Exploring the Masonic Temple of Detroit

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Untitled by zakzorah

Untitled, photo by zakzorah

My original thought was to remind folks of tonight’s Exposure.Detroit show at the Bean & Leaf Cafe in Royal Oak.

This photo is part of Cris’s Masonic Temple set and you can see more photos from the March 1, 2008 Exposure.Detroit trip to the Masonic Temple of Detroit (view slideshow). One of the photos linked to the History of the Masonic Temple, which says (in part):

It was on Thanksgiving day in 1920 that the sod was first turned. And with many more months of planning and labor ahead, the Craft was at work on this undertaking of worldwide interest. A great host stood in Cass Park for this occasion and flowed in human currents up and down Second Boulevard and what was then Bagg Street. It is certain that no man will forget the occasion.

George Washington’s own working tools, brought from his Virginia Lodge, were employed. The first mortar was spread with the same trowel that our first president used in the corner stone laying of the National Capitol. On September 18, 1922, thousands of Master Masons and their families witnessed the corner stone of the Masonic Temple of Detroit being placed into position.

That jogged my memory and I recalled seeing the photo below of the “Turning of the Sod” ceremony in the Library of Congress from Thanksgiving Day, 1920. There’s also an exterior view of the completed Detroit Masonic Temple from 1922.

Turning of the Sod ceremony at the Detroit Masonic Temple

Oh, There Were Once Great Ships On Our Mighty River!

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Oh, There Were Once Great Ships On Our Mighty River!

Oh, There Were Once Great Ships On Our Mighty River!, photo by “CAVE CANEM”.
CAVE CANEM writes…

So there I was… (On Black)

rutting through some boxes for some tax documents and BAM, look what I found!

If grew you up in Detroit between 1910 and the early eighties this should make you smile. This is an Detroit icon for all us kids that had to run the concrete jungle during the dog days summer. As I remember there were few things better than to take that first step onto the boat full of excitement waiting for those big steam monsters to start up, or catching that breeze in the face, any hot August morning while traveling the island. To be honest I can still feel that gentle wind as I ran what seemed like endless decks, it’s wonderful. Cruising to and from Bob-lo was the perfect way to cap off the season before the return of school and gray skys.

This is the S.S Columbia one of “twin steam boats” made for the Detroit, Windsor, and Belle Isle Ferry Company to cruise the Detroit River in-between the ice flows. I remember it was just cool to sit and watch them lazily make their way up and down the any day you were downtown, or to hear the voices bouncing off the wateras a ship full of revelers lost themselves on hot night while I caught a breeze with pops. If I miss anything it’s the late afternoon picnics with my family we had on that amusement island (Mangos! who knew?). This was one the best things about being in the city as a kid it saddens to think me my friends will never treat their children to such a day.

Oh well all good things come to an end….
The question is when will the bad things?

Probably the only link you really need is Bob-Lo Boats: a Tribute to the Bob-Lo Steamers, but lest I look too lazy, here’s the S.S. Columbia in Wikipedia which includes a 1905 photo of the Steamer Columbia on the Detroit River. I also found a 1959 video from the deck of either the Columbia or the Ste. Clair on YouTube.

The Columbia is now on the Hudson river and the S.S. Columbia Project is seeking to restore the vessel. Be sure to have a look at their gallery of historic photos. There’s a group of folks working to restore the S.S. Ste. Clair which is docked most of the year at Tricentennial Park in Detroit – get all the details and more about the boat at bobloboat.com!

Explore Michigan … and Lake St. Clair ice piles

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

1

1, photo by Dane Van.

This photo is from the Explore Michigan group on Flickr that seeks to promote Michigan photographers and the people that travel Michigan in search of its beauty. They are planning events that will take members all over Michigan, so maybe drop by and check them out.

This photo is from Dane’s Random Detroit set (slideshow). It made me wonder what it is about Lake St. Clair that encourages this sort of ice pileup. Current? Prevailing east winds? The Lake St. Clair Monster? Then I realized that a a photo of a similar jam on Lake St. Clair from Michigan in Pictures last year had the answer.

More photos of Lake St. Clair on Michigan in Pictures.

The first Capitol Building in Michigan was here

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

The first Capitol Building in Michigan was here

The first Capitol Building in Michigan was here, photo by femaletrumpet02.

Lauren writes: Here is the historical marker for the first capitol building in the state of Michigan, hence the name for Capitol Park.

January 26 is Michigan’s Statehood Day, our state’s birthday – 171 years since the day Michigan joined the Union as the nation’s 26th state on January 26, 1837. If you’re in Lansing, you might drop by the Michigan Historical Museum for the Statehood Day Celebration. There’s a lot of special activities and it’s the one time of year that Michigan’s first constitution is displayed for the public. (pdf of the text of Michigan’s Constitution)

I spent a lot of time looking for some grand online commemoration of Michigan’s founding, but the site of the state’s first capitol isn’t even an official state historic marker and Capitol Park appears to be an afterthought in the annals of our state’s history.

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Michigan. I love you, pigeon poop and all.

Fantasy in Blue & Aluminum

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

[PHOTO GONE]

Sorry. This was a photo that Lexie took this photo of Mazda’s Taiki Concept at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show aka the North American International Auto Show aka The Place Where Car Designers Get To Go Crazy. She had a few more too but they’re now gone because she quit Flickr.

I thought it was probably the quintessential concept car because is made me ask that all important question: Are we ever going to be driving cars that look like this? while simultaneously thinking It would be pretty darned cool if we did!.

Kicking Tires at cars.com took a look at a few 2008 Detroit Auto Show concept car winners and losers and you can read more about the Taiki at Jalopnik.

And No One Showed

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

And No One Showed

And No One Showed, photo by Amy Palomar.

Music Hall is located in Detroit’s Theatre District. On the History page at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts they have some cool old photos and say:

Since Matilda Dodge Wilson opened Music Hall’s doors in 1928, our intimate downtown venue has been a significant player in Detroit’s performing arts sector. As the last remaining legitimate stage theatre, Music Hall is the only Detroit venue built for the primary purpose of presenting live performances. We have been home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theatre, one of the nation’s first Cinerama screens, and a wide variety of quality performances that embody the diverse cultures of the world.

They seem to have the best schedule on their MySpace at myspace.com/musichalldetroit – yes, even 80 year old theaters have MySpaces – and you can see the location of Music Hall on the Absolute Michigan Map of Michigan.

Go Speed Racer … to the 2008 Detroit Auto Show

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Speed Racer by burnlab

There’s all kinds of celebrity guests at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, including the Mach 5 race car from the forthcoming Speed Racer movie (May 2008). The movie is by Larry and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix) and I have to say that the trailer looks frighteningly fun.

This photo is part of a big set of photos from the 2008 Detroit Auto Show that includes a lot of juicy detail shots concept designs and some interesting vehicles like the Li Shi Guang Ming.

If you want to see the car, go to the NAIAS this weekend. Here’s a bunch of stuff on the 2008 Detroit Auto Show from Absolute Michigan.

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Old Steel, New Library of Congress

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Hanna furnaces of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation, Detroit, Mich. Coal tower atop coke ovens (LOC)

Hanna furnaces of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation, Detroit, Mich. Coal tower atop coke ovens (LOC), photo by The Library of Congress.

Yesterday I learned through a couple of emails, an IM, Lifehacker and even this post in the Absolute Michigan pool (yay!) that the Library of Congress has embarked on a new project to increase access to their photographic collection and also to more completely “tag” their photos. From My Friend Flickr: A Match Made in Photo Heaven on the Library of Congress blog:

The project is beginning somewhat modestly, but we hope to learn a lot from it. Out of some 14 million prints, photographs and other visual materials at the Library of Congress, 3,000 photos from two of our most popular collections are being made available on our new Flickr page, to include only images for which no copyright restrictions are known to exist.

The real magic comes when the power of the Flickr community takes over. We want people to tag, comment and make notes on the images, just like any other Flickr photo, which will benefit not only the community but also the collections themselves. For instance, many photos are missing key caption information such as where the photo was taken and who is pictured. If such information is collected via Flickr members, it can potentially enhance the quality of the bibliographic records for the images.

This photo was taken in November of 1942 by Arthur Siegel of the Hanna furnaces of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation in Detroit (now U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes Works). You can see (and perhaps help to classify) more photos tagged as Michigan right here.

Much as I love Detroit’s rich industrial history, I really hope that the good people at the Library of Congress can toss up a few photos from elsewhere in the state, including some that highlight Michigan’s natural beauty!

LOC Call Number: LC-USW36-811 (link)

reflecting west

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

reflecting west

reflecting west, photo by n.elle.

n.elle writes:

i went on a tour of the ren cen today with a few friends from exposure detroit.

this is from coach insignia restaurant on the top floors. a truly spectacular view of detroit. i loved the way you could see the river and canada in the reflection of the building. the windows were a little dirty, but that’s okay.

This photo is part of her ren cen set (slideshow) and also her Detroit set and it’s available at desktop wallpaper size!

Y is for Yellow … as in yellow Chevy Nomad

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Chevy Nomad

Chevy Nomad, photo by pbosker2001.

In the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr, there’s a thread of Michigan photos from A to Z that just finished its third time through the alphabet.

This photo of a Chevy Nomad (made available in wallpaper sized glory) was taken at the annual Grand Rapids Metro Cruise in August of 2007.

I’m guessing that the owner would find it easy to join the Chevy Nomad Club. Wikipedia’s entry for the Chevrolet Nomad says:

The Nomad’s unique design had its roots in a General Motors Motorama show car of the same name that was based on the Corvette. The Concept was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1954 as one of Head Stylist, Harley Earl’s “dream cars”…

There have been two Nomad concept cars. The first one from 1999 was based on the F-body (Camaro) and was V8 powered. The second concept presented in 2004 was based on the GM Kappa platform, and highly resembled the original 1954 Corvette-based Nomad showcar.

You can see the 2004 Nomad concept (though I prefer the 1955-57 Nomad) and check out this year’s concepts at the Detroit Auto Show.