Detroit – RDZ Photography

Virtual Travel – Michigan

Architecture, Art, Festival, History, Museum, Nature, Sciences, Sports, Transportation, Water Features

Welcome to Michigan.

Great Lakes

Michigan is known as the Great Lakes States, and the plethora of road map covers featuring them is evidence of the importance to the state.

Maps – 1947 – Lakeshore 1968 – Soo Locks 2000 – Lighthouses 2001 – Great Lakes Great Times 2010 – Fishtown in Leland 2012 – Unidentified Small Harbor

Bordering 4 of the 5 Great Lakes gives Michigan 3,288 miles of shoreline – more than any state other than Alaska. With that much shoreline, they have a large collection of lighthouses.

Below are two from the Lake Michigan area near Ludington.

Below photos are from various internet sources

Transportation in Michigan

Maps – 1951 – Unidentified Country Road 1974 – Modes of Transportation 1975 – Interstate 75 1993 – Boats and Cars 2005 – 100 Years of Michigan Transportation

For more than 100 years Michigan has been the automobile manufacturing capital of the world.

Detroit area map from 1951 – before freeways. Detroit, and other midwest cities, were the first cities in the world built with the car in mind.

Most of the main roads are multi-lane, with very wide median strips to enable ‘Michigan Lefts’.

In virtually the entire world there are left turn lanes, and protected by traffic light left turns. In Michigan where there is a boulevard, there are no left turns – rather you turn right, immediately jump over to the left laen, do a U turn, and go on your way.

This photo from the Woodward Dream Cruise shows the northbound traffic, with a U turn to return to Marshall Street Westbound . Also note the No Left Turn sign at the intersection itself.

Michigan has a long history of railroads throughout the state. While much of the passenger traffic is gone there are still some nicely restored stations throughout the state.

2018 09 03 675 Battle Creek MI Train Depot

In the small town of Hickory Corners is the Gilmore Car Museum. Built across a campus like a small town, they have a fantastic collection of American cars, plus numerous buildings that have either been moved there or built there to recreate the original.

Below are some examples, a diner moved from Connecticut, and the Cadillac dealership.

The Sinclair station is in a nearby town.

2018 09 03 52 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 03 5 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 03 481 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 03 309 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 03 251 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 02 225 Cassopolis MI Restored Sinclair Station

Grosse Pointe is a wealthy suburb of Detroit. Each year they the Great Lakes Boating Festival at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club.

2017 05 20 52 Grosse Pointe MI Great Lake Boat Festival

2017 05 20 48 Grosse Pointe MI Great Lake Boat Festival

2017 05 20 72 Grosse Pointe MI Great Lake Boat Festival

2017 05 20 60 Grosse Pointe MI Great Lake Boat Festival

Parks

Maps – 1965 – Douglass Houghton Waterfall 1980 – Au Sable River 1989, 2011, 2014 – Sleeping Bear Dunes 2009 – Roadside Parks 2013 – Pictured Rocks National Seashore Cruise 2016 – Isle Royal National Park

There are a number of National Park Service locations in the state.

Government State Michigan 2016_renamed_32458

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It spans 35 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, and has dunes over 200′ high.

2008 08 17 98 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park MI

2008 08 17 46 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park MI

2008 08 17 16 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park MI

2008 08 17 6 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park MI

Tahquamenon Falls State Park is in the Upper Peninsula. There are two waterfalls in the park, with the upper falls dropping 48′, with a width of 200′ making this one of the highest volume waterfalls east of the Mississippi River. It’s nickname is Rootbeer Falls, due to it’s color.

Grand Marais is at the eastern end of Pictured Rocks National Seashore.

Pictured Rocks is one of the most dramatic locales in the east.

2015 09 05 212 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

2015 09 05 88 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

2015 09 05 126 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

2015 09 05 150 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

2015 09 05 196 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

Variety

1970 – Winter in Michigan 1976 – Bicentennial 2003, 2006, 2018 – Collages of Seasons and Regions

Frankenmuth is a faux German town. It is a huge tourist spot.

Grand Rapids is the second largest city in the state, far behind Detroit.

Meyer May House is a classic Frank Lloyd Wright design located in Grand Rapids.

Also in Grand Rapids is the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

2008 08 19 116 Grand Rapids MI Meijer Gardens

2008 08 19 115 Grand Rapids MI Meijer Gardens

2008 08 19 163 Grand Rapids MI Meijer Gardens

Battle Creek had a forest of trees killed by the emerald ash borer disease. Rather than just clear cut them, they had a number of carvers come turn it into something special.

2018 09 03 666 Battle Creek MI Fantasy Forest

2018 09 03 665 Battle Creek MI Fantasy Forest

2018 09 03 655 Battle Creek MI Fantasy Forest

Marquette is the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. It is also home to Northern Michigan University. With the long, cold, snowy winters they have opted for a domed football stadium. This one is special as it is primarily wood.

The Upper Peninsula people (affectionately known as Yoopies) are a unique bunch, with a creative side.

Bridges

1971 – History of Bridges 1984, 1997, 2007, 2017 – Mackinac Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge is the most famous bridge in the state. It connects the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula.

Among the others in the state is the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada

In Battle Creek they have a park where they take all the old obsolete county road bridges and used them in the hiking/biking trail.

2018 09 03 685 Battle Creek MI Bridges Park

2018 09 03 678 Battle Creek MI Bridges Park

2018 09 03 691 Battle Creek MI Bridges Park

Detroit – 1973, 1978, 2015

Tiger Stadium – Home of the Detroit Tigers from 1912 until 1999. It sat empty for 10 years before the city tour it down – but not without much fight from the community.

It was replaced by Comerica Park.

The Detroit Institute of Art has an amazing Diego Rivera mural depicting the industrial life of the city in the 1930s.

The Guardian Building in Detroit is one of the best art deco skyscrapers in existence.

2019 04 07 174 Detroit Guardian Building

2019 04 07 228 Detroit Guardian Building

2019 04 07 217 Detroit Guardian Building

The Fisher Building is another great art deco building.

Detroit is Motown.Unfortunately many of the auto factories have long closed like this massive former Packard factory.

2019 04 06 164 Detroit Vacant Packard Factory

2019 04 06 145 Detroit Vacant Packard Factory

2019 04 06 165 Detroit Vacant Packard Factory

The Woodward Dream Cruise is the largest classic car gathering in the world. It occurs each August in the suburbs just north of Detroit.

2016 08 20 48 Detroit Piquette Avenue Model T Factory

2016 08 20 3 Detroit Piquette Avenue Model T Factory

2016 08 20 180 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise

2016 08 20 176 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise

2016 08 20 139 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise

2016 08 20 119 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise

Detroit is home to one of the most important New Car Shows as well.

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 20

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2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 88

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 84

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Henry Ford spent much of his fortune on building Greenfield Village. He moved actual buildings in (like the Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop) to build the town.

1987 – Mackinac Island

This entire island became Michigan’s first state park in the late 1800s.

Main Street (from Wikipedia)

Hotel

1996 – State Capitol

Lansing is Michigan’s state capital.

State Flag

State Seal

State Wildflower – Dwarf Lake Iris

State Children’s Book – Legend of Sleeping Bear

Detroit – April 2019 – Random Sights

Architecture, Art, History, Transportation

Our weekend in Detroit resulted in some venues that didn’t result in enough photos for a single posting so they are grouped together in ‘Random Sights’

Up first – Eastern Market.

Detroit has one of the finest farmers markets in the country. Contained in a number of indoor and outdoor ‘sheds’, they offerings vary throughout the year.

On this day there was little produce, but many people with various meats and even landscaping items.

A few street performers were on hand trying to generate some tips.

Surrounding the market are many food service companies. A number of the buildings had food related murals.

A little Detroit muscle in the Market.

In nearby Dearborn is the Henry Ford Estate.

When you invent the Model T you can have any house you want. Henry had this nice home on what was once a 1700 acre grounds. Most has been developed into a college, mall and corporate center for Ford.

This home’s styling has kept up better than most of it’s era.

And when you start a car company you need a really stylish 5 car garage.

A brief tour of downtown revealed a number of art pieces. This skyscraper at One Woodward Avenue was designed by Minoru Yamaski. If the design of the windows looks familiar it is because he later designed the original World Trade Center in New York.

The statue is The Passo di Danza (Step of the Dance).

The Spirit of Detroit is a large statue completed in 1958. Today this symbol adorns most of the city of Detroit’s department logos.

A recent addition is a 17′ high statue called ‘Waiting’ . While many like the addition some say the ‘X’ for eyes represent death.

Detroit is in Wayne County – and the County Building is in a classic Roman Baroque Revival style,, and was completed in 1902.

Cadillac Tower was the first building outside of New York and Chicago to be 40 floors tall when completed in 1927.

Across the street from the Guardian Building is the Buhl Building. Stylish in it’s own right, it pales to its world renown neighbor.

From the 32nd floor of the Guardian Building we had a great view of the surrounding area. This is a view southwest looking at the Ambassador Bridge leading to Canada (on the left), as well as the Rouge Factory in the distance.

The Renaissance Center was built in the 1970s in an effort to revitalize downtown, however it was built across an 8 lane street, along the river, and with huge walls that visually were imposing. Fail.

From our high vantage point we could see out to the vacant Packard factory that we toured the day before.

The Penobscot Building was Detroit’s tallest building from it’s completion in 1928 until the Ren Center was finished in the 1970s.

The building was named after the Penobscot Native American’s in Maine. The exterior motif pays tribute to them.

Detroit – April 2019 – The Guardian Building

Architecture, Art, History

With the auto industry booming in the 1920s Detroit was flush with cash. As a result most of their grand buildings date from that period – which coincided with the Art Deco movement in architecture.

The Guardian Building is the best example in Detroit, and one of the very best in the world. It has made every single list of top 10 Art Deco skyscrapers every published.

In addition to the Art Deco, they use a Native American theme throughout the exterior and interior.

This unique, and stylish mix is fantastic.

The building is asymmetrical, with a taller tower on the north end, with a slightly shorter wing on the south.

The unique custom coloring became so popular that it is now known as ‘Guardian Bricks’.

As you enter the smallish lobby you are greeted by this great mosaic.

The north tower elevator lobbies are unique from any other with the native theme continuing. Note the stained glass window.

A close up of the stained glass. The building was designed by Wirt Rowland, and features the colored materials set in geometric patterns.

A close up of the elevator lobby ceiling shows this detail.

A Montel metal screen separates the lobby from the banking hall.

This close up of the Montel metal screen shows the very cool clock.

The massive banking hall gave this building it’s nickname – the Cathedral of Finance, with it’s strong design homage to the great cathedrals of the world.

The hall is 3 floors high and is flanked on the south end by an impressive mural.

The mural is by Michigan native Ezra Winter, and celebrates all the highlights of the state. Winter also did the mosaic featured above.

A detailed look at the mural shows this industrial side, which compliments an agricultural side (not pictured).

At the apex of the mural is a tribute to finance (after all it was built as a bank)

The newer lighting retains the art deco look.

The ceiling is covered in an acoustical absorbing material, a 3/4″ thick horsehair covering over the plaster ceiling.

This design keeps down the echoing in the great hall, as well as provides a much easier restoration that a 90 year old building requires from time to time.

Even the information sign contains the Native American elements.

The Guardian Building is truly one of the greats, worth a trip to Detroit by itself.

Detroit – April 2019 – Cultural Center

Architecture, Art, History

The Cultural Center of Detroit is located in the Midtown section, just north of downtown. We had the opportunity to visit two of the centerpieces of the neighborhood, the Main Library and Institute of Art.

We started at the Library where one of Detroit’s newest features, a streetcar called the Q Line’ was passing as we arrived.

We made our way around the building to the Cass Avenue entrance, which is much newer than the Woodward Avenue side.

The original building is in an Italian Renaissance style, with it’s impressive stairways and ceilings.

This look is carried over to one of the exhibition halls.

While one of the hallways on the second floor resemble a cathedral.

Reliefs celebrating the classics adorn this level.

A look at the main entrance ceiling.

We are still in the library, not the Institute of Art…

Directly across Woodward Avenue is the Institute of Art, with a statue of the Thinker greeting you.

The exterior had a significant amount of sculptures.

It is immediately apparently that the library and art museum were designed in similar style and completed at the same time.

Coincidentally there was a celebration of India going on the day we were there.

We came for the Rivera murals and ended up celebrating India as well!

The artists were happy to tell you about their culture.

A Rangoli demonstration.

This henna artist was very skilled, with a steady hand.

The east lobby had this great display.

Another exhibition hall featured pop art.

Some great chairs.

Ruben & Iabel Toledo had an exhibit called Labor of Love.

They also paid homage to the River murals. The DIA is a destination just for the murals, but the rest of the exhibitions are world class as well.

Detroit – April 2019 – Diego Rivera Murals

Art, History

In 1932 famed artist Diego Rivera was commissioned by Edsel Ford and the Director of the Detroit Institute of Art Wilhelm Valentine to produce 27 fresco murals depicting the industry of Detroit, specifically the automotive industry.

The timing and subjects continue to this day to be controversial. Rivera had a socialist view towards society, while he was commissioned by one of the great capitalists of all time, the Ford family. In addition just before Rivera arrived there had been a protest at Ford by workers, who were fired upon with gunshots resulting in the deaths of six marchers.

The courtyard that contains the murals is oriented on a north-south-east-west orientation. Starting with the east wall (where the sun rises each day), there are symbolism of birth. A close look at the wider fresco shows a baby in the bulb of a plant. The two nudes hold grain and fruit, symbolizing a bountiful harvest of America, and show some of the earliest technology in agriculture.

The west wall, sunset, represents endings and last judgement. It shows both the good and bad of technology, as represented by airplanes that can transport people but also be used as an instrument of war.

The large narrow middle panel is tying together the agricultural south and industrial north, as well as the shipping industry present in Detroit to bring the two together.

The top panel of the north and south walls are known as the ‘four races’. The faces represent African, European, Asian and Native Americans, in a look of deities. Beneath this panel geological requirements for the production, associating it with the races above (which I am certain would be met with disdain today)

The panel on the upper right was the most controversial of all. It’s interpretation of a Renaissance view of Jesus’s birth, only the figures include actress Jean Harlow (making a second appearance) as the nurse and the Lindbergh baby as the infant. Most of Detroit religious community wanted the entire work destroyed because of this panel but Edsel and Wilhelm held firm.

The main panel on the north and south walls represent the production of a 1932 Ford V8.

As with the north wall, the south wall has a number of panels. The top center are figures holding raw materials used in the production of the automobile, continuing with the various races of mankind.

Below them are limestone, and various fossils used in glass manufacturing.

As with the north wall there are other smaller panels depicting other Detroit industry, as well as a continuation of the small monochrome panels of ‘a day in the life of the worker’.

A closer look at the north wall panel shows the workers with green skin, as a result of the formaldehyde used in the manufacturing process. It was in this type of symbolism that Rivera is showing what the workers ultimately have to pay to have jobs.

Ford Motors had long been ahead of the industry in employment of all races, and it is represented in the mural where the white and black workers are working for the common cause (capitalism, not for themselves).

The assembly of the chassis is coming together, with the steering columns and other components. Nearly every item had symbolism.

A notorious floor supervisor, who made life difficult for the workers was represented as a stern manager in this panel. This real life person was M.L. Bricke.

Also on this wall is a panel of the door manufacturing.

In this panel you see a number of visitors to the factory floor including religious leaders. The women in the brown plaid dress was done in the image of an actress of the time, Jean Harlow.

The small red car in the middle of this photo is the only fully assembled automobile in all of the 27 panels. Rivera was more interested in the process, rather than the result.

The stamping machine was chosen to represent the Aztec deity Coatlicue, a goddess of creation and war that required much human sacrifice. In this panel Rivera is clearly stating the workers have to sacrifice much for the company.

This panel on the west wall features the boss, who is an amalgamation of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.

In one of the ‘day in the life’ panels, it shows Henry Ford teaching the workers (including the famed ‘The Thinker’) how an engine works.

Note the engine is actually a dog, with the gear shift knob being his tail.

A close up of the west wall shows the aforementioned airplanes, as well as the shipping panel.

A close up of a north wall panel depicts insect like figures in gas masks making gas weapons. Given that this was completed less than 20 years after World War I where gas warfare became common, it is clearly a statement on the evil of such an en devour.

With an accurate rendering of the Rouge Factory powerhouse, it is a symbol that the worker too has some level of power.

River even worked himself into the piece. He is the worker in the bowler hat.

While his spouse Freida Kahlo assisted him in the drawings to prepare for the commission, Rivera did all of the painting. He was known as a task master who overworked his underpaid assistants, and eventually drove Freida away as well, but for this series of murals Rivera was at his finest artistically.

Detroit – April 2019 – Controlled Urban Exploring

Architecture, Art, History, Nature, Transportation

Unfortunately for Detroit when your population goes from nearly 2 million to 600,000, and most of the jobs leave the city you are left with a lot of vacant properties. One of the most famous is the 3.5 million square foot Packard Automobile Factory.

Completed in the early 1900s, it was state of the art for it’s time.

At one point there were 90 buildings in use across the campus. Today only one remains in use, the rest are decaying to various degrees.

The complex has been vacant so long a tree has grown over a fire hydrant.

At it’s peak 40,000 people worked here.

Today bridges lead to nowhere.

While it closed in the 1950s as a car factory, portions of it were used for a variety of other purposes until the 1990s.

There is a large amount of graffiti throughout.

Including places you wonder how they got up there.

Debris is strewn about everywhere, including this column from one of the buildings with the rebar wrapped around it.

The campus has a tunnel complex throughout – originally used to provide electrical and other utilities.

Today it is mostly filled with debris like tires. The light down the tunnel is from collapses on down the line.

This bridge ‘sort of’ connects two buildings.

Some random dumping, including a boat that was then covered in graffiti.

A bumper – but no car.

Our intrepid white hard hatted group wandered about with the Pure Detroit guide learning about the history of the Packard Company and the facility.

At last we made our way up the ramp to where the assembly line ended.

With a look down the line. In the history of the factory over 1.5 million cars and trucks were produced here.

Some of the more artistic graffiti.

One of the buildings minus every single window frame (the glass has been gone from the buildings for decades).

Some of the buildings were originally built with 2 floors, but later expanded. Look closely you will note that the columns are slightly different between the floors indicated a later construction for the upper floor.

There were a number of hard core photographers in the group.

This building still has some remaining window frames, at a great happenstance view.

An elevator building that is amazingly still somewhat standing.

Ironically the complex has become popular with large scale movie production – this ‘concrete’ is actually a piece of Styrofoam painted to look like concrete from the latest ‘Transformers’ movie.

The last bastion of glass…

A survivor of the apocalypse – or a slightly burnt teddy bear in a factory in Detroit, minus one arm but still a smile.

The front building area has been cleared of debris as they try and restore it to a functional state.

While the office area has been cleared out waiting for a lot of money to come along to rebuild.

The funeral for the Packard Automobile Company was held over 60 years ago, and the factory itself over 20 years ago – but Detroit still holds out hope someone will bring this amazing place back from the dead. (and it was total coincidence a vintage hearse drove by while we were standing there waiting on the tour).

Detroit – April 2019 – The Fisher Building

Architecture, Art, History, Transportation

A weekend in Detroit touched on a significant amount of the auto industry history without really seeing an actual car (except the obvious high percent of American made cars on the streets and freeways of the city).

An organization called ‘Pure Detroit’ offers tours of historic structures, including the Fisher Building. Completed in 1928 as an Art Deco masterpiece, the Fisher was designed by noted Detroit architect Albert Kahn.

Despite being one of the tallest buildings in the city when completed, it is not downtown, rather about 3 miles north in an area that was named ‘New Center’. Developed in the 1920s New Center was envisioned as one of the original ‘edge cities’.

In reality the Fisher Brothers had tried to purchase a complete city block downtown, but at that time Detroit was a boom town and no land was available, making the New Center option even more attractive.

The Fisher Brothers founded Fisher Body, who provided the automobile bodies to General Motors. Most of the office space in New Center was occupied by GM, and their suppliers.

They chose this area to be closer to their factories.

As you enter the three story barrel vaulted concourse. The building is noted mostly because it contains forty (yes 40) different types of marble.

The Fisher Brothers were noted for their philanthropy and they felt that by providing a grand space for their business, as well as the public in general, they were giving back to the city.

As an architect Kahn had to be elated when the Fisher Brothers essentially said, spend what you need, make it memorable.

Including in the building is the Fisher Theater. With over 2000 seats it remains one of the oldest theaters in the city. The day we were there a matinee of ‘Hamilton’ was performing, resulting a large crowd gathering as we completed our tour.

Even areas like a small food court is opulent.

The mosaics, as well as other pieces of sculpture and frescoes were completed by Geza Maroti. As with much of the art in the period, the works have symbolism, including numerous eagles symbolizing America stretching to greater heights.

Lighting is always difficult to capture properly but when made the focus they make an interesting look.

A close up of the ceiling reveals one of the numerous tributes to knowledge.

The mezzanine level offers a nice glimpse of the ceiling, along with the main concourse.

The railing are very stylish….

… but obviously not OSHA complaint height.

The mezzanine level has great symmetry.

Just across the street is Cadillac Place. From the 1930s until the 1970s, this was the headquarters of GM.

From the 26th floor there was a nice view back toward downtown Detroit on this hazy day.

Our effervescent tour guide Jordan was great. She was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable – Pure Detroit should be proud to have her.

Detroit – June 2017 – Views of the City

Architecture, Nature, Transportation

Some random views of Detroit (most were taken from the Canadian side, which ironically is where you get the best views from).

Brighton, MI – June 2017 – Lingenfelter Collection

Art, Transportation

As part of the weekend long ‘Eyes on Design’ car show the Lingenfelter Collection had an open house. Owned by Ken Lingenfelter, who runs a business that specializes in engineering high performance automobile modifications.

The collection included a number of Ferrari’s, a Bugatti, and numerous Corvettes. It was held in their garage in an industrial park in far suburban Detroit.

Grosse Pointe, MI – May 2017 – Great Lakes Boating Festival

Architecture, Festival, Sports, Transportation

Grosse Pointe, Michigan is an interest place. Situated along Lake St Clair about 10 miles from downtown Detroit, it is clearly old money with numerous mansions located along Lake Shore Drive, while just a mile or so away is the desolation that impacted much of the city of Detroit.

Grosse Pointe is actually 5 different towns, GP Park, GP Farms, GP Shores, GP Woods and the town of Grosse Pointe. The center piece of the area is the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, and it’s 187 foot high steeple.

Each year the GP Yacht Club hosts the Great Lakes Boating Festival. It was billed to have vintage boats (there were 3 that I could find), a couple of classic cars, music (a bad Jimmy Buffet cover guy), and other activities, we found only a few booths of people peddling insurance, a couple home improvements, and a few nautical vendors.

The Yacht Club’s dock area however was much better. There appeared to be a couple of hundred boats docked there, and this was where the best views were.