These color photographs from 1899 are beautiful!
Detroit was on the ascent! Being a product of the Rust Belt (Cleveland, though, not Detroit), it wrings my heart to see these old beautiful cities fall into ruins. Will the glory days ever return?
After the first Central High School burned down, this beautiful building was constructed 3 years later at 4841 Cass Avenue. The building is still standing today and is known as Old Main.
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Fort Street Presbyterian Church, built in 1876, still stands tall at Fort and Third.
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Grand Circus Park in 1899
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A residential street in the 1899 Detroit booklet.
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old spirituals 
There is a myriad of cities in America that have turned to ruin. Cities like Detroit, MI, and Gary, IN, just to name two, were once splendid cities that have been allowed to fall into decay. Hopefully, action will be taken to restore these once great cities to their eminence.
The HGTV series “Bargain Block” has focused on restoring dilapidated homes in Detroit neighborhoods. Two renovation experts, Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas, find homes on a block to restore and bring back an entire block to habitability. The series has a spinoff, “Bargain Block New Orleans.”
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That’s so cool! And wonderful to hear!
The last time I visited Cleveland, my friend and I went down to W 65 where all the antique stores are. It’s a rough area now but inside these old stores, they actually have architectural elements for sale that were taken from some of the grand old homes of the steel barons and other super rich when the old mansions were demolished. And it’s beautiful stuff. Stained glass, copper ceiling tiles, newel posts… such lovely things. It makes you dream about the grandeur of these old cities! I would love to see them come back.
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Again, HGTV broadcast a series for a time that followed the owners of a company that professionally removed architectural artifacts and other items from old buildings before the building was demolished. Of course, they sold them for profit. Another great series is “American Pickers” on The History Channel. The owners of a business, “Antique Archeology” travel the Country finding private collectors of all types of memorabilia. It’s a great series to learn about “Americana.”
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The guys who do work like that are really the experts. I don’t think you could go to school for that. I like that, they explain things in real life terms.
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I grew up in Windsor, Ontario across from Detroit in the 60s and 70s and it was still kicking but going down the tubes even then. I remember Devil’s Night, the night before Halloween, when Detroit youth would ravage, burn, riot, and violate the city at will. I remember signs along the freeway saying “in case of emergency do not leave car” and that if your 4-ways were on, a State Trooper would come to assist you. I remember visiting a bookstore somewhere within the 8 mile radius of Detroit on my way up to Rochester Hills – the official no-go zone, the enter-at-your-own-risk zone – and being yelled at by friends of the family when I reached their home in Rochester Hills. He was horrified and fully expected that I would have been murdered in my tracks. It was bad then, but its former glories were still breathing and being lived in and used for the most part. But now, now it is a wasteland of empty lots and crumbling remains. Detroit became wealthy as an industrial hub and an automotive hub, but those days will not return to America, at least not like they were. Perhaps they should further bulldoze empty areas and turn them into a ring of farmland to feed the city dwellers who are left.
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It’s a travesty what has been allowed to happen to our cities, isn’t it? I admire you for refusing to be scared off but… I see your friends’ point. That was a very dangerous area then—probably still is. Your idea of returning it to farmland would be a more dignified solution than allowing the city to remain in ruins. It’s an interesting thought.
Separately, I’m glad to see you back, Jennie! 😊
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It’s heartbreaking to see our cities going to ruin. I’ll always remember the beauty of Kansas City, Missouri, at Christmas. The store windows and lights were wonderful. This was during the 1950’s and early 60’s. Then moving to Las Vegas, NV, in 1962 with my parents, I’ve seen a whole different kind of dealing with “out with the old” where the city just implodes the old. The Tropicana Hotel will be the next to go so a major league ballpark can be built. Fortunately, the city has preserved the old courthouse/post office where the Kefauver hearings were held and now is home to the Mob Museum.
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I agree! We need more preservation!
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BTW, the last photo looks very much like streets of Victorian homes in Redlands, CA, today. There are some cities that still preserve their history.
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I’d love to make it down there and check it out! Looks like about a 7 hour drive…
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There’s a beautiful Victorian home that once belonged to Carole Lombard’s aunt and uncle. It’s supposedly haunted, but not by Carole! A group used to have home tours once a year to raise money for their charity, but I believe that no longer happens.
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Ghosts interest me (I believe in them) but would rather not spend the night with them !
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