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The Way It Was — Michigan Central Station

1913 In an undated photo, a stationmaster checks the ticket of a passenger ready to board a train at one of the 10 track...

The Way It Was — Detroit Historical Museum

1951Dozens gathered at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Kirby Street for the dedication of the new Detroit Historical Museum on July 24, 1951,...

The Way It Was — Bozo the Clown

1961From the early days of television in the ’50s through the ’70s, numerous children’s shows produced by Detroit stations and Windsor, Ontario’s CKLW had...

The Way It Was — The Wedding of Martha Parke Firestone and William Clay...

1947As reported in newspapers across the country, on June 21, 1947, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Akron, Ohio, two of the most powerful...

The Way It Was — Esther Gordy, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder

1998Esther Gordy Edwards, the sister of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, stands on the steps of the Motown Museum with Michael Jackson and Stevie...

The Way It Was — Coleman A. Young’s Oath of Office

1974 A half-century ago on Jan. 2, former state Sen. Coleman A. Young was administered the oath of office as Detroit’s first Black mayor by...

The Way It Was — Christmas at Hudson’s

1952 Five-year-old Skip Shaw was one of thousands of children over several generations who would relish cherished memories of meeting Santa Claus in the 12th-floor...

The Way It Was — Civil War Veterans Marching at Campus Martius

1891 Although Veterans Day has long been observed on Nov. 11, an earlier significant acknowledgment of the sacrifices of military personnel began at the end...

The Way It Was — Charlie Chaplin at Michigan Central Station

1923 On Oct. 15, 1923, world-renowned silent-film star Charlie Chaplin made a whirlwind visit to the Motor City, arriving at Michigan Central Station to...

The Way It Was — Iconic Detroit Athletes

1963 Sixty years ago, on Sept. 8, The Detroit News published a cover story in its Sunday pictorial magazine that featured these future Hall of...

The Way It Was — Eastern Market

1937 For 132 years, farmers like the ones shown here on Aug. 14, 1937, working tirelessly at the crack of dawn, have hauled tons...

The Way It Was — Suwanee Steamboat

1958 For several decades, a favorite summer pastime for visitors at Greenfield Village in Dearborn was taking a ride on the Suwanee steamboat that...

The Way It Was — Navin Field

Of all the visitors who came to Detroit in the first half of the 20th century, perhaps none was more famous than the New...

The Way It Was — Trumbull General Hospital, 1967

The medical center opened in the 1940s and was one of several area hospitals that cared for Black patients then

The Way It Was — General Motors Co. Headquarters

1923One hundred years ago, General Motors Co. completed construction on its massive 15-story headquarters on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit. It soon became an...

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