“This Arctic air outbreak can be attributed to a displacement of the polar vortex,” AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said. “The outbreak this week will be the first of probably three such rounds with it. Another cold blast is likely next week and a third the week after that,” Pastelok explained. “The waves of Arctic air will lead to significant surges in energy demands.”
I originally shared this photo way back on April 1, 2010 along with a pretty funny spoof, and I am very happy to bring it back along with several more that Jill shared from The Heidelberg Project in Detroit, a truly astonishing work of activist art. See many more in her excellent Detroit gallery on Flickr & stay warm people!!
Historic Detroit shares that although there is probably no other area of Detroit has changed more often and more drastically over the years than the city center, Campus Martius, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument has endured:
Over the years, Old City Hall, the Majestic Building, the Pontchartrain Hotel, the Family Theatre, the Hammond Building and the old Detroit Opera House have all come and gone.
Only one landmark has outlived them all.
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is among Detroit’s oldest pieces of public art and was one of the first monuments to honor Civil War veterans in the United States. It was announced by Gov. Austin Blair in 1865 that money would be collected to erect a tribute to Michigan’s soldiers killed in battle. Detroit, being the largest city, won the right to the monument.
…The bronze and granite sculpture was formally unveiled on April 9, 1872, though some of its statues were not added until July 18, 1881. Among the military commanders of Civil War fame attending the ceremony were Gens. George Armstrong Custer, Ambrose Burnside, Philip Sheridan, Thomas J. Wood and John Cook. The estimates were that 25,000 visitors turned out for the event, and each of the state’s main cities was represented by a marching delegation. Detroit’s hotels could not accommodate the crowd and some people had to sleep on the floors of the halls and parlors of taverns.
The Classical Revival monument stands more than 60 feet tall and cost more than $75,000 ($1.3 million today) to build. It was sculpted by Randolph Rogers, who grew up in Ann Arbor and studied at the Academy of St. Mark in Florence, Italy, under Lorenzo Bartolini. Rogers won the commission after a public competition in 1867. He also is known for the bronze doors for the U.S. Capitol’s main entrance and created monuments like the Sailors and Soldiers in other cities.
Read on for much more at Historic Detroit, and for sure thank a veteran today and every day for stepping up to serve.
Although most of the photos that appear on Michigan in Pictures are by other photographers, I took these photos. I don’t sell my photos, but you can for sure throw me a few bucks through Patreon if you enjoy Michigan in Pictures! The top photo is from second floor the new glass pub on Campus Martius looking south down Woodward and the detail shots are from just after they cleaned the monument before the 2024 NFL Draft.
Today is 313 Day, a celebration of all things Detroit. While I’m not usually a fan of making up holidays, I have to say that as a Detroit resident, it’s a pretty cool day with all kinds of free fun from the 313 Celebration at Robert C. Valade Park to free admission at museums for things like 313 Day at the Detroit Historical Museum that includes a popup Detroit vs. Everybody creator Tommey Walker.
Glen is one of the prime movers & shakers of the Eastside Camera Club, and he took this pic of the Spirit of Detroit at their July 2024 outing. They are providing the opportunity to photograph fast-moving racing bikes in the low-light setting of the Lexus Velodrome in Detroit this Saturday, March 15 at 7:30pm! Get details on their Facebook & follow Glen on Flickr for his latest.
9 years ago I started a Michigan in Pictures Patreon page to allow folks to throw me a few bucks in support of michpics. A big thank you to all who have done so – it means a lot to know you care.
My best friend Ken who has since passed on & I took these photos way back in August of 2007 after an honestly incredible rock stacking event on the Lake Michigan shoreline just north of the village of Frankfort. I still have no idea who did this, but I know that I will never forget it!! I hope you enjoy these photos & the video and also that you’re able to make or discover magic in your corner of the Great Lakes State.
For this year’s Veterans Day photo, let me thank all the men & women who gave their service to this nation, especially those who gave their lives, with a couple of my photos of a powerful memorial in Detroit’s Campus Martius Park. There used to be a cool website called Panorama of Old Detroit by Jim Moran:
At the top of this 1871 monument to Civil War veterans is “a colossal personification of Michigan as a semi-civilized Indian queen menacingly brandishing a sword with her right hand and clutching a shield with the left.” (From an 1870’s Michigan History.) …
At the bottom of the granite monument roost four bronze eagles. On the next tier are four figures representing the miltary services: Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry, and Marine. Bronzed medallions of Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, and Farragut are spaced between. And, just below the figure of Michigan are four allegorical figures representing Victory, Union, Emancipation, and History.
The plaque on the monument reads Erected by the people of Michigan in honor of the martyrs who fell and the heroes who fought in defence of Liberty and Union. The monument was moved several hundred feet from its original location to Campus Martius Park in 2005.
Made of quarter-inch-thick plate steel with an iridescent sheen, this whopper weighs nearly four tons and gave credibility to Onaway’s claim to be the Sturgeon Capital of Michigan. It was sculpted by Tom Moran of Moran Iron Works, with help from the students of Onaway’s Industrial Arts Institute. It debuted in Onaway’s July 4th parade in 2017. Tom then bought an abandoned downtown gas station, bulldozed the buildings, and set the fish in the vacant lot.
Onaway is known for its annual mid-winter sturgeon hunt, where the big fish are speared through the ice on Black Lake. Tom did not make a monster-size spear to accompany his giant sturgeon, but told us that he’s always open to new ideas for future projects.
Rick shared this pic in our Michigan in Pictures group on Facebook. Head over to the group to see more of his photos!
The Detroit Lions kicked off their highly anticipated 2024 season with a 26-20 overtime victory over former QB Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams! In honor of this, I decided to share one of my own photos, a picture of the Dodge Fountain on Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit lit up in Honolulu Blue.
I knew that the Dodge Fountain had been designed by artist Isamu Noguchi, but I just learned that he designed Philip A. Hart Plaza as well:
Noguchi’s most ambitious effort at the time, the Philip A. Hart Plaza project, began with a commission for a fountain and spanned almost a decade as the artist expanded his scope to create the surrounding plaza along with facilities below surface level. Envisioned as a place for the community to gather, the plaza layout emphasized flexibility to accommodate large groups. Dotting the eight-acre site are various stepped areas for both seating and play; an outdoor amphitheater built into a hollow below-surface grade; and a 120-foot-tall stainless steel, torqued pylon marking one entrance. Its central feature is the Horace E. Dodge Fountain, a horizontal ring of stainless steel suspended by legs above a massive granite pool and animated by the results of Noguchi’s ongoing experiments with programmed spray patterns (as well complex lighting schemes for nighttime).
In July of 2023 the State of Michigan joined the wide majority of US states in declaring Juneteenth National Independence Day an official state holiday. The Michigan Advance writes:
Juneteenth recognizes the date, June 19, 1865, that Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas, and read General Order No. 3, stating that all enslaved people were free, and that former masters and enslaved people were absolutely equal in personal and property rights.
Its importance has long been celebrated in the African-American community as the country’s second Independence Day, marking the last place in the former Confederacy that experienced emancipation. Although as the National Museum of African American History and Culture has noted, it was only through passage of the Thirteenth Amendment that slavery was truly abolished throughout the United States.
I selected this photo to share because for a long time, I believed as many others did that slavery ended at the end of the Underground Railroad or with the end of the Civil War. It certainly didn’t end there, and many of the structures remain firmly entrenched to this day. If you’re angry about this celebration, I encourage you to read this excellent piece in The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture on the historical legacy of Juneteenth.
The James Scott Memorial Fountain on Detroit’s Belle Isle is a masterpiece in marble. It was completed in 1925 & designed by Cass Gilbert who also designed the US Supreme Court. I definitely encourage you to read the Michpics post on the construction & controversy surrounding the fountain & honoree about whom J.L. Hudson opined: “Mr. Scott never did anything for Detroit in his lifetime and he never had a thought that was good for the city.”
Scott took this photo in October at a fortuitous moment. See more in his Belle Isle gallery on Flickr!
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