Once upon a time, South Cameron Ave. ran all the way Tecumseh Rd. near the Michigan Central Train Station to Howard Avenue and Kenilworth Race Track. South Cameron hugged the rail line the entire way. Interesting to note, that Grand Marais also crossed the tracks back then too.
Today carved up by the Expressway and shopping plazas, the road terminates at Dougall and picks up again behind the roundhouse centre for a short distance. The line in red shows the original path of the road, overlaid on a current aerial view.
Looking at the view in Google Earth, it appeared that part of the road might still be in existence in the area between Dougall and the Expressway. A line of telephone poles in a parking lot mark the route of the old road.
An old sign frame on the pole, this probably once held a speed limit sign.
Slightly overgrown, and chopped off my the expressway, there was still a concrete road there.
Far from anything that would need it, a lamppost sits in the middle of some overgrown brush.
Concrete curbs mark the driveway to something long gone. This was near the light, maybe it was once a gas station?
Another view of the light.
A final view of the ghost road. As I’ve said before, more history right under our noses.
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I recall this road vividly. At one time it did run as shown in the map but I recall a modification so that it would not intersect Dougall at such a sharp angle. Prior to the building of the expressway I used to take EC Row (aka 3rd Concession) from near Banwell to Howard, then across Howard to S. Cameron, across Dougall and back onto S. Cameron. Depending on time of day and traffic, I would either take 3rd Concession to Huron Line or slip back onto S. Cameron then onto Campbell to Tecumseh then to Huron Line. This was the quickest East West route prior to the expressway and avoided all those railway crossings on Tecumseh Road. I don't recall Grand Marais crossing the tracks.
On another note, I really don't understand why the DTRP plan to use the two tubes for trucks was not better received given that it had many merits. Eliminating most of the truck traffic from the bridge would solve many problems. The route proposed ties in to 401 and EC Row and has room to marshall the trucks. Who knows...
Cool, now that makes sense. I never knew how that pond got there. I work in a nearby building and walk past that wooded area all the time. IM is a great resource.
Zalev's sure is pretty in that aerial shot!
I wonder how many lost balls are still in that pond.
Chris> Woodalls was indeed where you think it was, but when they built the erstwhile Supercentre Woodalls pro shop moved to the location by the ghost road, where the Burger king was, before the King moved up (er down, south) to where it is now, just past the Rivera. Which itself is where that little ugly plaza is by Grand Maris. Whew.
JM> I recall that route in to the mall, along EC Row, when i was very small.
Why was EC Row known as a concession? Aren't most essex co. concession north-south?
Shawn, no..concessions can run East and West. Believe it or not, a good part of South Windsor was Sandwich West before a 1966 annexation. We lived at Mark and 3rd Concession which was Sandwich West prior to that year.
Shawn, concessions are a strange thing. It all comes down to who/when (French or English) did the survey and what was used as a reference point.
Under the original French survey, ribbon farms were staked out along the Detroit River. At this time there was basically only one township, Sandwich (Sandwich East, West and South were later developments as were all the other Townships). So, basically along the Detroit River, the first concession road if you wish would have been the trail along the river and the first concession would have been the lands between that road and Tecumseh Road. Technically, Tecumseh Road was 'the second concession'. So, the tract of land south of Tecumseh Road and to the third concession was the 'second concession' lands; the lands from Third Concession Road to County Road 42 is referenced as the third concession when looking at lot designations. Since Sandwich encompassed the future East and West, Third Concession Road ran from Banwell (pretty much as far East in this survey) to Huron Line. When you look at the whole county map, you have to wonder how they decided on some of the numbering as well; for some of the concessions in Maidstone and Rochester, they increment in opposite directions (and run North/South). The townships south of County Road 8 (Colchesters, Gosfields and Mersea) use Lake Erie as their base point so concessions run East/West. Tilbury West Malden and Anderdon use the river so their concessions run North/South. Tilbury West and Tilbury North have East/West concessions. I really think this was done to confuse city folk!
Great info, JM. !
While we have you here, seeing as you seem to be a bit of an expert of sorts on local street naming convention and history, would you happen to know if there is a story behind the naming of "Disputed Road" in Lasalle? A name like that must have an interesting story behind it and I've always wondered what it might be.
John, sorry I have not come across any info on Disputed Road but I have often wondered the same thing! I will keep looking. By the way, part of the Third Concession (the Sandwich East portion; I'm not sure if the portion between Dougall and Huron ever got this designation) was renamed EC Row after a 50's Chrysler executive.
I've heard the story about how disputed road obtained its name. I don't know if it's true or not. Oddly enough, I was listening to a Detroit radio station and they were having people call in about weird road names. A woman from Amherstburg called in to talk about disputed road. She said that because it lies between two different municipalities both of these towns wanted to call it something different. They couldn't agree on anything. So, to stop the frightening they eventually settled for 'disputed'.
Thanks Danielle. That sounds funny, but likely. I wonder how long ago that was? That would have been Sandwich West and Sandwich South I guess. Back in the days when they didn't have arenas and interurban transit to bicker about. ;)