mighty vulnerable about what remains, and what is lost.

Which brings me to Harmonie Park. First of all: What a great little urban space. It's like an oasis in the middle of the city. The triangular and trapezoidal chaos of Judge Augustus Woodward's failed 1807 plan bore some fruit here, creating a walkable little spot near all the major thoroughfares. It's a beautiful place, and it's no coincidence that it has served as a vibrant little enclave for different milieus over the years, from ethnic groups to artists. It was the site of the Harmonie Club, which likely took its name from the park. As for the name itself, I don't know where it came from, but it has summed up this little area for more than 150 years.

At least it's still standing, of course. The old nearby Paradise Valley entertainment district is completely gone now. The last club of the old black entertainment district was demolished to make way for Ford Field, and now only a Michigan historical marker shows that anything was ever there. This represents just another failure of the local imagination, another loss for our local identities as Detroiters, another break in the continuum of culture. It's gone and I mourn that I never got to see, touch, feel or experience it.

As much as I mourn that which I never saw -- Paradise Valley -- I understand that it is gone and cannot be reproduced. Which makes me wonder why the city is so hell-bent on taking Harmonie Park and renaming it Paradise Valley. This isn't how history works. You don't demolish one historical area and then take another area and try to "rebrand" it as what's gone. This doesn't make a lick of sense, and actually goes some way toward removing even more of the actual identity of a place. It's as if -- after long hard work and lots of thinking -- Detroit's leadership has found a way to pervert historical continuity without hiring Adamo. Why, oh, does the city think we should now call Harmonie Park by the name of the entertainment district that the city helped destroy? Discuss.

Is Harmonie Park at the corner of Randolph and Gratiot? My two cents worth is that someone usually wants to make a name change to "correct" a wrong... whether that wrong is real or not.

[Detroit Stylin]

Hmmmmm.....I wonder how much mourning took place when PV and BB got renamed Lafayette Park and Comerica Park/ For Field?

I wonder how they French would feel since they never named the place Detroit but d'Troit instead?

I wonder how the native Americans feel since this country was NEVER referred to as the United States of America?

But damn....those poor poor german people who have NOT had a serious prescence in the Harmonie Park area for god knows how long who are going to be forced to have a name change on them after having being forced out of the area....

[Mikeg]

It was the site of the Harmonie Club, which likely took its name from the park.

Detroit Germans founded a singing group, the Gesang-Verein Harmonie and built their club house, called the Harmonie Club, at the corner of Lafayette and Beaubien in 1874. The structure burned down in 1893 so the club built a new structure on Grand River, across from the park that now bears its name.

By erasing old history, new history is created.

That is what naturally happened to the old German district which we now know as Greektown. However, how can the government create new history when they decide to arbitrarily re-brand a district to remember one that has been long gone? They answer is that they can't.

[Pam]

Is the Michigan historical marker still there? If it is, then I wouldn't say the history has been totally erased.

[Detroitnerd]

Hmmmmm.....I wonder how much mourning took place when PV and BB got renamed Lafayette Park and Comerica Park/ For Field?

See other threads for some mournful comments from me.

I wonder how they French would feel since they never named the place Detroit but d'Troit instead?

In fairness, that original moniker referred to both sides of the strait. The word "Detroit" as used by the Brits and Americans referred to the settlement on north side of the Detroit River.

I wonder how the native Americans feel since this country was NEVER referred to as the United States of America?

See other posts of mine for comments about the original inhabitants of Detroit, including their name for the settlement.

But damn....those poor poor german people who have NOT had a serious prescence in the Harmonie Park area for god knows how long who are going to be forced to have a name change on them after having being forced out of the area....

I believe the Harmonie Club took its name from the park, but it may have been the other way around. Either way, it was a perfectly good name, and it strikes me as a boneheaded move to try to save face after destroying the late, lamented Paradise Valley by simply renaming something else in a poorly thought-out marketing effort. No, this is not European-American chauvinism you see. Please make a note of it.

[RickBeall]

I agree with you Detroitned. I hate it when they rename stuff. Just because it happens in history does not justify it. Rape in history all the time too. You could call this a sort of historical rape. The Germans are not very well represented in Detroit any more, so the dominant ethnic group, after destroying the last vestige of their own history, destroy the Germans history. Very cool.

I love the stories of Paradise Valley, I have read a lot about it, I know nothing about the German history, but I don't much like misnaming another part of the city Paradise Valley.

[Gistok]

Detroit Germans founded a singing group, the Gesang-Verein Harmonie and built their club house, called the Harmonie Club, at the corner of Lafayette and Beaubien in 1874. The structure burned down in 1893 so the club built a new structure on Grand River, across from the park that now bears its name.

That is what naturally happened to the old German district which we now know as Greektown. However, how can the government create new history when they decide to arbitrarily re-brand a district to remember one that has been long gone? They answer is that they can't.

Thanks for the history Mikeg!

Actually the Gesang Verein [[Choral Society) Harmonie dates back to 1849, and was back in the 1970s [[before its' demise) the 2nd oldest club in Detroit, after the 1822 founded Detroit Boat Club.

The park was named after the club [[likely in or after 1894), but I don't know what its' previous name was. Perhaps some of the triangular islands in Detroit didn't have names early on [[some were not parks).

Times Sq. got its' name from the former newspaper building.

The Skillman [[former "Downtown") Library triangle never had a name that I could ever find.

Capitol Park was the site of the old 1828-37 wooden Territorial Courthouse before it became the State Capitol [[1837-47), only to be remodeled in brick and stone stone as old Central High School [[1847?) until it burned down in 1893.... only becoming Capitol Park after that.

It would be interesting to see what was located on the site of Harmonie Park prior to 1894 [[if it wasn't a park prior to that).

[Claire]

Here's my two cents: Pine Knob.

The powers that be can change the name, but they can't make us call it by its new name!! Harmonie Park will live on....

Absolutely!! You can change the name, but for some of it it will always be Pine Knob and Harmonie Park. Amen

[Gistok]

Absolutely!! You can change the name, but for some of it it will always be Pine Knob and Harmonie Park. Amen

Claire... absolutely!!

They can change names all they want, but it means nothing if a new name is not used.

Other examples.... Jeffries Fwy to Rosa Parks Fwy [[she already has dibs on 12th St.), Earle Memorial Hwy [[Van Dyke in central/northern Macomb County).... James O'Hara Fwy [[I-94/Ford Fwy in Macomb County)... and the list goes on and on...

[sumas]

Agreed, the name change is just plain silly.

[Mikeg]

The park was named after the club [[likely in or after 1894), but I don't know what its' previous name was.

It is identified as "Centre Park" in this 1930s era map. I don't know when it started being called "Harmonie Park", but there can be be no doubt that it took that name from the Harmonie Club across the street.



Note that there are seven surface parking lots identified on this 1930s map segment, all within 500 feet of each other.

[Lowell]

While I agree with you sentiment, I find myself slightly divided on this. Rebranding offers enhanced opportunities for preservation of the remaining structures most of which are quite beautiful. Over the years I have seen that lovely park go through many fits, starts and failures. To switch to yet another ethnic theme could be seen as just carrying on a tradition.

As for the name Detroit, I believe that is simply a French translation of a native American name, the water between the waters, but I can't find the source right now.

And, BTW, my 1943 Sauer Bros. maps, which looks very much like MikeG's, lists it as Harmonie Park.

[wolverine]

Actually, what is happening is exactly how history works.

By erasing old history, new history is created. When history is made [[and it is always being made), it is almost always self-serving to the people of the present. Whether it is rebranding the past, glorifying it, or attempting to fade it from memory alltogether, it is the way we humans leapfrog though time.

I understand your aingst over the rebranding of Harmonie Park. Why do such a thing when it is not an accurate representation of the past? Because people in the present believe that doing so will affect how the past is remembered. Such in itself is the history of Harmonie Park.

No one buys this idea. We keep our past and build new to create a more enriching history. By your theory, our existing culture just looks 100 years into the past and no further. Definitely not the case. Even though Detroit is complacent with demolishing anything and everything, there is some semblance of a distance past.

[Bearinabox]

As for the name Detroit, I believe that is simply a French translation of a native American name, the water between the waters, but I can't find the source right now.

"Détroit" is the French word for "strait." I don't think there's any Native connection there at all.

As far as the rebranding is concerned, I think it not only erases the history of Harmonie Park, but glosses over the destruction of the original Paradise Valley as well. Assuming the name catches on, it'll just confuse people in the future when the destruction of Paradise Valley is discussed. "But isn't it still there? I just went there the other day."

I think the legacy of urban renewal is something we can't afford to forget, and slapping the name on a different part of the city seems aimed at making us think all of Paradise Valley's history happened there.

[Fury13]

I don't know why they didn't rename it to "Paradise Park" or "Paradise Heights," thus leaving the distinction in place between that area and the original Paradise Valley. In other words, it could have been renamed as a tribute but not using the exact Paradise Valley name [[so that people could be aware that the original district is indeed gone).

[Patrick]

Constantinople to Istanbul....

[Detroit Stylin]

I don't know why they didn't rename it to "Paradise Park" or "Paradise Heights," thus leaving the distinction in place between that area and the original Paradise Valley. In other words, it could have been renamed as a tribute but not using the exact Paradise Valley name [[so that people could be aware that the original district is indeed gone).

I agree with that and would have been abetter alternative. Butonce again I believe it was the likes of JoAnn Watson that sponsored that initiative so that explains quite a bit...