This intersting old building sits on Fort Street, at the south west corner with St. Anne.
Orignally built as the Detroit Trucking company, I think that enterprise was short lived.
As evidenced by the painted signs, this building was home to different companies before the fire struck.
The Sandborn Maps aren’t much help. The land in 1921 was home to a rooming house. St. Anne’s was known as Dort St. in ’21. Note the property to the east. A house in front, with a restaurant in the back. It would appear that Fort street Didn’t get built up until the Bridge arrived.
This map from 1943 shows the building as simply “Private Trucking Garage”. I am assuming that the Detroit Trucking Company was gone by then, although Sandborn Maps didn’t always label by occupant. Intersting to note that Dort is now known as 19th St., and the Restuarant is now a Truck Repair with the dwelling at the front of the property demolished.
Andrew, I know that building well, It’s on the south side of Fort Street, just a block or so east of the Ambassador Bridge.
It was 1960, and I was walking a beat on Fort, between 14th and West Grand Boulevard. A beat, of course, included the alleys. Well, about 2 am I was hiking up the alley behind Detroit Trucking and I saw a guy in a shop coat carrying tools near the back. Looked like a worker working on trucks to me. I rapped on the back window with my nightstick to say hi. He looked up, dropped the tools, and disappeared. A moment later I heard glass breaking from the front of the building.
By the time I ran back down the alley to the side street and back up to Fort street, there was no one in sight, but glass from the door immediateoly to the lef of the big green door in your photo was all over the street.
Yeah, turned out my guy in the shop coat was a B&E man, and he was stealing tools, loading them in bushel baskets in the shop. Called for some help via a near by call box (that was before personal radios), but no trace of him turned up.
I went back to the place several times to eyeball the employees, but none of them fit the guy I saw.
Well, I prevented the tool theft, if not the B&E.
Ray, thanks for that great story. Was it still Detroit Trucking in 1960?
Yes, it was still Detroit Trucking in 1960. The street was also a miserable beat on the midnight shift; nothing open at all. There was like a White Castle down around 12th steet, but it was ‘off the beat’, and one took a chance of an ass chewing from a sergeant if you were caught off your assignment. Did anyway.
The Building above was actually purchased by my grandfather in the mid 1960’s, we used it for bulk storage for the automotive store we owned right across the street. About 2 years ago we lost the company due to the poor economy. And the building lay vacant, then about a year ago i was going to work and saw fire trucks in front of the building, to this day the we have no idea how the fire was started. I have an idea, but i wish not to share it on here. The building used to be gorgeus inside, my grandfather had the whole upper level renovated so we could hold our company christmas parties. It was also used as storage, for antique cars. It was really tough seeing those pictures you took, because i have so many memories as a kid being in there. If you would like to know anything else feel free to e-mail me
Ryan Miller
Ryan, thanks for the background of this one. Do you have any photos of the interior or exterior before the fire?
I will try to dig some up, im sure i do. I also noticed you have a site on the building on the corner of 18th and fort, that building was also ours and i know i have alot of pictures of that one, give me some time and i’ll get them uploaded on here and e-mail them to you. I dont know alot about its past so if you have any other info on it i would love to know.
Ryan
Hello all, I’m an architecture student @ UDM and I’m planning on using this building as a site for my masters thesis. I know these comments were made a few months back, but they are all helpful to me in researching this building. Ryan, I was wondering if you ever came across those pictures and if you’d be willing to share?? If you could, that would be extremely helpful considering my thesis concentrates on the building’s place in time…