Caged

Although I haven't closed on my house I do feel one step closer to it. The reason being that this weekend I finished off another project that was on my plate. See my brother is reproducing and his kid needed a cage....er some people call it a "crib". Had I closed on time this would of been eating away at my focus on the house. I'm sure my brother is going to post more on it at his "baby blog" over at the BabyChaud.

It was my first piece of fine finished furniture and I learend a lot along the way. I plan to build a shop into my house and produce most of the houses furniture from it. Here it is and a goofy picture of me.

The chance at Salvation

In 1834 the the Roman Catholic church recognized the need to serve the people of downtown Detroit with a church of their own. St. Anne's (1701) was a French speaking church in southwest downtown (it didn't relocate to soutwest until 1886) , and Assumption Grotto (1832) was a German speaking parish serving the needs of the farmers up on the east side. And thus was born Most Holy Trinity, Detroits first English speaking parish at the intersection of Porter and 6ths street to serve the Irish and German people of Downtown/Corktown. It was and still is today a cornerstone of the community. (Literally the south east corner)



Well God was in high demand and MHT parish was busting at the seams. As seen in the above picture from 1875. Notice all the horse drawn carriages and the continuity of Porter street. This same year MHT became the first Catholic church to get electrical light fixtures.

So in 1865 St. Vincent de Paul parish was founded a mere 3,500ft away. But that wasn't enough. In 1869 St. Boniface was founded 1000ft north of St. Vincent de Paul and next to Navin Field. St. Boniface was the third German church spun from St. Marys downtown.

These three parishes flourished as communities each with a school, packed to the teeth every Sunday.

But communities change like the tides. The Michigan Central Station across from St. Vincent was erected in 1913 eating away at the neighborhood. Then the expressways cut through and the south half of Corktown was cleared for a commercial/industrial area. MHT was barely being grazed by the construction of the Lodge freeway. Corktown was became a slum. The churches were no longer packed. In fact they had a hard time sustaining, and then came a day when they couldn't.

In 1965 Archbishop John Dearden closed St. Vincent and the structure was soon demolished. The only building that remains is the newer high school building on 14th street.



So St. Vincent sacrificed itself for the greater community and moved in with St. Boniface. At this point St. Boniface was serving the Maltese, Latinos and 50 Native American Mohawk. But St. Boniface couldn't fight the dark times of the 1970's and '80s in Detroit. In 1989 the AOD closed an astounding 31 parishes. St. Boniface Among them. It met with the wrecking ball a few short years later and today is an empty lot like so many of the great structures of Detroit.

This brings us back full circle to MHT. Today it serves what is left of Corktown. It is one of the cornerstones for the revival of the area and spends much time in outreach to the community (which will be covered in the future!). MHT still runs a school which the young couples of the area send their children to. With the dedication and love rooted strong in faith of 200 years, I think that Detroit might just have a chance at salvation.




P.S. I haven't closed on my house due to the title company not finishing their search. Whoever said that patience was a virtue obviously wasn't buying a house. Hopefully within the next two weeks.

Corktown

It's Good Friday. A very important day in the world of Christianity. The day that God sacrificed himself for all our wrongdoing against one another.

Not so good is the fact I didn't close. The selling bank said that the title company wasn't finished yet with their work. My guess is that the selling bank started the title company late. So far they have been a pretty big pain to deal with. They have been uncommunicative, late, and demanding. It sounds like they are just a clearing house for foreclosed homes. Anyhow, my favorite part is where the little guy works through the big guys bureaucracy to overcome and prevail.

Anyhow. A little more about the neighborhood of Corktown. It's Detroits oldest standing neighborhood. Most of the houses are from the 1850-1900 period. Being that Detroit was founded in 1701 it makes you wonder how many structures have come and gone. By 1850 half of the area was populated by Irish immigrants, mostly from the county of Cork (the southern most county in Ireland). Corktown used to be described as "Anywhere within a mile of home plate" of what is now Tiger Stadium. (changed from Briggs in 1960, and Navin Field 1938, and Bennett park built 1895). But after the expressways cut through in the 1940's, an industrial commercial district took over the southern half in the 1960's and the plight of urban sprawl of the 1960's & 70's only a fraction of the original Corktown remains. It has been designated a National Historic District Nationally & Locally.

Below are some aerial shots of the section my home is in from 1949 and 2006. Some interesting things to point out is that across the street all the homes have been cleared and modern apartments have been built, as well as a partial closure of 10th street and the alleyway. Also quite a few other houses are gone (including one next to mine) and sit as vacant lots. Hopefully as the neighborhood revives these lots will one day contain houses again. At this point "Bagley" is named "Baker Street" (not yet renamed for John J Bagley, one of Michigans Governors). Also this was just before the streetcar system was shut down in the 1950's. It opened on Baker in 1873, originally drawn by horses.

Happy Good Friday everyone.





Historic pictures from DTE Historic Archives