Woodward Avenue, 1910

[cosine]

Here's a Google shot of the Wright Kay building today.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...47.62,,0,-8.49

[canuck]

Hippo for Hippodrome most likely.

[cosine]

The object in the far distance looks to be a pair of banners strung across Woodward somewhere near the Jefferson Avenue area. I saved the photo and enlarged and cropped it using photoshop. You can see the lettering if you can increase the size of the photo.

[Bluenote132003]

OK, long time question I've had about Shorpy's pics of old Detroit...Were the "dark" colored buildings made from stone of that color? Was it coal dust, or soot? Something in the early photographic process? It appears the dark color is very evenly distributed, seen on wood as well as stone [[cement, etc...). And a "dark" building can be next to a nearly white building...?!?
Thanks!

[Mikeg]

How many business names can we find in this photo that are still active today?

I'll start with the General Ice Delivery Company's horse-drawn wagon in the middle of Woodward with their "Absopure" brand name on the side.

I'll add the Spalding's store on the east side of Woodward. The 1910 Detroit City Directory identifies the store at 254 Woodward as "A.G. Spalding & Bro., sporting goods". Here is an 1888 advertisement for their products. Spalding is now a division of Russell Brands.

By the way, I've since determined that the Eureka Vacuum Cleaner store on Woodward first appears in the 1912 Detroit City Directory, which puts a closer date on this photo.

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Shorpy has also put up a circa 1900 two-part panoramic photo of the Wm. H. Jackson residence on 2nd Ave. just south of Cass Park. William Jackson was a prolific photographer for the Detroit Publishing Company. The proprietor of the Shorpy web site initially identified his residence as being next to the "Marlborough" building on the west side of the street. I did some research and discovered that Jackson was listed in the 1898 Directory as boarding in the Hotel Richelieu at 420 2nd Ave, directly across the street from the Marlborough Flats. In 1920, the Richelieu address was renumbered to 2536 2nd Ave. [map], which is directly opposite the new Cass Tech. I submitted a comment and the information posted with those two photos has since been corrected.

Here are links to the two photos:

Chez Jackson: 1900

On the Street Where You Live: 1900


The water fountain in Cass Park can be seen off in the distance on each of these photos. In the 1899 and 1900 Directories, William Jackson was living in a house seven blocks to the north at 706 2nd Ave., which was on the southeast corner at Alexandrine St. and appears to still be standing. In the 1901 and 1902 Directories, he is living two blocks farther north at 154 Canfield Ave.

[Whitehouse]

Nice sign to know where you live. "Robinson".



William Henry Jackson is a stable horse of Shorpy.

[Mikeg]

Nice sign to know where you live. "Robinson".

The 1898 Detroit City Directory lists "Robinson Terrace" at the northeast corner of 2nd Ave. and Henry St. It does not give an address for it but instead states that it is at the "n e cor". That leads me to believe that Robinson Terrace was the name given to a row house consisting of the five addresses between the corner and the Hotel Richelieu [[406, 408, 410, 412 and 414). The camera was probably set up at the ne corner of 2nd and Henry and caught the walkway emblazoned with the name of this row house.

Besides the residence of William Jackson [view 45 of his photos on Shorpy], the east side of this block also included the home of another notable Detroiter, Edward W. Voigt, whose 1886 mansion was located at 438 2nd Ave on the corner of Ledyard. It is the third house past the Richelieu in this photo. Voigt was the owner of the Voigt Brewery Co., which at one time was the largest brewery in Michigan. Mr. Voigt was also a business investor and real estate developer [source].

[Packman41]

Love those cast iron hitching posts in the shape of tree limbs where the walkway meets the street.