Houston-whittier Hayes area.

[Hermod]

that would have been Arthur Junior High. I went there 71-72 on my way from St. Jude to Denby

It was originally the Chester Arthur Elementary School and was K-6. The good folks in the area didn't care for their little darlings being bussed down to Andrew Jackson Intermediate for 7-8 and the school was expanded into a K-8 school beginning in 1951. I am not sure what year, but apparently it later became a Jr High School only. We lived right on the attendance border between Anthony Wayne Elementary and Chester Arthur Elementary.

[jcole]

Thanks Laing and Hermod.
Laing, I forgot about the 9th grade gap between Catholic grade school and public high school.

[Phyrefyter]

I figure that I need to add my two cents worth in the mix.

I grew up on the lower Eastside of Detroit at 9932 St Paul Ave. I was at Scripps Elementary. In '68 my parents moved us to 14161 Seymour. New school was Robinson Elementary. I still remember the first day in our new house. It was exactly one year to the day, 23 July. Watching the Tigers on TV as they pushed for the Pendant. We had plenty of action on Seymour in terms of MVA's [[traffic accidents). The street was no wider than any other residential street but carried commercial level of traffic. Remember one evening a couple of kids hit our neighbours tree causing the right rear corner of the hood to penetrate the passenger side of the front window. Not a pretty sight.

Another accident was when three kids, from another neighbourhood, stole a Buick. They chose to run from the police hitting a patrol car at Peoria and Springfield. The office was seriously injuried but no one knew of that accident because of the one at Seymour and Peoria. The Buick hit a Michigan Bell truck putting it on it's side. All three young men were killed in the second accident. I happen to see the police cruiser and got help for the first accident. Many accidents at Seymour and Chalmers.

I knew that I wanted to go with the Detroit FD at that time. Started at Columbus Middle School in '73. At one time time I had newspaper routes, Free Press and News. The Free Press route was from Racine between McNichols and Gratiot toward where McNichols and Gratiot met. The second route was with the News and that was Maddelein between Gratiot and Brock up to State Fair. Yes, I was still in school at the time. The money was nice but didn't spend much as I really didn't have any free time. Dad put a stop to me working myself to death.

Went to Edwin Denby High School in '75 [[should have been '74 but was asked if I would stay at Columbus because of a crowding issue). Graduated in '77. Worked for the Detroit FD but was laid-off within the first year. Worked several jobs waiting to get the call back. Met my wife as she was at Oakland and I was at Wayne State. She got stuck in the snow next the the Art Museum, 03 Feb 1978. We were married six years later to that day. A couple callbacks but still nothing stable. Finally, went into the Army as my Dad had done in '87. Yes, I did see combat but these missions never made the front page of either The News nor The Free Press.

We made several attempts to return to Detroit but the military had other plans. When I finally retired we had planned on returning then but our four kids got an all expenses paid scholarship to any public university in Virginia. That shut the door on Michigan. I'm still home sick.

I maintain very close ties to my Brothers and Sisters in the Detroit Fire Department, including the seven recently injured a couple of weeks ago in the incendiary fire at Jefferson and Drexel.

I'm a firefighter right now, but starting with a new department in a few weeks, in Virginia.

[EMG]

It was originally the Chester Arthur Elementary School and was K-6. The good folks in the area didn't care for their little darlings being bussed down to Andrew Jackson Intermediate for 7-8 and the school was expanded into a K-8 school beginning in 1951. I am not sure what year, but apparently it later became a Jr High School only. We lived right on the attendance border between Anthony Wayne Elementary and Chester Arthur Elementary.

Arthur was already a "junior high only" by the time I started Carleton Elementary in 1966. However, I switched to University Liggett starting in sixth grade in '72-73 so never attended Arthur.

I remember in another thread they did some jockeying around with school names so some of these names are or were in use at other locations, but that same Arthur building at Boleyn/King Richard was also later known as [[I think) Region 7 Middle School and even later as Dorothy Fisher Middle School.

[EMG]

Googled my old home at 10681 Nottingham. It still looks intact, but is boarded up.

When we moved there in 1941, there were still a lot of vacant lots on Nottingham, Beaconsfield, and Roxbury. Everything north of Grayton was open fields. I ahve a picture of me in our back yard taken around 1944-1945 and behind our hiuse is just empty lots over on Beaconsfield.

I vPiked that area but must have been a little off as I didn't find the boarded up house. Looks like you were about across the street from the house with the double sized fenced lot. I remember that back in the day they had a row of pine trees growing there.

When I was in about fifth grade I briefly had a friend who lived on the east side of Nottingham, second house south from Grayton. I believe either he or the corner house there also had a double sized lot. I remember his first name was Philip but I don't think I ever knew his last name. He attended St. Brendans while I attended Carleton, but we got to know each other because our walking-home-from-school paths converged on Morang and Nottingham, and we also had a lot to talk about regarding St. Brendans as I attended there for catechism classes around that time.

[EMG]

The Free Press route was from Racine between McNichols and Gratiot toward where McNichols and Gratiot met. The second route was with the News and that was Maddelein between Gratiot and Brock up to State Fair.

Welcome!

On your Maddelein route you may very well have had my first piano teacher as one of your customers! The late Cora F. Odien - 14403 Maddelein.

[jcole]

Welcome!

On your Maddelein route you may very well have had my first piano teacher as one of your customers! The late Cora F. Odien - 14403 Maddelein.

My sister took piano lessons from Cora.

[EMG]

My sister took piano lessons from Cora.

..and had a much shorter commute to get there too, no doubt!!!

Small world!!!! Who knows...we might even have been in a recital together!!!! [[But I wouldn't remember her - I don't remember anyone's name from those recitals as they all came from different schools).

Somewhere on these forums several months ago I posted a picture of Miss Odien's house as it looked in 2001. She passed away in 1996 and I still have the obituary saved somewhere.

[jcole]

She was older than you by about 8 or 9 yrs, I think, so probably not.

[EMG]

She was older than you by about 8 or 9 yrs, I think, so probably not.

If that was the case, DEFINITELY not. My lessons with Cora went from about 1970-1972 and I was about 8 through 10 years old at the time.

[jcole]

Fran's would have been the mid to late 60's. Maybe 65-67

[mikefmich]

Dominican isn't down; it's still there, but closed now, I think.
It's between McKinney and King Richard

All I could see was the church right next to McKinney.
Everything else seemed like wide open grassy fields, with some parking in the back.

Then again, the last time I passed was 1995 I think....and who knows for sure if I noticed how the landscaping layout may have changed. My memories are mostly 50's & 60's when I passed by rather often.

[mikefmich]

Arthur school....wow. Forgot about that too. My churches softball team usually practiced at Carleton, but sometimes we did Arthur too.

Hell, come to think of it I think it was Arthur School were we had Sunday services for a couple years while we waited on the new church bldg to get done, after the one on E. Grand had been sold.

[EMG]

All I could see was the church right next to McKinney.
Everything else seemed like wide open grassy fields, with some parking in the back.

Then again, the last time I passed was 1995 I think....and who knows for sure if I noticed how the landscaping layout may have changed. My memories are mostly 50's & 60's when I passed by rather often.

The "church right next to McKinney" IS Dominican High School. It's not a church at all. Even in the days of peak Catholic population in Detroit, I don't think they would have had enough to support another parish only three or four blocks west of St. Matthews!

[EMG]

Arthur school....wow. Forgot about that too. My churches softball team usually practiced at Carleton, but sometimes we did Arthur too.

Hell, come to think of it I think it was Arthur School were we had Sunday services for a couple years while we waited on the new church bldg to get done, after the one on E. Grand had been sold.

So what church did you go to? That had softball practice at Carleton and Arthur?

[EMG]

Fran's would have been the mid to late 60's. Maybe 65-67

66 was my first year of kindergarten, so I wasn't quite taking lessons yet then [[although I did a pretty good job of playing the piano by ear by the time I was in first grade - I would come home from school, sit down at my mom's old piano, and pick out the tunes we'd sung that day - and that display of natural talent is what led to my later studying with Cora).

Even among that crowd of strangers in those recitals, I would have remembered a "Fran" - I had a childhood girlfriend by that name at the time! [[But she was Lutheran and not Catholic so it definitely wasn't your sister).

[jcole]

66 was my first year of kindergarten, so I wasn't quite taking lessons yet then [[although I did a pretty good job of playing the piano by ear by the time I was in first grade - I would come home from school, sit down at my mom's old piano, and pick out the tunes we'd sung that day - and that display of natural talent is what led to my later studying with Cora).

Even among that crowd of strangers in those recitals, I would have remembered a "Fran" - I had a childhood girlfriend by that name at the time! [[But she was Lutheran and not Catholic so it definitely wasn't your sister).

No, she usually picked 'em a little closer to her own age.

[Hermod]

I vPiked that area but must have been a little off as I didn't find the boarded up house. Looks like you were about across the street from the house with the double sized fenced lot. I remember that back in the day they had a row of pine trees growing there.

We were the orange-red brick house across the street from the double lot. The house with the double lot was owned by Harold Parker. He owned an automotive repair shop [[I think somewhere on Harper) called Parker's Garage. He also owned a rental hall for wedding receptions and such called Embassy Hall. He had an old model stock car which he would race at Motor City Speedway #33. His driver was Jack Konley [[Conley?). Later, Iggy Katona drove for him. He often had the race car on its trailer parked on the street in front of his house. He also used to bring a wrecker home quite frequently. His wife drove a banana yellow convertible [[maybe a Caddy?) with a really off-the-wall musical horn.

[mikefmich]

So what church did you go to? That had softball practice at Carleton and Arthur?

Bethany @ Cadiuex & Linville formerly E. Grand Blvd. Christian Church. Frontenac the Blvd.

[mikefmich]

The "church right next to McKinney" IS Dominican High School. It's not a church at all. Even in the days of peak Catholic population in Detroit, I don't think they would have had enough to support another parish only three or four blocks west of St. Matthews!

Wait...I gotta be losing it. Wasn't the school east of the bldg. older squat darker brown brick?

I dunno...there were a ton of catholic churches and schools in the 50's.

Alright...where is that online Alzheimers test again.

[Hermod]

Dominican High School was a girls high school where the girls went after they finished 8th grade at St Matthews or Guardian Angel. There was a school building and a convent on a very open and grassy campus. I am not sure if the St Matthews teaching sisters lived at Dominican or of they had their own nunnery at St Matthews.

The two Catholic churches were St Matthews and Guardian Angel.

[jcole]

St. Brendan's came along later on Morang and Beaconsfield

[Hermod]

St. Brendan's came along later on Morang and Beaconsfield

That would have been a lot closer to my block. the Catholic kids on our block had to walk from Nottingham and Grayton to St Matthews.

Construction north of Morang probably created enough population to form St Brendans parish.

.

[Hermod]

I dunno...there were a ton of catholic churches and schools in the 50's.

That stretch of neighborhood [[bounded by Harper on the east and south, Hayes on the west, and Morross on the north) was pretty heavily populated by southern [[Catholic) Germans.

[kathy2trips]

That stretch of neighborhood [[bounded by Harper on the east and south, Hayes on the west, and Moross on the north) was pretty heavily populated by southern [[Catholic) Germans.

Yep, that's right. Many of those people were children of German immigrants who lived in Islandview and the old "Germantown" , a.k.a. [[some of) McDougall-Hunt. It's interesting how when the kids got married, they seemed to move northward, almost en masse. They moved right from the old neighborhood to the new.