Michigan Central Station - Old photos
Michigan Central Station
MCS and the sheds
Michigan Central Station ca. late 1930s.
The stairs that led from the train sheds into Michigan Central Station
The interior of Michigan Central Station
The interior of Michigan Central Station
A typical hallway inside the tower of Michigan Central Station
Where passengers would get on the trains at Michigan Central Station
The waiting room of Michigan Central Station
The waiting room of Michigan Central Station
Passengers line up to get on the trains inside Michigan Central Station.
A waiting room in Michigan Central Station
A soda counter inside Michigan Central Station
The waiting room of Michigan Central Station
An elevator lobby of Michigan Central Station
The ticket counter of Michigan Central Station
The interior of Michigan Central Station
Michigan Central Station
Michigan Central Station
Michigan Central Station
Michigan Central Station
Looking at Michigan Central Station from Michigan Avenue
Michigan Central Station, as seen from the air
Michigan Central Station, as seen from the air
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
A family at Michigan Central Station in 1982, six years before the station closed.
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
Michigan Central Station in April 1982, six years before it closed.
The depot in June 1972
The empty-looking depot in December 1982, shortly before the end of the line
Customers used to just park right in front of the main entrance back in 1972.
The depot's main entrance in April 1985
A customer buys a ticket in June 1972
The depot in July 1984
One of the benches sits empty in April 1985. Passenger traffic had slowed to a trickle by that point.
The main entrance in May 1988, a few months after the station closed
Mark Longton Jr., who bought Michigan Central Station in 1989, walks through the depot in 1990 with his dog.
Former President Herbert Hoover arrives at Michigan Central Station in January 1940 to speak at a fund-raiser at the Masonic Temple.
Ottawa Nation Chief Little Hawk at Michigan Central Station in October 1947 on his way to Washington, D.C.
Michigan Central Station in 1940
Michigan Central Station in the early 50s, shot from the pre-1977 Bagley overpass. Note a tall-windowed New York Central System (NYC) streamlined observation car (1019 DETROIT or 1020 CHICAGO) on passenger platform Track 6. It was one of 20 1926-vintage commuter coaches modernized by Art Deco industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss for The CLEVELAND MERCURY and The CHICAGO MERCURY during the late-1930s. Track 10 features a string of recently-converted Pullman-Standard Troop sleepers, produced during WW II. These "passenger" cars (note the vestibules at the car ends) continued in service as baggage and express cars (still-equipped with passenger trucks) during the postwar years -- some of these "side-door Pullmans" were apparently re-fitted with conventional boxcar doors. Outside-third-rail electrification was still-obvious at MCS until December 29, 1953, when NYC's Detroit / Windsor Electric Zone was permanently-unplugged. Steam locomotives often ventured into the zone, but they usually did NOT steam through the nearby Detroit River Tunnel (the reason MCS is where it is). 15th Street Interlocking Tower (1910-1967) is almost-visible at the right edge. - Caption by Peter Dudley (https://www.facebook.com/groups/100654233396758)
Michigan Central Station ca. 1940s
Michigan Central Station in 1927
Hollywood meets the Motor City - September 1943. In the midst of WW2 some of show business' biggest stars would arrive in Detroit, on a national tour to drum up support for the sales of War Bonds. Some of those legendary performers included - Lucille Ball, James Cagney, Harpo Marx, Judy Garland, Paul Henreid, Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire (not pictured), Detroit’s own Betty Hutton among many others. It would be a whirlwind of a visit with over 100 persons in the “Hollywood Bond Cavalcade” (movie stars, set directors, hair & make up dressers, stage hands, etc.) rolling into Michigan Central Station and then checking into the Hotel Statler with large crowds lingering around Grand Circus Park hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite celebrity. Later when the stage lights went up before a sold out crowd at Olympia Stadium, the stars performed character sketches, dancing and popular songs to a rousing applause. Even better, the show’s expected sales of War Bonds was shattered with $47M worth being sold (thats $706M today). As their train cars rolled out of Michigan Central Station the next day, Detroit hometown actress Betty Hutton best summed up the purpose of their national tour “Right now I’m interested in selling War Bonds so we can get this war over with in a hurry. This lovely time I had in Detroit reminds me what home is really like. That’s what we’re fighting for – and we don’t dare take a chance of losing.” Resource credit: The Detroit Free Press
View of travelers inside Michigan Central Railroad Station. Date unknown.
Interior view of Michigan Central Railroad Station. Looking southwest from main waiting room toward ticket windows. Sky-lighted concourse can be seen in distance between columns. Circa 1916.
View of newsstand at railroad station with all sorts of magazines, boxes of candy, fruit, figurines, postage stamps and postcards on display. Sign on shelf: "The Union News Company."
View of several cars parked in bays under arch at Michigan Central Railroad Station, date unknown
Another view at Michigan Central, date unknown
Interior view of Michigan Central Railroad Station, showing arcade with vaulted ceiling, ca 1916.
View of uniformed employee taking tickets from passengers entering gate for Track No. 3 at the Michigan Central Railroad Station, ca. mid 1920s
View of Michigan Central Railroad depot with Roosevelt Park in foreground. Automobiles are parked on 14th Street on left. Circa mid 1920's.
This photograph, shot on March 10, 1952, from an upper floor at Detroit's MCS, looks across West Vernor Highway toward 20th Street Coach Yard (right) and coal-handling facilities (center), which handled "coal in -- ashes out" for the station's coal-fired steam heating system.
Detroit's Michigan Central Station (MCS) was nearing completion as of August 1, 1913, when this photograph was shot. Wood-timbered false-work supported parts of the station's reinforced-concrete Train Shed (still under construction).
This photograph, shot August 1, 1913 from an upper floor at Detroit's Michigan Central Station (MCS), overlooks the station's Main Concourse (bottom) and skylighted Passenger Ramp (left) toward the reinforced-concrete-and-steel Train Shed (still under construction).
September 8, 1913 the station is nearly ready.
Designed and built by the American Locomotive Company, Schenectady, New York. The "Mercury" K5 Pacific Type Locomotive with streamlined shrouding designed by New York City based Industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss. The locomotives were built in the late 1920's and streamlined in 1936. The image shows the train completing its morning run into the sheds behind the Michigan Central Depot ca. 1936 - Caption by Benjamin Gravel