History

The Cass Corridor in black & white

I was impressed this week by a map of the Cass Corridor made in 1971 by the Detroit Geographic Expedition Institute, a short-lived but influential coalition of citizen geographers. (Thanks to Detroitography for collecting and reproducing a smattering of the maps that the DGEI produced, and to Model D for helping spread the word about Detroit cartography this week.) There’s a lot …

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Voices of Detroit: The Great Depression

During the first decades of the 20th century, the El Moore changed from a luxury building with eight large and luxurious apartments to a building that was subdivided several times. By the mid-1920s, there were almost 30 apartments (more like single or double rooms with shared bathroom facilities) in the same space. Things went from …

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What the floors say

When the redeveloped El Moore’s first residents start moving in in early June, they might notice something interesting about the historic flooring in their apartments: See that distinct line at the bottom of the photo above? That’s where a wall used to be, before we removed it during construction. It’s now become a kind of remnant, a visual reminder of …

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Voices of Detroit: Industrial Detroit and the El Moore History

The El Moore Project includes the renovation of the El Moore Building—an unique example of sustainable living, located at 624 W. Alexandrine in Detroit, Michigan, and the ongoing efforts of a private/public partnership between the Green Garage—whose mission is to offer opportunities for a sustainable workplace in Detroit, the City of Detroit, and local community …

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Voices of Detroit: The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Early 20th Century

The El Moore is a residential apartment complex that is designed to be a model of urban sustainable living. The El Moore building, which was named the “El Moore Flats” at the time, is a carefully restored structure that was designed by renowned local architect A.C. Varney and built in 1898 by developer Charles W. …

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