Downriver tour

[ZachariahDaMan]

If you frequent the Detroit forum then you should of seen that in the off-topic forum I mentioned I wanted to visit some downriver towns but didn't know which ones and Hudkina posted a good map to tour them. Today I went to Romulus, New Boston and Flat Rock. Going to all of the towns would take too long and I want to save some adventures for other times.

We will start out with downtown Romulus

These next 3 are from Romulus Historic Park

This is the museum, a schoolhouse originally built in 1839

This caboose was built in 1849 for the Chesapeake & Ohio and later CSX Railroad.

No idea what this building is for

Now for New Boston

Make sure to check back when I have visited more and the better downriver towns (like Trenton and Wyandotte).

[wolverine]

I visited Wyandotte and Trenton last Sunday for the first time. I had never been to those two cities. They are definitely interesting. It was a pretty ugly day so hopefully you will have better weather. But wow Zach, you will be incredibly close to Detroit...... your chance to visit it is coming.

[john_denver]

Zach:

Have you ever been to Gibraltar or Grosse Ile?

[ZachariahDaMan]

Haven't been to Gibraltar but I'm actually going to Grosse Ile tomorrow. They are having a celebration for the lighthouses 100th anniversary. This will be my first time going to Grosse Ile.

[john_denver]

If you take any pictures make sur eyou post them. I want explore SE Michigan a little more.

Haven't been to Gibraltar but I'm actually going to Grosse Ile tomorrow. They are having a celebration for the lighthouses 100th anniversary. This will be my first time going to Grosse Ile.

[hudkina]

Thanks for the tour!

Romulus' commercial strip is a little larger than I expected it to be. I used to live just south of New Boston so I know that village very well. Did you take any pictures of Flat Rock?

[ZachariahDaMan]

John Denver- If you ever get the chance to come over here then make sure to hit me up and I can tell you the places to make sure to go, as you can see from flickr I have been around. One town in the SE part of the state that I absolutely love that no one talks about is Monroe.

Hudkina- I didn't take any pictures in Flat Rock but that is probably where I will be picking up my downriver tour tomorrow so I will take them then.

[hudkina]

Monroe does have a nice little downtown.

Other small downtowns in Monroe County are Dundee, Petersburg, and Carleton. You could check out Carleton as it's pretty close to Flat Rock. Just south of Flat Rock, on the other side of the river is Will Carleton Rd. You take that until you reach Grafton Rd just west of I-275. You turn left onto Grafton Rd and take that until you reach Carleton. The "main" street is called Monroe St.

[ZachariahDaMan]

On Saturday I got off on the Flat Rock exit and I saw a few signs for the village of Waltz and decided to go see what was there.

Now for Carleton, it was bigger and a lot nicer then I had expected. There is some beautiful homes there.

Flat Rock

Trenton

I also went to Rockwood but didn

[hudkina]

LOL. You found Waltz! I never mentioned it because it's so tiny. There is also the village of Willow just north of Waltz on Willow Rd, but the biggest attractions are a pizza place, a country pantry, and three churches of various ages. My childhood home is just east of the village of Willow. I agree that Carleton has a lot of beautiful homes.

[Rimes]

I can provide some historical reference for a few of the photos you posted....

Here is a photo showing these same buildings from the vantage point of the northeast corner of the intersection of West Jefferson and St. Joseph.

That photo is a video capture from an early 1960s home movie around Christmastime. The Mulias and Ellias building is no longer there; it burned down in June 1987.

The history book about Trenton (called "Truago, Truaxton, Trenton") contains another view of those buildings from that intersection, photographed in 1976 which can be seen here:

The book also has a better photo of the Mulias and Ellias building:

Incidentally, around 12 years ago I lived just around the corner from that intersection, although I didn't appreciate it at the time.

A similar photo from 1976 appears in the Truago Truaxton Trenton book:

That bank, and the one across the street from it which you also posted an image of, have been on those two corners for many decades.

Here's a grainy B&W photo from a 1950s newspaper showing a side view of the bank as well as showing how the Trenton Hotel looked through the years.

The hotel was renovated circa 1990, so that it looks more like it did 100 years ago than it did 50 years ago.

If you go to Wyandotte, you'll want to check out the renovation being done to the old Arlington Hotel/Armstrong's building on the southwest corner of Biddle and Oak.

[LA Dave]

Nice pictures of a part of Michigan that I have never even seen (being from the other side of the mitten). But that C&O caboose was not built in 1849 -- I would guess more like 1965.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Nice pictures of a part of Michigan that I have never even seen (being from the other side of the mitten). But that C&O caboose was not built in 1849 -- I would guess more like 1965.