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Taki Zander original, shot from Greektown. More from Greektown, also by Mr. Zander. Memorial to the Underground Railroad, whose last stop was in Detroit, codenamed 'Midnight.' The slaves are depicted pointing across the river to Canada where they would find freedom. A matching memorial on the other side shows newly free slaves beckoning the others home.
Another Taki Zander original, snapped from the Bricktown People Mover stop. Balcony shot of my city. Another balcony shot, this one from twilight. You can see the Detroit Princess riverboat lit up.
411 Piquette Street, birthplace of the Ford Model T. The car was conceived and first built here, before Henry Ford's adoption of the assembly line concept moved operations to Hamtramck. Home of Ossian Sweet. The Sweet family, seeking to escape the overcrowding and disease that was running rampant through the all Black Hastings Street area of the city, bought this home on the corner of Charlevoix and Garland in what was at the time an all White neighborhood. A furious white mob gathered quickly, screaming racial epithets, throwing bricks and bottles and eventually attempting to force their way into the home. The Sweet's defense of their property resulted in one white man dead and another injured, and every member of the family was summarily arrested by the Detroit Police Department. Clarence Darrow representing the NAACP got all charges dropped in the matter, and the Sweets were able to return. This scene would play itself out again and again all over the city, cresting with several racial conflicts over the years. Faced with the same issues that drove Ossian Sweet out of the Hastings Street area, a group of Blacks headed far out away from what was at the time the city proper to build a little community near what is now 8 Mile. The city's rapid expansion quickly brought the city limits to this community, but white developers found themselves unable to secure federal housing dollars for their developments given the number of Blacks living in the area. One particularly enterprising developer came up with a solution: Build a six foot concrete wall to demarcate the Black neighborhood from what was to be his new white only development. Wall in place, his funding was secure. This is a picture of the wall today.
Another snap of the 8 Mile Wall. You get the idea. More 8 Mile Wall.
   
Photos 1 - 15 out of 34 | Back to Albums
Description: Rock City, baby.
Location: Detroit, MI