D Tour 313

10/25/2020

Autumn in Michigan, 1957. A Dodge Royal sedan (of the same year), sits in front of McInerney’s Farm and Old Cider Mill in Southfield, located on Northwestern Hwy., between 12 and 13 mile roads. Known for it’s apples, pumpkins, cider and doughnuts it also had a country store with an attached dining room. And while walking the grounds it wasn't unusual to come across wild pheasants, peacocks or other feathered wild game.

Just 20 miles away in Detroit’s Poletown, the massive Dodge Main plant worked around the clock, churning out it’s namesake branded cars including this classic aqua-blue Dodge Custom Royal sedan.

Resource: Detroit Free Press
Photo: Burton Historical Collection
Retouching: D Tour 313

10/20/2020

The USS Los Angeles passes over Detroit, October 1926. Looking out onto Washington Blvd. from The Detroit Free Press building, the goliath airship can be seen ominously floating over the city beyond Grand Circus Park near Adams and Woodward Ave. It would head west toward Dearborn for a maintenance stop at Ford Airport and later head east over Lake Erie back to it’s home port of Lakehurst, New Jersey.

In it’s hey day the USS Los Angeles was one of the largest airships in the world, built and flown over from Germany in 1924, it was massive at 656’ in length and 90’ in diameter and could reach speeds of nearly 80 mph. In comparison, today’s Goodyear Blimp is 192’ long with a max speed of 50 mph. Aboard the helium airship were 11 naval officers, 30 crewmen and room to accommodate dozens of passengers, with accommodations for long-distance travel including large passenger cabins and a first-class kitchen for food preparation.

After years of many impressive long distance flights, publicity trips across the U.S. and training operations that included the Panama Canal and Cuba, the airship would be decommissioned in 1932. Having logged over 4,100 hrs on 331 flights, it’s considered the most successful of all the United States Navy’s airships.

Resource: Airships.net
Image credits: Airships.net and Wayne State University

10/17/2020

We’re excited to know highly skilled craftsmen will be helping to restore Michigan Central Station!

Capital Stoneworks is proud to be part of the Michigan Central Train Station restoration project. We will be replicating the first Column Capital. This massive block of Indiana Limestone is from the Dark Hallow Quarry, the same site the original stone was sourced from in the early 1900's. Weighing in at around 20,000 lbs. this single block will take approximately 250 hours of hand carving time to fully replicate. Architect: @quinnevansqe Construction Manager: Christman/Brinker Restoration Contractor: @ramconstructionservices #customrestoration #limestone #limestonerestoration #darkhallowquarry #customstonework #handcarvedstone #michigancentraltrainstation #stonerestoration

10/16/2020

“The Tramp” visits Detroit - October 15, 1923. On this day, nearly a century ago, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated comedic actors of the silent screen era stepped off an early morning train at Michigan Central Station to be greeted by countless cheering fans. Charlie Chaplin was in town as an invited guest of the Detroit Board of Commerce, providing him an afternoon luncheon and formal dinner banquet held in his honor at the Board of Commerce Building (once located at W. Lafayette & Cass Ave. 1913-1977).

Chaplin’s schedule in Detroit would be a hectic one, beginning with the thousands of fans he waved to as police escorted his car bringing him to the Hotel Statler (1915-2005) where he would settle in for his stay. He would visit a number of schools which included Western, Northwestern, Eastern and Highland Park High Schools as well as three elementary schools, stressing to students to “Remember that as long as you can laugh you’re happy and happiness means much towards good health.” Chaplin would also demonstrate some of his signature comedic gestures to the gleeful response of school children who saw him.

While taking a brief break at the Hotel Statler, Chaplin would make time to sign an autograph requested by a shy chambermaid and shortly after making the observation as he looked out of his window onto the densely packed crowd cheering for him on the sidewalks below. “Strange thing, this fame. It seems to come from nowhere, like that.” Snapping his fingers.

The later half of the day would be all business, stopping by City Hall to shake hands with mayor, John Lodge, afterward giving a speech to auto workers at the Cadillac Clark Street plant, then meeting top executives at the General Motors Building (1922) and later being given a personal tour from Edsel and Henry Ford of the Highland Park plant. “I have come 10 miles from Dearborn to see you” Ford said when greeting Chaplin. ”That’s nothing” smiled Chaplin. ”I came all the way from Los Angeles to see you.”

It is said that Chaplin’s observations of the auto industry, Ford in particular, were the inspiration for his 1936 film “Modern Times” with Detroit’s United Artists Theatre (1928) being one of the first in the country to screen the movie.

Resource credit: Detroit Free Press
Photo credits: Wayne State University, Detroit Free Press & Roy Export S.A.S.

10/08/2020

Drifting through the Motor City, October 1972. It was this month back in 1972, filming began in Detroit for the Warner Brothers' movie "Scarecrow" starring Hollywood legends Gene Hackman and Al Pacino. It would be their first starring roles since their respective Oscar winning films "The French Connection" and "The Godfather." The story of "Scarecrow" centers around two drifters, Hackman being a recently released ex-con and Pacino a former navy man from Hamtramck, MI, who together journey across the U.S. searching for a better way of life. The last 20 minutes of the movie is filmed at Michigan Central Station, Sweetest Heart of Mary Church, Hamtramck and the James Scott Memorial Fountain at Belle Isle.

To stay in character as down-and-out drifters, Hackman and Pacino would wonder off the set looking for handouts, even making a few bucks doing it. As Gene Hackman recalls "People were terrific. Only a handful would actually recognize us. One little lady gave me a quarter and when I thanked her for her kindness she turned, looked me right in the eye and said, 'You're welcome, Mr. Hackman.'"

The movie would be released in Detroit in June, 1973 and go on to win the Best Film award at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.

Resource credit: Detroit Free Press
Image credits: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

10/06/2020

"Autumn is the time of picturesque tranquility."
- Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann

Photo credit: Camera Jesus

09/30/2020

"Emanuel Steward and myself, we were like father and son. Everything that I did, I did it because of my love for Emanuel and for myself because I wanted to make him proud of me, because he spent a lot of his time helping develop me into who I am today. I wanted to make him very proud of what he instilled in me and getting me to where I am today."

- Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns

Photo credit: The Loneliest Sport

09/29/2020

Final game at Tiger Stadium, September 27, 1999. Tigers win over the Kansas City Royals, 8-2. The beloved stadium had hosted 6,873 regular season games, 35 postseason contests, four World Series winning seasons (1935, 1945, 1968 & 1984) and three All-Star Games.

It was also home to the Detroit Lions, from 1940 to 1974, and their three world championship seasons – 1952, 1953 & 1957.

Resource credit: Detroit Historical Society
Photo credit: Mary Schroeder, The Detroit Free Press

09/23/2020

Hollywood meets the Motor City - September 1943. In the midst of WW2 some of show business' biggest stars would arrive in Detroit, on a national tour to drum up support for the sales of War Bonds. Some of those legendary performers included - Lucille Ball, James Cagney, Harpo Marx, Judy Garland, Paul Henreid, Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire (not pictured), Detroit’s own Betty Hutton among many others.

It would be a whirlwind of a visit with over 100 persons in the “Hollywood Bond Cavalcade” (movie stars, set directors, hair & make up dressers, stage hands, etc.) rolling into Michigan Central Station and then checking into the Hotel Statler with large crowds lingering around Grand Circus Park hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite celebrity. Later when the stage lights went up before a sold out crowd at Olympia Stadium, the stars performed character sketches, dancing and popular songs to a rousing applause. Even better, the show’s expected sales of War Bonds was shattered with $47M worth being sold (thats $706M today).

As their train cars rolled out of Michigan Central Station the next day, Detroit hometown actress Betty Hutton best summed up the purpose of their national tour “Right now I’m interested in selling War Bonds so we can get this war over with in a hurry. This lovely time I had in Detroit reminds me what home is really like. That’s what we’re fighting for – and we don’t dare take a chance of losing.”

Resource credit: The Detroit Free Press
Photo credit: Wayne State University

09/18/2020

Goodnight Detroit!

Photo credit: james.m.gates via Motor City Shooters

09/12/2020

Vernor's Ginger Ale plant at 4501 Woodward, 1955. Detroit’s famous refreshment has been around for over 150 yrs (since 1866), making it the oldest continuously produced pop in the U.S — older than Coke (1886) or Pepsi (1893).

Photo credit: Detroit Historical Society

09/10/2020

1941 Packard sedan final assembly line.

Photo colorization: @imbuedwithhues

09/08/2020

Stranded on Woodward, 1950’s. A freight truck, Detroit city bus and a Stroh’s delivery truck get stuck in floodwaters under a railroad viaduct south of McNichols (Six mile) in Highland Park.

Photo credit: Joe Clark, HBSS, published in LIFE Magazine

09/04/2020

“Meet me under the Kern’s Clock” Sept. 1965. An iconic landmark for generations of Detroiters, the storied clock first made it’s debut in 1933 at the corner of Woodward and Gratiot Aves., installed above the main entrance of it’s namesake dept. store - Kern's (1883-1959).

During it’s heyday it became an institution of sorts with hundreds of fan letters mailed into the store of marriage proposals and anniversaries celebrated under the Kern’s Clock. Couples would meet at the spot where they had their first date and would return annually for sentimental reasons. It was also the site where many shopping parents told their children to meet them should they get separated.

Not long after the store’s demolition in 1966, the clock would be stolen and later found on an abandoned truck near Irish Hills, about 70 miles SW of Detroit. It would migrate in storage from the Stroh Brewery Co. to Goodwill Industries to finally Historic Fort Wayne (where many other old Detroit relics have resided). In 1978, the Junior League of Detroit led a successful campaign to restore the clock and place it back in its original location. However, in 1998 it was once again removed to avoid damage during the demolition of the Hudson’s building.

By 2003 after the One Campus Martius building had been completed, the famous Kern’s Clock was reinstalled just steps away from its original location at the corner of Woodward and Gratiot, where it can be seen, and where Detroiters still meet up at, today.

Resources: Detroit Free Press and Detroit Historical Society
Photo credits: Wayne State University, Detroit Free Press and striderp64

09/02/2020

The Caped Crusader visits Detroit, 1966. Adam West (1928-2017) makes an appearance as Batman to the throngs of adoring fans at Edgewater Park (located at Grand River and Seven Mile Rd.).

Photo credit: Wayne State University

08/27/2020

"The Thinker" finds a new home - August, 1927

A Masterpiece on the Move, August 1927. It was 93 years ago this month that hundreds of paintings and statues, including Auguste Rodin’s famously casted “The Thinker” were transported from their original home at the Detroit Museum of Art (1888) on E. Jefferson (roughly where it meets I-375 today), to their new home at the soon to be finished Detroit Institute of Arts on Woodward Ave.

Weighing in at over a ton, Detroit’s statue was cast in Paris, France in 1904, later being purchased for an art collection in Lubeck, Germany, where it remained until 1922. That same year it was purchased by an anonymous donor and installed in front of the entrance steps to the Detroit Museum of Art. Five years later it would be facing Woodward Ave., greeting visitors to the city’s world-renowned art collections at the DIA.

Video credit: Wayne State University
Resource credit: The Detroit Free Press

08/25/2020

Workers in the Sky, 1938. Securely strapped in, men tend to the maintenance of the Greater Penobscot Building’s windows. Far down on the streets below the Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument can be seen with the bustle of streetcars, buses, vehicles and pedestrians at Campus Martius (Cadillac Square, Woodward Ave. and Fort St.).

Retouching: D Tour 313
Photo credit: Wayne State University

07/16/2020

Summer picnicking on Belle Isle, 1908. A family enjoys a peaceful afternoon while listening to a record played through a hand-cranked gramophone.

Photo credit: Wayne State University

07/10/2020

Detroit at dusk.

Photo credit: Camera Jesus

07/02/2020

A Summer's walk in the Motor City, 1953

A Summer’s walk in the Motor City, 1953. Starting at the busy intersection of Lafayette, Michigan Ave. and Griswold, we make our way north past Capitol Park over to the Qwikee Donut & Coffee Shop (Detroit owned & operated, having numerous locations throughout the metro area from the 50’s thru the 70’s) located on Grand River, between Griswold and Woodward Ave.

Making our way west on Grand River, we walk over to Washington Blvd. where the Ford Motor Co. has been celebrating it’s 50th anniversary since June, closing down the blvd. on select nights for live stage performances over the course of the summer. Our journey comes to an end as we head south toward Michigan Ave. and the Sheraton Cadillac Hotel (owned by Sheraton from 1951 to 1975), known today as The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit.

Resource credit: Detroit Free Press
Video credit: Fenske Family & gettyimages

06/25/2020

A summer's morning in Detroit.

Photo credit: colindetroit

06/14/2020

Flag Day in Detroit, June 14, 1952

Happy Flag Day! Pedestrians watch as workers host up the J.L. Hudson's Co.'s massive U.S. flag, the largest in the world, on June 14, 1952. It was first unveiled on Armistice Day (now Veteran's Day) 1923.

Video credit: gettyimages

06/13/2020

Good night Detroit.

Photo credit: joeydpics

06/10/2020

"Woman with Umbrella" Summer 1955. Across Woodward Ave. stands the Majestic Building (1896-1962), one of Detroit's earliest skyscrapers.

Photo credit: Bill Rauhauser

06/05/2020

Summer in the city, 1957. Cruising down Woodward Ave. at Congress St.

Photo credit: Harold Mayer

05/24/2020

Dusk over Detroit.

Photo credit: Pat Eisen Photography

05/19/2020

Sunny afternoon at the Belle Isle ferry dock, 1905. Boarding from either the foot of Woodward Ave. (where Hart Plaza is today) or Third St, steamboat ferries would regularly take passengers on leisurely excursions to Detroit’s island getaway, Belle Isle. Ferry service to the island followed shortly after it’s inaugural opening in 1882.

In the book “Made in Detroit" (1957), Norman Beasley and George W. Stark would describe the thrilling allure of the steamers, “All day long until late at night, the Belle Isle ferries traveled up and down the river. The fare was ten cents, and if the passenger so chose he could ride all day long for his original dime. In the dusk of evening, the ride back to the city was exhilarating. The lights in the scattered high towers gave dimensions to Detroit; the growing skyline gave a sense of growing importance.”

By 1957, after 75 yrs of service, the scenic cruises to Belle Isle would come to an end.

Photo credit: Library of Congress
Colorization: SannaDullaway.com

05/14/2020

Rainy afternoon at Adams and Woodward, 1916. The David Whitney Building (1915) stands off in the distance. Constructed under David Charles Whitney, he would name the stately Beaux Arts structure after his late father, lumber baron and Detroit millionaire David Whitney, Jr.. Nearly a century after it first opened it's doors, it would go through an extensive $92M renovation, reopening in 2014.

Photo credit: Wayne State University

05/11/2020

Detroit Hustle, late 1940s. Hudson's towers over the city as pedestrians and cars move along a busy Woodward Avenue.

Photo credit: Fine Art America

05/04/2020

Heart of the City, 1959. Looking down from Michigan's tallest skyscraper (at the time), the Greater Penobscot Building (1928), upon evening traffic in Campus Martius.

Photo credit: photo_punk_detroit

05/03/2020

Our kind of town. Goodnight, Detroit!

Photo credit: felicia_fullwood

04/29/2020

A day at the ball park, 1959. Aerial view of a capacity crowd at Briggs Stadium. Nearly every parking space, as far as the eye can see, is filled with cars and buses (most likely made in Detroit). Along the top of the photo runs brick paved Michigan Ave and along the bottom Vernor Highway intersecting with Trumbull and Cochrane St. behind the stadium, it would later be replaced by I-75 in 1968.

Photo credit: Wayne State University