Today is an old post card that says it is looking north on Howard Avenue. I have driven Howard several times, but I have never been able to locate anything visible in the postcard. Given the corner location and age, I suspect it was either taken at the corner of Gilles or Erie. Either is likely as both corners have been obliterated over the years. Any further south you would run into the cemeteries, and the factory district.
A neat shot all the same, giving us a glimpse of what it was like along Howard Avenue 90 years ago.
Hope everyone had a good weekend, and got enough sleep to make up the lost hour…
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Interesting photo Andrew – yes, hard to say what corner that is taken from. Cobble stone roadway may be an indication of its history?
Neat picture, I love the warped hydro poles, gives the city a dark and gothic feeling..
what does the 165 mean on the curb?
Take a close look at the house behind the car on the left with 4 windows. It looks familiar, like one of the duplexes around the Giles area.
From Google Maps, streetview, I’m pretty sure this is Howard and Erie. The third house on the right with the 4 windows on the upper floor still looks the same and the second house also is pretty similar although the porch railing is now metal. The tree are a lot bigger now so I can’t tell for sure if the duplex on the left is the same or if it was torn down for the Grand Tavern.
I have to agree with Matt. Apart from everything else, Giles was still open country when this shot was take, farmland, and the “street” was still a creek!
It’s at Erie St. looking south! Caption is wrong.
Ditto…standing on Erie looking South…both flat roof buildings are still there..as well as all (but very first cropped) on right hand side of photo are still here.
My comments are about looking South, like whoever made the note on the picture I always tend to think that Detroit is south.
sweet shot Andrew!
I have to echo everyone else here, this is without a doubt erie and howard facing south. The duplex on the left is still there it just doesn’t have a balcony on it any more and it was turned into just a roof over the porch. I’m sure the grand was probably up at this time, it’s just not in the shot and my grandpa used to shoval coal in the furnace there as a kid. The second house in on the right has that flaired out roof line but the porch is closed in. the third house in is there it’s just white now with different railings.
However, (and I’m sorry Claire, I did this on a Brighton Beach post too about roads..nothing personal, just information that could still be wrong)I would disagree that Giles was still a creek in the 20’s. Giles appears (not named…i suppose I’m guesstimating but I’m sure it’s giles)on the Essex County maps from the 1880’s, WD Lowe and Prince Edward schools were both built during this time and the road is quite established as of 1927 seen here:
http://internationalmetropolis.com/?p=3052
I do remember my Mimi saying when she grew up on Benjamin (sp?) near Hanna, everything behind her was farmer feilds….oranges I think she said. In the 20’s I would think the Essex Terminal would be the limits of major housing development until after the war. As early as 1928 the city was asking ETR to allow the opening of Ouellette and Parent as at grade crossings because we were getting packed in and needed to expand. Both of course were denied which is why we have a bridge on one road and a dead end on the other.In 1927 ETR had already purchased land north of Giles to serve the Hupp Auto company.That factory branch of the ETR was built as early as 1911 and ran along Hanna to McDougal then north to Giles. Lanspeary park was also established as early as 1917, which is boardered by Giles. According to the city’s park history, at the turn of the century, Giles was the main east -west road instead of Erie.
blah blah blah….sorry for that pretty much unrelated to the topic rant. awesome look back, Thanks Andrew! and no…I was working two 12hr afternoons shifts this weekend, I got shafted on the time change lol
Joel – I think the 165 on the curb would be the address’ on that block, like you could see on the street sign. For example the street sign says “TECUMSEH Rd. 700” ….so that would be the 700 block of tecumseh road.
Good call guys – it’s certainly looking south. I got this postcard years ago, and long before Streetview, so the only way to check was by driving around, it’s way easier with streetview.
As for the number on the curb, I think it might just be written in as a photo ID number by the comapany.
You can see here on this link, from the same series, it has a similar number…
http://internationalmetropolis.com/?p=3166
Also I should be shocked by the wrong caption, as you can see the First Baptist one in the link above, says it’s on Windsor Avenue, when it’s actually on Mercer.
That set of postcards is full of errors…
I wonder if those poles on opposite sides of the street were for streetcar electrification.
so would that be the Grande Tavern on the left?
ps…. wow good idea using street view to refrence some of these pictures from a current view point…. Im getting obsessive a bit trying to see the difference in the shots between then and now….
JBM – i think you’d be right there. Off that first pole on the right we can see a faint line attached to a line that seems to be running down the center of the street.
Ryan A – the Grand would be just to the left of the building you’re looking at.
p.s. – are you my brother? LOL!
oh, and i think another way we can be resonably sure this is erie and not giles is that facing south on howard from giles would be a slight uphill.
Definitely looking south. I immediately recognized the 4-unit on the left. I currently have it up for sale.
Aaron, did you say oranges? I would have never thought that citrus fruit would grow in this climate!
Aaron…I don’t know…am I your brother?
I’m glad to see this settled. I’ve been up and down Howard a couple times with a copy of this p.c. to get an “after” shot, and I’m guessing trusting the “looking north” caption was my downfall. Good work, guys!
I cant get enough of this blog. Sorry i have not commented til now, but im lazy. Just wanted to eventually say thank you.