Detroit has some well-known neighborhoods,
Delray,
Grixdale, and Virginia Park come to mind.
Grand Meyer, on the West Side is not so well known. There is no Wikipedia entry and the usually helpful Google Maps turns up nothing.
But Detroitography, which created
the Detroit neighborhoods map, is also a spectacular cartographic guide for me. Which is how I learned of Grand Meyer's existence.
You just know I had to start with a couple of ravaged American Foursquares, but with a twist. In the foreground is a Detroit rarity, an Italianate dwelling, also forsaken.
If visiting a gang temple is on your bucket list, you will find this Michigan bungalow at 11666 Indiana.
Two houses down is this blue-green former beauty with a collapsed porch.
The epicenter of Grand Meyer is the intersection, pictured here, of Grand River (Michigan State Route 5), Fullerton, and Meyers Road. What happened to the "s" in Grand Meyers?
Based on the faded wording on the sign, the Fountain of Life Ministry has folded or moved away, which was probably was the home of a bank back in the day.
Once again here is your beloved Blogger Laureate of Illinois in front of a preferred Detroit camping spot.
Perhaps a house divided can indeed stand.
The stairway to broken dreams.
Isn't this a pitiful site?
The Smyrna Missionary Baptist Church at 12728 Grand River Boulevard is still open. But because, I assume, of multiple break-ins it is built like a fort.
Click here if you'd like to donate to the church.
What's better than one gang temple in a blog post? Well two of them of course! Yes, that says "Welcome 2 the Jungle," although the graffiti may have nothing to do with the Guns N' Roses song.
Let's walk inside! Is anyone home?
No one is here. Axl has left the building.
There is a tree, probably a mulberry, growing from this Michigan bungalow's staircase.
But sports perseveres.
There's a sign on this American craftsman. What does it say?
It reads, "This building is being watched. Stop Halloween arson. Report suspicious activity, call 911."
Oops, too late for this place.
At least there is a chimney for Santa Claus.
A few photos up we saw a church that was built like a fort. Here's a liquor outlet--they're called party stores in Michigan--with the same defense strategy. But unlike the house of worship, the H&S Castle at 10035 Plymouth Road is closed for good.
As my most recent Detroit urban exploration series winds down, now is an ideal time to wax on the serendipitous glory of Lonely Planet's
second-highest rated vacation destination for 2018. Was I looking for Grand Meyer to snap these pics? No, as you read earlier, I never heard of Grand Meyer until I left it. How did I find it? I just pulled off of I-96, the Jeffries Freeway. Looking for ruins is that easy in Detroit. And fun too.
Didn't Eminem's character in
Eight Mile work in a Home Depot?
Earlier we had a mulberry tree growing out from a staircase. Out front is another Detroit alien weed tree, a Siberian elm.
C'mon in, the door is open!
Gas station shacks such as this one, probably an old Sunoco establishment, were common in the 1960s. Very few exist, because the filling stations have been expanded or torn down for something else.
There is a time capsule feel to much of Detroit.
Note that the fencing has been stolen by scrappers, only the posts remain.
