It's Up to You Detroit!

Elect a crazy council, get crazy results
Nolan Finley - Detroit News

Nowhere is Michigan's brain drain on greater display than in the Detroit City Council chambers.

My hopes for Detroit's future faded as I watched the tape of last Tuesday's council meeting, the one that considered the Cobo Center expansion deal.

It was a tragic circus, a festival of ignorance that confirmed the No. 1 obstacle to Detroit's progress is the bargain basement leaders that city voters elect. The black nationalism that is now the dominant ideology of the council was on proud display, both at the table and in the audience....

This is the perhaps the harshest criticism of the Detroit City Council that I have read so far. However, even if you only watched a few minutes of last Tuesdays Council meeting, you know how true it rings.

Read the rest of the column here.

Raw: Conyers, Cockrel Spat During Council Meeting

Another Monica Conyers Freak-Out. WDIV has the raw feed.
read more

Detroit '67

Detroit Boat Club

Melting Moments

Belle Isle

Lee Burt House

Lee Burt House

Rosa Parks Transit Center Almost Ready to Set Sail

Contractors are almost ready to raise the canopies at the Rosa Parks Transit Center.

Mercy Hall Hospital of Detroit Rediscovered

I can now put a name to this previously unidentified house on Watson. While I was researching Brush Park on Virtual Motor City. I discovered this photograph from 1931. At the time, this was the location of Mercy Hall Hospital, a small Detroit facility for indigent cancer patients, founded by Loretta Mary Gibson. It relocated to 269 Mack in the 1940's.

Marshall, Michigan

Gone Missing

This section of Hendrie at Beaubien is one of the few blocks not yet devoured by the Art Center Townhomes and Carriage Houses development in the northern section of the Cultural Center District. This building existed in the summer of 2004, but it is no longer there and nothing has risen in its place.

July, 2004
December, 2008

Detroit's Historic Drinking Establishments

When the French landed on the banks of the Detroit River in the early 17th century, they brought their love of alcohol with them. The French opened their homes to the community to share in their love of fine food and drink, but it was the British that brought the public drinking establishment to Detroit. Arcadia Publishing's latest "Images of America" release Detroit's Historic Drinking Establishments explores the rich history of alcohol on the Straits of Detroit.

The book's title does a bit of a disservice to the material within. Author Victoria Jennings Ross' work is far more encompassing. With chapters devoted to Detroit's early hotels, cigar industry, breweries, and Prohibition, The History of Drinking in Detroit would be more appropriate.

Detroit bars started off as taverns for local residents. As Detroit became a travel destination in the 19th century, the business community had to shift its focus from serving residents to serving visitors. During this time hotel bars took up the mantle of hosting civic affairs from the tavern. Several included menus from this period show us whatDetroiters were eating and drinking at the time.

At the heart of the book, however, are chapters focusing on Detroit's Saloon and Cocktail Lounge eras.

By the turn of the 20th century the saloon era had taken over the city and there were over 1,400 bars in Detroit or one for every 70 men over the age of 20. This is reflected in the numerous pages dedicated to photographs and brief passages relating to the lost gems of pre-prohibition Detroit.

When Detroit was at its apex, the Detroit bar scene evolved further. Riding on the coattails of the jazz scene cabaret style clubs sprang up bringing elaborate floor shows and big name entertainers to Detroit. These venues eventually gave birth to the cocktail lounges of later years. There was quite a lot going on in the city at the time and the proof is in the photos, advertisements and menus contained within this book.

Pubs and the like have been at the core of Detroit's social being since the city's inception. Whether it be an elegant hotel bar where the city's elite would wheel and deal, or a neighborhood saloon where one of the city's various emigrant populations would socialize, Detroit had a bar for everyone. That tradition that still holds true today and Detroit's Historic Drinking Establishments goes a long way towards reminding us of our rich drinking heritage.

Photos reprinted with permission from Detroit's Historic Drinking Establishments, by Victoria Jennings Ross. Available from the publisher online at www.arcadiapublishing.com or by calling (888) 313-2665.