Circa-1900-Photo Sleuthing

It's fun to try and pin down the spot from which this photo was taken (click for larger images). To begin with, the legends written on this photo read, from left to right,

High School (now Cross Street Village)
River Street
Deubel Mill (demolished)
Follett House (still part of Depot Town)
M.C.R.R. Depot (demolished, mostly)
Thompson Building (burned)


Now then. The big building at far left (labeled "A")...hmm, there are two possibilities on the 1895 plat map, above; the large building at left ("A") and the smaller one labeled "School." But the building in the photo is right up against the street, whereas the school seems to be set back a bit. On the other hand, there appears to be more land in the photo between the big building and the tracks than there is indicated on the plat map. Hmm. Gonna guess that the road most prominent in the photo, right next to the farmyard, is Grove.

The fenced area in the photo ("B")---is that the old Gilbert property?

In the background is an odd-shaped building ("C") that I'm guessing is the now-vanished railroad roundhouse. Do you think so?

Another complication is that if the visible street is Grove, the photo's foreground farmyard appears on the plat map not as a big plot but subdivided into several tiny lots. It's possible that the farmer in question bought several of these lots for his little farmyard, but it seems more likely that it would be shown on the plat map as one bigger property, like the "Gage, Est." property at the southeast corner of the tracks and Prospect.

I'm not sure. What do you think?

* * * UPDATE! * * *
There are some amazing sleuths out there; my hat is off to you. No sooner had I posted this than one eagle-eyed reader ID'd the big building: it is part of the modern building of Marsh Plating on Grove! Check it out!

You can even see this old section on Google Maps; the staggered roof line gives it away:

You can see on that map that SOS Community Services currently occupies the site of the old cruciform 5th Ward school building, which seems to have been demolished.

Take a gander at what Joe said: "I think the picture was taken at about Prospect [as cmadler said also] and Congress. It also looks like it was taken from atop a building. I would guess maybe the 5th ward school."

Looks as though that was the only high point around, on the old plat map. Folks, I think we've figgered this out: this is a photo taken from atop the old 5th Ward school, looking northwest towards Depot Town. You guys are amazing! Thank you!

O. E. Thompson's golden anniversary announcement

O. E. Thompson and his wife Elizabeth celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the tail end of 1909 with a lunch party at their home at 113 Cross Street.

This appears to be the NE corner of Cross and River at the Thompson building; did they live upstairs?

O. E. was 71 years old when, three and 1/2 months later, he died on March 29, 1910 of a gangrenous right leg.


Dusty D was interested to note "No Presents" in the invitation; thought that was a modern custom.

O. E. had an expressive face. In it I see the faraway gaze of a dreamer-inventor, a curious intelligence and orderly mind, and a calm and confident and ethical nature.

He was esteemed in town, as you can see by the size of his obituary (and its headline, unusually large compared to other obits) and the affection within it.

Tragedy Strikes at Thompson Building, 1988

Last Wednesday's fire is not the first tragedy to occur at the Thompson Block. In May of 1988, a garbage truck driver lost his brakes on top of Cross Street hill. . . and as his brakeless truck began the descent into Depot Town, which was crowded with construction vehicles, he leaned out of the truck and yelled at people to keep away. The following is the text of the May 4, 1988 Ann Arbor News story by Laura Bischoff:

YPSILANTI-The driver of a garbage truck careening without brakes down a hill toward Depot Town warned pedestrians and construction crews to clear the intersection and swerved to avoid them, but lost his own life when he failed in an attempt to leap clear of the tipping truck.

Shaun Ivan Jobcar, 25, died Tuesday afternoon while pinned underneath the garbage truck. His co-worker and passenger, Joseph C. Laudati, 20, stayed in the cab and had minor injuries, police said.

The truck, owned by the Jobcar family company, King Rat Disposal, was traveling downhill on westbound East Cross Street toward North River Street, and the driver was honking, waving, and yelling to people at the intersection that his brakes were out.
Ypsilanti police said this morning that some of the brake hoses were disconnected and poorly maintained. Further information was not available, police said.

Jobcar swerved right to avoid traffic and pedestrians, and the truck began to tip, witnesses said. He jumped out of the cab as the truck was turning and tipping, and the truck fell on top of him in a pile of dirt on the shoulder, according to witness Randy Carpenter.

"They almost hit me," said a woman directing traffic around the North River Street construction site, who refused to give her name. "They took the barricade I was standing next to. He was going really fast, and he just kept honking and yelling, 'Get out of the way, get out of the way.'"

She said she wondered why Jobcar's door was open at the top of the hill. She also added that she didn't think he had downshifted into a lower gear on the way down.

Tim Shelly of Ypsilanti said he was walking to he store and was about 30 feet from the accident when it happened. "He had no choice but to turn or take out about four or five cars," he said. "I thought he had jumped far enough away.

Shelly said he pulled passenger Laudati, an Ypsilanti resident, from the cab immediately after the crash.

North River Street is rough and torn and the shoulder is soft dirt because it is being prepared for resurfacing by Cunningham and Gooding of Ypsilanti. Shelly said he believed some of the heavy equipment the construction company had on the site could have been used to turn the truck upright and possibly save Jobcar's life.

But Ypsilanti police said this morning it was doubtful that Jobcar could have been saved even if the truck could have been righted immediately.

About 30 police and rescue workers responded to the scene at 2:34 p.m. The truck was eventually lifted with air compressors, and Jobcar was taken to the county morgue, Ypsilanti police said.

Jobcar was a longtime Ypsilanti resident but had recently moved to a Belleville address, police said.

Ypsilanti police, Michigan State Police and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute are investigating the accident, said Ypsilanti police Lt. James MacMillan.

Funeral services will be held at Moore Memorial Chapel in Ypsilanti, but details have not yet been worked out.

Thompson Building Update

Scaffolding has been strengthened with additional beams along River St. A small crane/cherry-picker is parked on River St. Cross Street is still closed at Park and at Cross/River and River/Maple.

Thompson Building: 1861-2009

Thompson Building Destroyed by Fire

Dusty D read of this story in a Chicago paper and promptly sped down to the Thompson Building, a few blocks from my house, on my bike. Oh, Thompson Building!