February 6, 2014
Early photography in early Detroit: J. Jex Bardwell
Celebrating the life and work of Detroit’s oldest photographer.
February 6, 2014
Celebrating the life and work of Detroit’s oldest photographer.
January 18, 2013
Adorable! Beautiful! And a little bit morbid.
October 3, 2011
A first for The Night Train: Guided tours of historic Detroit places! Join me!
April 28, 2011
And it was the best.
January 19, 2011
A tragic Victorian stage actress rises from poverty in Detroit to live in celebrity, if not artistic splendor.
May 10, 2010
January 20, 2010
UPDATE: Silas Farmer’s death certificate is in the Michigan state archives. He died suddenly on December 28, 1902, apparently of a heart attack. He was living in present-day midtown, at 52 Selden, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery. Next stop, as my mom sassily pointed out to me on Twitter (MOMS ON TWITTER!!), is a real-life library.
January 14, 2010
Yet another tip off from History of Detroit for Young People, which included a stop in their self-guided tours at Mt. Elliott Cemetery to visit with the venerable Colonel Jean Francois Hamtramck. Colonel Hamtramck, who served as Lieutenant Colonel under Mad Anthony Wayne in the fight for the Northwest Territory, established and became the first commandant of Fort Wayne Detroit and officially settled the city of Detroit for America at Fort Lernoult on July 11, 1796 (instead of Mad Anthony, who was struck, fatally, with gout).