Dime Bank construction. Shorpy!!

**Whitehouse** · February-11-11, 01:21 PM

Great pic!!

Nice to know this old lady is still among us.

What was that 1874 building next door?

**canuck** · February-11-11, 01:42 PM

I dont know about the 1874 building but I noticed the building to the right of it also but recessed is also nearing completion. A scaffold is up for the bricklayers or window installers. You can also pick out plasterers and/or painters in the building's top floor. Beautiful picture. Did you notice the steel beams at the very top of the dime bank. They are misaligned. It was probably a temporary fixation though these things used to be hot riveted I think. It would be nice to know. Anybody still alive who worked on that building?

**canuck** · February-11-11, 01:45 PM

It may have to do with the drainage on the roof at the center column?

**Gistok** · February-11-11, 01:57 PM

Canuck... when you asked if anyone is still alive who worked on the Dime Building.... the answer is the same to the question... "any WWI vets still alive?".

If there were, they'd have to be about 120 years old by now...

**rsa.313** · February-11-11, 03:45 PM

actually, you can notice that the interior beams don't align all the way down. it appears this wasn't built in a strict grid pattern; the exterior 3 bays of each arm, but the interior is supported only in the middle. it creates the supporting beam to be attached in the middle of another beam, instead of at a column intersection. [[pretty interesting). as to why they don't match up, it could be any number of reasons; different loadings, irregular spans, different depths, stairways, etc. construction in those days was very much "make it work with what you have" rather than corresponding to regularity in materials and design.

you can also note the construction of the former grand trunk building in the middle right edge of the photo [[demo'd about 6 years ago for a parking garage) and the tower of the old federal/post office building behind it [[torn down in the '30's for the federal building there currently).

**canuck** · February-11-11, 07:39 PM

Yup, thanks Gistok! I just wanted to see if anyone was still awake! It's a pretty remarkable building and at 20 stories, surely one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world at that time.

Good points rsa.313.

**kathy2trips** · February-11-11, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

Great pic!!

Nice to know this old lady is still among us. What was that 1974 building next door?

I found a 1916 Guide to Detroit [[published by the Detroit News) online. [[Decent photos, too.) I don't know if I have my N/S/E/W right, but a quote from the guide is as follows:

"Fort Street, east and west, crosses the city just south of the City Hall. Fort Street, West begins at Woodward Avenue. Once one of the most desirable residence streets in the city, it is now entirely business property. Here are many large residences used for business. Among them are the homes of the late Gen. Russell A. Alger, Secretary of War under McKinley, Hon. H.P. Baldwin, Hon. Zachariah Chandler, Secretary of the Interior under Grant.

"In the first block, there are many ticket offices, the Hammond Building and the City Hall. The Moffat Building and the Dime Bank Building are at the corners of Griswold Street. Many of the new buildings have basement lunchrooms. In the Dime Bank Building with an entrance on Fort Street or through the Dime Savings Bank is a large and well furnished restaurant with shining steam tables, patronized particularly by business men and women. Like other parts of the building these rooms are luxuriously finished and well-lighted. In this block are also the Penobscot Building, the Peninsular and the People's State Banks. In the next block are the Detroit Trust Company Building and the Post Office." - Guide to Detroit [[1916) http://books.google.com/books?id=ZJz...page&q&f=false

**MikeM** · February-11-11, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

Great pic!!

Nice to know this old lady is still among us.

What was that 1874 building next door?

McGraw Building

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...art=;resnum=30

**cman710** · February-11-11, 10:56 PM

What is the building on the lower left edge of the photo?

**MikeM** · February-11-11, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by cman710

What is the building on the lower left edge of the photo?

Moffat Building

**kathy2trips** · February-12-11, 01:11 AM

MikeM, you is de man~!

**mikefmich** · February-12-11, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Canuck... when you asked if anyone is still alive who worked on the Dime Building.... the answer is the same to the question... "any WWI vets still alive?".

If there were, they'd have to be about 120 years old by now...

Yes, one. Frank Buckles and he is still active as of a few months back, turned 110 last week.

http://ngepress.com/wp-content/uploa...6-year-old.jpg

**MikeM** · February-12-11, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by kathy2trips

MikeM, you is de man~!

That's sweet; nobody's told me that since high school.

I can't believe how small the foot print is:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/imag...tart=;resnum=3

The Moffat Building at the time:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/imag...tart=;resnum=2

The Dime really stood out at the time - a monstosity like the Ren Cen:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/imag...tart=;resnum=7

DetroitDad · February-12-11, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Canuck... when you asked if anyone is still alive who worked on the Dime Building.... the answer is the same to the question... "any WWI vets still alive?".

If there were, they'd have to be about 120 years old by now...

Ahhh, it feels like it was just yesterday. Leland was getting frustrated with plaster accelarator, while I was dealing with lumber that was improperly air dried. Thins had to move fast, because Dave was already en route with the roofing aggregate.

**kathy2trips** · February-13-11, 12:16 AM

Thank you for those great links to photos, too. Yes, the Dime seemed out of proportion to its surroundings. But I imagine that Detroiters were building for the future, anticipating the area would catch up in time. Such forward-thinking people back then!

**Gistok** · February-28-11, 02:38 AM

Originally Posted by mikefmich

Yes, one. Frank Buckles and he is still active as of a few months back, turned 110 last week.

http://ngepress.com/wp-content/uploa...6-year-old.jpg

Mikefmich.... I just heard today that the 110 year old last surviving WWI veteran [[living in West Virginia) has finally died.

The end of another generation of veterans....

**Richard** · February-28-11, 08:17 AM

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/imag...tart=;resnum=3

Look in the background under the Jorden Tailor sign Albert Kahn's office?

**gnome** · February-28-11, 01:18 PM

Yep, iirc it was called the Owen Building and stood at the corner of Lafayette and Wayne [[ now. Called Washington). Not sure when it was torn down but I'm sure it was gone by the mid '60s.

**FredGarvin** · February-28-11, 09:26 PM

I saw on Yahoo that Frank Buckles just dies yesterday. The article confirmed that he was the last remaining US WWI Veteran. He lied about his age getting into the Army at 16 1/2 years old.