Shorpy 1918 Cadillac SQ

[gnome]

large size: http://www.shorpy.com/node/9155?size=_original

You will notice in the distance, the lower end of Belle Isle has not yet been built. Once the original Belle Isle Bridge burned, they used the pilings to build the western shoreline.

In the foreground you'll see Cadillac's Chair and just a single horse.

[MikeM]

And in the distance, the Seven Sisters of Detroit Edison's Connors Creek power plant were only five. The plant was up and running in 1915, but not fully completed until 1921.

[Gsgeorge]

Wowwwwwwwwwww.......... So incredible! One of the best views of 'old Detroit' I've ever seen. Quite an overview. You could spend hours browsing the homes & sights in the distance and comparing that to what exists today. It's a totally transformed world. Some kind of alternate universe....

[gnome]

http://books.google.com/books?id=Y3v...etroit&f=false

From google "books" a review of the new "Real Estate Exchange Building". It was built by Louis Kamper, for the Book Brothers and survived a scant 58 yrs until it was torn down by Al Taubman in 1976 after a decade or more of decline.

Of course it was next to the Family theater, which was also torn down in the early to mid-70's, this time after an infamous fire.

I seem to remember that Taubman had plans to build a indoor mall downtown, guess those plans are on hold.

[gnome]

july 26 1973, forgive me, the Family Theater had changed its name the The Follies ... it was showing Deep Throat when the sparks flew for real. While the firemen rushed inside, a line formed out front by patrons who wanted refunds.

[jtf1972]

...and the Cadillac Square Building!

http://www.shorpy.com/node/9156?utm_...+Photo+Blog%29

[Neilr]

The 11 story, light colored brick building near the center of the photo is the Pasadena Apartment Building which still stands, w/o its cornice, on the corner of East Jefferson and Dubois. The picture is from Wikipedia.

[Mikeg]

And in the distance, the Seven Sisters of Detroit Edison's Connors Creek power plant were only five. The plant was up and running in 1915, but not fully completed until 1921.

Here's a brief history of the Conners Creek power plant and a very nice photo of it that was taken in the mid 1920s.

[RealityCheck]

Y'all have hit the top-tier highlights, so I'll just savor the business diversity that unites Chop Suey, 2-in-1 Shoe Polishes, Bowling, Draughting Room Supplies, Auto and Vehicle Material, and 'Machinery, Tools and Factory Supplies' . . . all within a few bustling blocks downtown.

And I've got two questions:

* Does anyone make a good 10-cent cigar anymore?

* How many war savings stamps have YOU bought?

[Patrick]

Chop suey too and Douglas Fairbanks too! Hey look, they even got bowling alley a Home Candy Works

[gnome]

Don't forget, "La Choy" food products was founded in Detroit by a couple of UofM grads.

You'll notice there are no saloons or bars in the original photo ... prohibition became the law in Michigan in 1917.

[Lowell]

Definitely WWI, eh?
Attachment 7588

I am going to guess that this is a War Bond Rally platform.

Truly an awesome photo and what sad loss of that lovely little skyscraper. All the more reason to try to save our remaining architectural gems.

[Lowell]

Another thing that is striking is how much of sea port that river front was and how much smoke stack pollution there had to be. It looks like Belle Isle was getting hammered on this day.

[stromberg2]

Maybe a stupid question, but why were the cornices and spires removed from alot of these buildings?

Stromberg2

[Kathleen]

Stromberg2 asked..Why were the cornices and spires removed from a lot of these buildings?

My understanding is that after the cornices deteriorated and began falling from the older builders, a law was passed requiring buildings to remove the cornices. I believe this happened back in the 1950s, after at least one death occurred as a result of a falling cornice pieces. Back around 1917 my own great-grandfather was struck by building debris that fell as he walked along Woodward Ave. Fortunately he was not seriously injured.

[Gistok]

Kathleen, I believe it was an 82 year old lady that got whacked in the head by falling cornice....

[MrJones]

What is that high-backed char in front of the octagon building? And what is that, a streetcar ticket office?

[MikeM]

What is that high-backed char in front of the octagon building?

Cadillac's Chair: http://buildingsofdetroit.com/places/chair

[Patrick]

http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargem...&caller=search

[Patrick]

http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargem...&caller=search

[Patrick]

http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargem...&caller=search

[MrJones]

Don't forget, "La Choy" food products was founded in Detroit by a couple of UofM grads.

You'll notice there are no saloons or bars in the original photo ... prohibition became the law in Michigan in 1917.

Looking at another photo of Cadillac Square from 1916, there is a bar on each side of the street and a large beer sign atop the Hotel Barlum.

[szla]

I understand that the cornices that were deteriorating were made of formed concrete. The limestone cornices were not deteriorating.

[EastsideAl]

I was looking at this great Shorpy picture and trying to figure out which of the buildings that one can clearly see there are still standing. And the number seems to be pretty depressingly low. Other than the obvious Old County Building, most of them are on Jefferson. There I can see Sts. Peter and Paul R.C. Church [[with a brand new St. Catherine Hall behind it), U of D [[now their law school), Christ Episcopal Church, the Palms apartments, the aforementioned Pasadena apartments, and off in the distance the Garden Court apartments.

Of course, the entire neighborhood visible spreading out to the east is gone, torn down and replaced by Lafayette and Elmwood Parks way back in the '50s and '60s. On a personal note, visible directly over the top of the Cadillac Square Building is the spire of the long gone St. Joachim's R.C. Church on E. Fort and Dubois, which was the French church and one of the oldest parishes in the city. It's the church my great-grandmother attended as a kid.

Other notable now gone buildings that I can see, in addition to the obvious Cadillac Sq. Bldg., Pontchartrain Hotel, and Gregory Mayer & Thom Bldg in the foreground, are the old Art Institute on Jefferson with its twin towers directly across the street from U of D and Sts. Peter and Paul, the gas works way out on Jefferson with its giant tank, and the DUR car barns complex out to the left of the top of the Cadillac Sq. Bldg. As for the questions about that octagonal structure behind Cadillac's chair, it was still there when I was a kid and contained, if I remember correctly, public restrooms.

[EastsideAl]

A new beautiful shot on Shorpy of the then brand new Cadillac Square Building [[aka Real Estate Exchange Building), along with the Family Theater, Merrill Fountain, and whole lot of Campus Martius street activity.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/9156?size=_original