Mich Con Storage Tanks

**mikefmich** · November-14-10, 03:51 AM

I searched old threads, and did some googling but couldn't come up with any locations or images.

The one I'm most familiar with was at their Lynch Rd. outpost where French Rd curves into Lynch Rd. I got to go up on that one as a kid, it had a lighted Gas is Best! sign on the side. I want to guess that one came down circa 1960

Another one I'm aware of but never saw was at their Coolidge outpost on Schafer nr. Schoolcraft.

I also know they had one at the "Station B" outpost. I'm not sure, but I believe that was very near the Ambassodor Bridge along the river. That may have been an expanding and contracting tank based on gas levels. Whether that was Station B I'm not sure, but I do know it was very near the bridge. I've got home movies of the Gasco Softball League playing at the ball diamonds there circa 1940. You can see the bridge and the tank in the background of the movies.That one definitely dated back to the days of Detroit City Gas or earlier.

Other possible locations would be their outposts on Tireman Rd. not far from the old Awrey Bakery, Noble St. right behind Carls Chop House, and their two stations at Allen Rd. & Greenfield across the river from the Rouge Plant.

Love to see some images, particularly of the Lynch Rd. tank. Yeah, I got old family connections to Mich Con.

**Rocko** · November-14-10, 10:40 AM

There were a pair at the Rouge, the one which was up till just a few years ago very near the corner of Miller and Dix, and another, much larger, which was not far from that location. Imagine standing in the middle of the Dix Avenue drawbridge, face perpendicular to the road in the direction of the Rouge, and it was straight ahead, just to the west of the unloading slip. Both were in place by the 1930s. Were these both on the Gas Co. lines, or only used exclusively for the Rouge coke ovens? The Greenfield one was also present at that time.

There was one near the Ambassador Bridge, in the area of W. Jefferson and 24th Street I think, which I've seen photos of but can't find any at the moment. Hope thiss helps.

**Trumpeteer** · November-14-10, 10:53 AM

There were actually two behind the location of the former William Booth Memorial Hospital on West Grand Blvd. where I was born in 1952. I remember my mother telling me how she could hear the tanks expand and contract as the tanks filled with gas. I looked at Google Maps some years ago at the hospital site as it was still standing then and could see the round imprints left by those gas tanks.

**jiminnm** · November-14-10, 12:24 PM

Mike, the former Sta B property was immediately west of the old Uniroyal plant property [[hence, MichCon's involvement in the site cleanup plan). The former Sta A was the property near the Ambassador Bridge. It was one of the first sites in Detroit for manufacturing gas. The Noble St. property was used for offices, transportation and service facilities. There were no gas holders there.

You may be interested in these.
http://issuu.com/thomas_gladysz/docs/gasette4-61
http://issuu.com/thomas_gladysz/docs/gasette10-70

The MichCon Blue Flame Retirees Club has some info on their web site and more in hard copy.
http://web.me.com/twozniak/Blue_Flam.../Homepage.html

There's also a book on the history of MichCon entitled Keepers of the Flame, The People of MichCon.

I'm an old gas guy.

**Hornwrecker** · November-14-10, 12:48 PM

MichCon Station A

Attachment 7801
wsu/vmc

**Hornwrecker** · November-14-10, 12:53 PM

MichCon Station B

Attachment 7802
wsu/culma

**MikeM** · November-14-10, 01:20 PM

I'm away from my desk and don't have my usual resources available, and I can't remember which station was which other than A & B. There was a Station C, E, F, G, J and R. I though I posted pictures of these here previously.

I think the one on Greenfield at Allen was Station R. There was one in Hamtramck which might be Station G. Schaefer at Intervale, Tireman at Epworth [[maybe Station J), Lynch at French Rd [[Station C?).

**MikeM** · November-14-10, 01:39 PM

Here's the previous thread:

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1191250117

**jiminnm** · November-14-10, 03:34 PM

MikeM, I don't recollect a facility being referred to as Sta R. There was a Sta H on S. Green Ave. in Detroit [[former gas plant). There was also a Sta I, which was either in River Rouge or Wyandotte [[the memory dims, generally downriver for certain). The Tireman facility was previously Sta J. Sta E was a small facility near Sta A.

**mikefmich** · November-14-10, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by jiminnm

Mike, the former Sta B property was immediately west of the old Uniroyal plant property [[hence, MichCon's involvement in the site cleanup plan). The former Sta A was the property near the Ambassador Bridge. It was one of the first sites in Detroit for manufacturing gas. The Noble St. property was used for offices, transportation and service facilities. There were no gas holders there.

You may be interested in these.
http://issuu.com/thomas_gladysz/docs/gasette4-61
http://issuu.com/thomas_gladysz/docs/gasette10-70

The MichCon Blue Flame Retirees Club has some info on their web site and more in hard copy.
http://web.me.com/twozniak/Blue_Flam.../Homepage.html

There's also a book on the history of MichCon entitled Keepers of the Flame, The People of MichCon.

I'm an old gas guy.

Do I know you?

So was I, my dad, and my dads step-dad. I didn't stay, left after 7 yrs.

East Jefferson was Station B? I didn't know that, and I spent a couple years of my time there in Distribution.

Thanks for those links.

**mikefmich** · November-14-10, 06:08 PM

jiminnm,
I thanked you for those links before I really looked. Wow....thank you VERY much. My names in the first Gasette listed from 1961, courtesy of my old dear friend Ken Brown. Are more of those scanned online? I know I was pictured in at least 2-3 of them when I was a kid.

The historical photos at the website were awesome. My dads in 2-3 of them, and I know so many of those old boys from when I was little, then working there for 7 yrs. Guyitt, Fyffe, Strongman, Spadafore, Pringle, Sproul amongst many others.

Thank you very much, you made my day!
You have a PM. Hope that's ok.

**mikefmich** · November-14-10, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by MikeM

Here's the previous thread:

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1191250117

Does not the search engine cover threads from the older site? I tried searching a few times.

**MikeM** · November-14-10, 07:04 PM

No, you have to go to the old site and use the search link there. Search "AtDetroit.net"

http://detroityes.com/0search.htm

**MikeM** · November-14-10, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by jiminnm

MikeM, I don't recollect a facility being referred to as Sta R. There was a Sta H on S. Green Ave. in Detroit [[former gas plant). There was also a Sta I, which was either in River Rouge or Wyandotte [[the memory dims, generally downriver for certain). The Tireman facility was previously Sta J. Sta E was a small facility near Sta A.

Thanks Jim. I think I saw an old picture of the Greenfield Road plant labeled as Station R; I might be imagining it.

**MikeM** · November-17-10, 05:53 PM

A couple of pictures I stumbled across....

Station J on Tireman:

Attachment 7819

And the opening of the Panhandle Eastern Pipeline valve in 1936 at the Greenfield Road site, bringing natural gas to the area from southwestern Kansas and putting an end to manufactured gas operations in Detroit. It was the longest pipeline in the world when built and also the largest steel order ever.

**jiminnm** · November-17-10, 08:22 PM

mikef, I sent you a pm. I will add that I don't know of other Gasette issues online. I've been told that the retirees' club has a fairly extensive hard copy archive of the magazines. You might check with someone there.

Mikem, the holders in your pics are telescoping holders, with side sections that rose and fell with the volume of gas. There were also rigid side holders of a fixed size. Those held a rubber bladder that filled with gas, or might have been lined with rubber.

Gas continued to be manufactured thru WW2, but at a lower rate than previously, and pretty much ended by 1946-48. Detroit actually received natural gas in the 1920s, from small fields in Ohio and, I think, Ontario. Those fields ran out in a few years. Natural gas has a higher BTU content than manufactured gas of that era, so it wasn't easy to switch between the two.

**MikeM** · November-17-10, 08:50 PM

Yes, the first natural gas was piped up from Ohio in the late 1880s and from Canada in the 1890s, but this supply lasted only a few years.

Shortly after the Panhandle Eastern line was completed, there was an interruption in service and the gas plants were fired up again. It might have been due to heavy demand during the war. There was another shortage in the late 1940s and propane had to be shipped in by rail car to supplement the natural gas supply.

**MikeM** · November-17-10, 09:05 PM

Propane storage at the Rouge [[Greenfield Rd) site, winter of 1946-1947:

Attachment 7823

Rouge site under construction, 1925:

Attachment 7824

Lynch Road site under construction, 1927

Attachment 7825

Coolidge Road site under construction, 1927:

Attachment 7826

**mikefmich** · November-18-10, 10:45 PM

Wow....Lynch Rd. station.It's all open grasslands kinda like today except now it's weed & trashlands. It appears to be looking south, right?

Thanks MikeM

**Mikeg** · November-18-10, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by mikefmich

Wow....Lynch Rd. station.It's all open grasslands kinda like today except now it's weed & trashlands. It appears to be looking south, right?

That photo was taken from the top of the gas holder looking to the southwest. The factories off in the distance are in Hamtramck.

Here is a 1949 aerial photo showing the finished building, smokestack and gas holder.

Attachment 7829

**Rocko** · November-29-10, 01:08 AM

http://www.shorpy.com/node/9405

At W. Jefferson near 24th Street, 1912. W. Grand Blvd. is in the background.

This might be helpful!!

**Sandhouse** · November-30-10, 11:09 AM

Maybe everyone knows it already, but I've always been fascinated by how these expandable gasholders worked. The pressure of the gas within held up the rising segments of the tanks. The seals between the segments consisted of a gutter around the bottom edge of the upper segment that was filled with water. The bottom of the tank was always filled with water, and when the segments rose up out of it the gutter stayed full, and the top edge of the next segment down hooked into it. Obviously this was usable only for very low gas pressures, and there must have been a heating system for the seals to keep them from freezing. Or maybe the compressed gas was always warm enough.

I wonder if any are still in use anywhere.

**Magnatomicflux** · December-01-10, 02:17 AM

Actually....I never knew....but wanted to! Now, what's the cage all about? Simple support? Why do they always extend sooo much higher than the tank itself?

**Sandhouse** · December-01-10, 11:43 AM

The cage guided the rising tank roof and segments. If you look at the pictures [[and also on the latest Shorpy post below) you will see little wheels on the roof that rode on the verticals of the framework.

Most photos of the tanks were taken when they were less than full, but the tanks could rise to the top of the framework. Notice also how the lowest segment was built stronger to retain the water, and how the lower segments were always the rustiest, since they were submerged most of the time.

Many European and a few American gasholders used brick surrounds instead of the steel framework. A few of these buildings survive as warehouses or in other uses. The Society of Industrial Archeology uses the Troy, NY, gasholder house as its symbol [[which survives).