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Detroit, Michigan, circa 1910. "Approach to the Detroit River tunnel." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Here's a winter view, looks even worse but it's a littler closer.
I think what always impresses and at times saddens me greatly when looking at some of these photos is the immediacy of the moment that is captured and the newness of the public works some of which continue to exist albeit 100 years of grime, rust, spalled concrete, etc.I have always wondered at times looking at the remnants of civilizations past what the original monuments looked like,in the Shorpy photos we can go back at least 100 years to actually see the moment of birth of some of these often ignored public works.
Interesting to see the International Harvester building on the right. IH was headquartered out of Illinois, so this must have been a branch.
I'll have a Coal n' Coke and make it snappy, I've got a train to catch!
The Michigan Central tunnel is still in existence (and was previewed in yesterday's "Infrastructure: 1910" post featuring the nearby Michigan Central Station), but its future is in question.
a postcard with the same viewpoint, that photo likely shot around the same time. The junk on the right-of-way was taken out by retouching, rather obviously, I think. That's typical. But there are other things changed so you can play "Spot the difference" -- click to enlarge.
I’m glad you cleared that up: I thought there had been a terrible gondola accident.
Why is there so much debris on the lower tracks?
[The tunnel is still under construction. - Dave]
There isn't much left except for the tunnels. The Enormous Michigan Central Station rests in decay roughly 180 degrees from this position on the map.
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