REO Motor Works

[hood]

I found these photos at the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, they have a lot of great historical info on numerous buildings nationwide.

1. Building #3 (Clubhouse), looking northeast from Washington Avenue.

2. Building #3 (Clubhouse), looking south from Grand Trunk Railroad Station.

3. Building #3 (Clubhouse), interior of ballroom.

4. Building #1 (Administration), looking east from Washington Avenue.

5. Building #1 (Administration), second floor offices.

6. Building #1 (Administration), first floor offices.

7. Building #4 (Engineering), looking northeast from Washington Avenue.

8. Building #5 (Engineering), looking west from interior of plant.

9. Building #5 (Engineering), looking west from interior of plant.

10. Building #2, looking south from Grand Trunk Railroad Station.

11. Building #8, looking northeast from Washington Avenue.

12. Buildings #8 (background) and #7 (foreground), looking northwest from Baker Street.

13. Building #5, looking northwest from interior of plant.

14. Building #5, looking northeast from interior of plant.

15. Building #6 (background) and #8 (foreground), looking southeast from interior of plant.

16. Baker Street Water tower, looking south.

17. Cedar Street water tower, looking north (beyond historic designation area).

18.

19.

[hood]

Since there's an Image limit heres the rest:

Data Pages:

Also I would just like to point out my favorite picture, #17, "Cedar Street water tower, looking north (beyond historic designation area)." That would be a very interesting sight while driving over the Cedar St. Bridge, to see John Bean on one side, and the REO Plant on the other, with that water tower towering over you. Also pic #12, driving down baker that would have been an ominous sight, that large dilapidated factory. It's sort of ironic that the same factory that built that neighborhood led to it's demise.

[RustTown]

I look at that site today, and it's filled with businesses, and some even large in area. It just goes to show you how incredibly massive that plant was. I wish they could have saved a few of the buildings' along Washington. My elementary school used to be not that far away, and I remember when the site was mostly empty. It's come a long way, but it seems to have stalled because there is more room for more light industry.

[hood]

What elementary school dod you go to, I would assume either Moores Park or Christiancy St? Anyways I really wish they could of at least saved all the buildings on Washington, the administrative, Engineering, Ballroom and building #8 (3 story one in pic 11) Imagine what they could of done with that area if they just let it sit until now. It would be the ideal Loft development, and the ballroom building looks like it would of made a great club. What really suprises me though is that they tore these down in 1980, I really thought they would of been smarter by then .

[RustTown]

Nope, actually, I was lucky enough to have a wealthy relative that lives here supply tuition for Lansing Christian, that used to be right down the street from Moores Park Elementary.

[statedude3]

The pictures are awesome!! I grew up on Barnes Ave., just 4 houses down from LMich's elementary school (now El Shabbaz Academy). Being the history dork I am, I always loved riding my bike down to Washington, and reading the REO historical marker.

[RustTown]

I like the Moores Park area. Even though the places closer to Washington have declined a bit, there still seems to be strong community, there, and the housing stock is historic with good designs. I particularly like the area around Sparrow where it becomes Moores River Drive again with that huge woodlot with the trees that you can tell are very old. The school used to take our class Moores Park sometimes, or Quentin Park in the winter to sled.

[hood]

The Moores Park neighborhood is a neighborhood that varies greatly from washington to MLK, that's for sure. It goes from some pretty rough neighborhoods for the first 4 or so blocks west of Washington to some pretty nice neighborhoods for about the first 3 blocks east of MLK. And the neighborhoods in between are average working class ones. I do like this neighborhood for it's large, nicely designed, historic houses.

[statedude3]

I attended St. Casimir Middle School (Barnes and Rundell), and my parents still go to church there. The neighborhood is almost like two separate neighborhoods. I would dare to say I know more than 100 people from the neighborhood. The socioeconomic climate varies from block to block. But in general, I outlined my opinion of the division within the neighborhood.

I still maintain that it is a great neighborhood. I think it's a great example of urban density in a medium size city.

[RustTown]

It really is a diverse neighborhood, but I don't think it's divided as many want to make it. Sure is gradually gets better-to-worse/worse-to-better, but it's not that visibly stark, save for a few houses, it's not like one site is completely kept up and the other in literal ruins, and it's quite ethically mixed, as well.

[hood]

I think that the map statedude3 drew is pretty accurate, give or take one or two blocks of transitional neigborhood. Unfortunately, recently the neighborhood south of Mt. Hope has begun to decline. My aunt used to live on Osband, about 3 blocks south of Mt. hope, then (almost 10 years ago) the neighborhood was lower middle class and had moderately maintained houses. Now the neighborhood is just beginning to decline, it's starting to have red-tagged problems and housing values are declining (relative to the market.)

[statedude3]

What affect, if any, do you think the REO closing had on Baker Street and the neighborhoods on that side of the site? That is arguably the worst part of town, yet pointing out it's decline has never really been discussed (as far as I have heard).

[hood]

I did say at the end of my second post "It's sort of ironic that the same factory that built that neighborhood led to it's demise." and i think that that is both an interesting and important point. Because this neighborhood really was built by REO, and by REO's closure it also nearly destrozed this neighborhood, just look at some of the pics especially #12, that looks pretty rough.

Do see many of these houses in those neighborhoods?:

[gat]

Those photos bring back a flood of memories. My father worked at REO until they closed. I think there was a photo with a stage? That room is were REO would have a Christmas Party every year for the children of employees. I went to Wainwright Elementary, Dwight Rich JHS and Hill HS. I now live in metro Detroit