We found these pictures and documents abandoned on the streets of Detroit. We did not take the pictures or write the words. We do not know who did. Certain names, addresses and phone numbers have been redacted in an attempt to protect people's identities. If you have information about the pictures, please contact us

From the Underground Railroad to the Model T, the Cultural Center to Motown, Historic Photos of Detroit is a photographic history collected from the areas top archives. With around 200 photographs, many of which have never been published, this beautiful coffee table book shows the historical growth from the mid 1800's to the late 1900's of ""the Motor City"" in stunning black and white photography. The book follows life, government, events and people important to Detroit and the building of this unique city. Spanning over two centuries and two hundred photographs, this is a must have for any long-time resident or history lover of Detroit!

Famous the world over for automobile manufacture and the distinctive sounds of Motown music, Detroit, the Motor City, celebrated its 300th birthday in 2001. "Detroit Then and Now" is a fascinating look at this city's great history, taking historic photographs from the dawn of the camera age and comparing them with full-color photographs of the same scenes today.

A photographic record of almost three decades of Detroit's changing urban fabric

In this new addition to the Images of America series, Richard Bak takes us on a visual journey through Detroit's golden era, encompassing the first three decades of the twentieth century. It was during this time that the City of Detroit experienced its most rapid physical growth and underwent an unprecedented pace of social and technological change. Detroit: 1900-1930 contains nearly 190 illustrations, including studio portraits, snapshots, postcards, songsheet covers, and period advertisements. Collectively, these images evoke a past that is often too easily forgotten as older Detroiters pass away. As you thumb through the pages of this book, you will encounter such influential people as Henry Ford and other automotive pioneers who helped to "put the world on wheels." Experience daily life as it was lived at the time of the First World War, and discover the major role Detroit played in this historic conflict. This volume highlights the wave of immigration that occurred here at the turn of the century, when roughly half of the city's population hailed from other countries. Also featured are various scenes from the "Roaring Twenties," the ill-fated experiment in Prohibition, and the effect of the Great Depression on the city's economy.

The 1950s, 60s, and 70s saw some of the most defining moments in our nation's history, and Detroit remained at the forefront during these decades of change. A companion book to Historic Photos of Detroit, Historic Photos of Detroit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s follows life, government, and events throughout Motor City's history, from its booming population, pro-sports reputation, and thriving automobile industry in the 50s; to the birth of Motown Records and the Detroit riot in the 60s; to a declining population, oil crisis, and expanding music scene in the 70s. This book illustrates the participants, riots, triumphs, and tragedies of this period through the lens of hundreds of historic photographs, published in striking black and white.

A visual tribute to the degradation of Detroit in the wake of the American auto industry's decline reveals regional dignity and tragedy as reflected in scenes ranging from windowless grand hotels and barren factory floors to collapsing churches and prairie-grass covered blocks.

"A sober witness to Detroit's greatness and its status as forgotten city." -Laura Berman, The Detroit News Please note: The spine of this volume is specially treated with black ink to evoke the industrial character of its subject. Over the past six years, documentary photographer and architectural historian Julia Reyes Taubman has taken more than 30,000 photographs across the sprawled terrain of Detroit, ambitiously mapping out a comprehensive survey of a major American city. Photographing on the ground, in the buildings and by air and water, Reyes Taubman believes that when buildings and landscape are manipulated by nature and time they become more visually compelling than almost any architectural intervention. Reyes Taubman is not pessimistic, however: "It is not a disgrace but a privilege and an obligation to listen to the stories only ruins can tell," she writes in regard to this project. "They tell us a lot about who we were, what we once valued most, and perhaps where we may be going." As Reyes Taubman scrutinizes this 138-square-mile metropolis in transition, she pays particular attention to the scale and the solidity of the buildings that characterized the former "Motor City" at the height of its industrial wealth and power. More than a photographic saturation job of a single city, Detroit: 138 Square Miles provides contextual perspective in an extended caption section in which Reyes Taubman collaborated with University of Michigan professors Robert Fishman and Michael McCulloch to emphasize the social imperatives driving her documentation. An essay by native Detroiter and bestselling author Elmore Leonard addresses the social and cultural significance of the post-industrial condition of this metropolis.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition.

"Grand River Avenue and Greenfield Road marked the center of a community bustling with retail, recreation, faith, and civic pride during the 1950s. Once a rural farming village, the neighborhood gained popularity following the World War II housing boom. New schools were built, local businesses filled storefronts, and the area prospered for 20-plus years until suburban life, facilitated by new superhighways, beckoned white, middle-class residents and business owners to abandon life in the city. Like a microcosm of Detroit, the neighborhood echoed the trend commonly called white flight. Today, strip malls have replaced national retailers and once well-manicured homes are in disrepair; however, another wave of dramatic change is promised as the city targets the area for urban renewal."--Back cover.