Best Co. - Now houses Jillians

 

 

 

 

Federal Knitting Mills - Detroit & W. 29th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiram Rivitz - 1614 E. 40th

 

 

 

 

J.L Goodman Furniture - Harvard & Broadway

 

 

 

 

Lion Knitting Mills - 3256 W. 25th

 

 

 

 

L.N. Gross - W. 3rd & Lakeside

 

 

 

 

Neal Fireproof Storage - Detroit Ave. & West Blvd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richman Brothers - E. 55th just south of Superior

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rorimer-Brooks Studio - Euclid near E. 22nd

 

 

 

 

Royal Furniture - Now National City Bank 1939 W. 25th

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schwarz-Forney-Hextor    E. 30th & Superior

 

 

 

 

Superior Buick - 6801 Superior just east of E. 68th

 

 

 

 

Telling Belle Vernon - 3700 area of Carnegie.  Now is the Minute Men Center

 

 

 

 

I love re-use!

Fabulous!!

Nicely done!

 

Not sure I agree with the "sadly" part of the title.  The boarded up buildings are sad but a lot of the re-uses are actually an improvement from years past.  For example, the building on W 3 and Lakeside is now offices.... WHD style.  The Jillians on Cedar-Fairmount is a key element of that neighborhood IMO.

 

Does anyone think it's weird that while there are barely any people in today's pics, the nostalgic pics are practically void of people too?!  I mean really, that was during our supposed hayday!    :?

Does anyone think it's weird that while there are barely any people in today's pics, the nostalgic pics are practically void of people too?!  I mean really, that was during our supposed hayday!    :?

If i'm not mistaken these were taken to document the structures.  I assume the pictures were taken at off hours and/or purposely taken without people present.

Yeah, that is weird. I'd expect the factories/warehouses to be like that but not a retail strip. Maybe they waited for people to pass by since it distracts you from the main object (the building).

Not sure I agree with the "sadly" part of the title. The boarded up buildings are sad but a lot of the re-uses are actually an improvement from years past. For example, the building on W 3 and Lakeside is now offices.... WHD style. The Jillians on Cedar-Fairmount is a key element of that neighborhood IMO.

 

 

I agree in the sense that a lot of these buildings have been re-used nicely.  I disagree in the sense that I bet these warehouses provided thousands of factory jobs that will never exist again.

Your threads keep getting better and better; excellent post.

Does anyone think it's weird that while there are barely any people in today's pics, the nostalgic pics are practically void of people too?!  I mean really, that was during our supposed hayday!    :?

If i'm not mistaken these were taken to document the structures.  I assume the pictures were taken at off hours and/or purposely taken without people present.

 

It could depend on the technology used by the photographer. These are pro work, and if they were shot with large view cameras with glass-plate negatives and small lens openings for depth of field, the exposures could have been sufficiently long that a person in motion might not have registered.

 

It's still quite possible, though, as David stated, that the photographer might have waited for the scene to be free of distractions.

Does anyone think it's weird that while there are barely any people in today's pics, the nostalgic pics are practically void of people too?!  I mean really, that was during our supposed hayday!    :?

If i'm not mistaken these were taken to document the structures.  I assume the pictures were taken at off hours and/or purposely taken without people present.

 

It could depend on the technology used by the photographer. These are pro work, and if they were shot with large view cameras with glass-plate negatives and small lens openings for depth of field, the exposures could have been sufficiently long that a person in motion might not have registered.

 

It's still quite possible, though, as David stated, that the photographer might have waited for the scene to be free of distractions.

 

It makes sense, I mean, I always try to avoid cars if I'm trying to take a picture of a building. It just clutters it up. Who knows why people took the pictures. We tend to promote street life so if someone is walking by, we consider it a good thing. But if someone were to take a MLS photo for real estate, I doubt they would want a person standing in front of it.

 

Plus, us young whippersnappers are filled with longing - for street life that we feel like we missed out on in the past; so we expect a lot from the old pictures.

 

 

Not sure I agree with the "sadly" part of the title.  The boarded up buildings are sad but a lot of the re-uses are actually an improvement from years past.  For example, the building on W 3 and Lakeside is now offices.... WHD style.  The Jillians on Cedar-Fairmount is a key element of that neighborhood IMO.

 

 

I agree in the sense that a lot of these buildings have been re-used nicely.  I disagree in the sense that I bet these warehouses provided thousands of factory jobs that will never exist again.

 

That's a very pessimistic way to look at it. Factories may close but the service economy opens up. If a manufacturing company wants to compete globally, they need financing, accounting, lawyering, insurance, etc. Firms where they have specialized knowledge-based skills. Then where do they go? Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, etc. The real tragedy is the city losing corporate headquarters left and right due to M&A. Doesn't Cleveland have one of the largest law firms in the world though? Then there's the Clinic. The challenge I think is getting those people educated and skilled in the new economy and I think our cities and states are gonna have to get involved with that.

 

I worked at a factory and it was the most mind numbing, degrading job I've ever had. I'd much rather see people get skills and work in a service economy. I'll never work a factory job again unless I have to.

 

Those old buildings would make for fantastic loft conversions. Good way to get people back in the city.

Does anyone think it's weird that while there are barely any people in today's pics, the nostalgic pics are practically void of people too?! I mean really, that was during our supposed hayday! :?

If i'm not mistaken these were taken to document the structures. I assume the pictures were taken at off hours and/or purposely taken without people present.

 

It could depend on the technology used by the photographer. These are pro work, and if they were shot with large view cameras with glass-plate negatives and small lens openings for depth of field, the exposures could have been sufficiently long that a person in motion might not have registered.

 

It's still quite possible, though, as David stated, that the photographer might have waited for the scene to be free of distractions.

 

It makes sense, I mean, I always try to avoid cars if I'm trying to take a picture of a building. It just clutters it up. Who knows why people took the pictures. We tend to promote street life so if someone is walking by, we consider it a good thing. But if someone were to take a MLS photo for real estate, I doubt they would want a person standing in front of it.

 

Plus, us young whippersnappers are filled with longing - for street life that we feel like we missed out on in the past; so we expect a lot from the old pictures.

 

 

 

If you look at some of the other pictures I've posted with people in them you'll notice that many are blurs or appear as ghosts.  I'm assuming even the slightest movement while taking a picture back then would create a rather blurry image.  So they probably tried to avoid it as much as possible.  And as MTS mentioned...they were taken as sort of a portfolio of projects completed...not a snapshot in time to capture the moment.

Looking back carefully, I only saw a few ghosts (creepy good fun though-look in the window of the main entrance door of Richmond Bros).  So yeah, probably they shot at off times to capture the buildings without the traffic.  Remember too that once upon a time few businesses were open outside of 9-5.

In this photo, on the far right by the low wall, is that where one of the streetcar ramps starts its descent into the subway for the lower deck of the Detroit-Superior Bridge?

 

Nice work Firenze98.

 

Looks like they changed/removed part of the top of the Neal Fireproof Storage (Detroit Ave. & West Blvd.)

Kind of an unusual/weird building to begin with. 

In this photo, on the far right by the low wall, is that where one of the streetcar ramps starts its descent into the subway for the lower deck of the Detroit-Superior Bridge?

 

 

That's what I was thinking also.  The low bid to construct this building was received on February 8th, 1917 for a sum of $48,000.00  I wonder what that would be in today's dollars

Nice thread. Thanks for your work.

 

In this photo, on the far right by the low wall, is that where one of the streetcar ramps starts its descent into the subway for the lower deck of the Detroit-Superior Bridge?

 

 

Yes. The bridge and its streetcar ramps to the bridge's lower deck were still under construction in 1917. The Detroit-Superior bridge opened in 1918.

 

 

Awesome thread... thanks for the work you put into this!

fantastic thread. i love then and now shots. the results overall here are much better than i would have expected -- a mixed bag.

 

i have a fascination for those old styled storage buildings, they always seem to be both massive & unique all at the same time.