I have been curious about the old warehouse on Kalamazoo, by the tracks now repainted even blacker. It seems very secretive, but I did see the the overhead door open a bit the other day. I noticed fresh unpainted drywall and that was it. I have been thinking it may be a "grow center" for medial marijuana. New vents on top, new gas line meter, all windows blacked out. It is a bit all black but it does look better than before.
Did a little detective work and found that the building was bought by a Michael Doherty almost a year ago. Michael Doherty is the creator of Lansing-based fashion line DEFYE. He does all his design and distribution out of a suite in the old John Bean building down on South Cedar at the river. It's possible he could be branching out into other stuff, but maybe he's moving (or has moved) his existing business to the building.
What I found really interesting in assessor records is that the last time the building was sold prior to his purchasing it it was sold for $250,000 back in 2005. How much did Doherty get it for last year? A measley $30,000. lol He made out like a bandit. Also of interest? They have the building having been constructed in 1888. I hadn't guessed it that old.
Excellent! But, which way are we facing, here? East or west? I see a taller building peaking out on the left in the distance, which might mean we're facing towards downtown (westward), maybe about Cedar or Larch?
No identification on the photo. I think west, due to the placement of the railroad tracks further from the river than the east view would show. The light rail tracks would go to Grand Ave. if it were facing east also, in my opinion.
@Rads Thanks for the photos, they'll always be appreciated here.
I don't know if I ever talked about them here, but I wanted to share a few books I continually go back to for Lansing history stuff, lots of photos with good info in paragraph long descriptions:
Another great book, heavy on photos and of higher quality than the others, put together by the LSJ several years ago: Journal of Our Times - Amazon (it's available for about $10 used, I paid $40 new when it came out)
Those first three books are part of series called Images of America, their are a lot of books even just on Michigan locales. An Amazon search for "Images of America Michigan" yielded 317 results of which I haven't sorted through, but even the Portland area has its own book! the search results
I would agree the this photo is facing west. Perhaps they are building the Shiawassee Street bridge. I think that Cedar Street crosses the foreground and that perhaps the dark building on the corner of Cedar and Shiawassee could be still there, [currently a closed bar] . Are there any street car maps of that era? Did the tracks run down Larch? And then were would they go? I have to keep in mind these were all two way streets back than. I think that the tall buildings must be downtown, and maybe just a little corner of the river is visible to the left of the coal sign.
Thanks for the investigation into the Black Warehouse. I really like hearing it a owned by a clothing maker, and not a MMJ grow center! Maybe they will be bringing people and jobs to the neighborhood soon.
You are very welcome, sitting in boxes is not where they should be. I have the books you've listed and they have been a great resource.
After posting the dam in north town pictures yesterday, I realized I left it that hanging, unfinished......the dam was replaced by 1934.
EDIT: I was able to find some old Sanborn Maps elsewhere, but only the 1898 addition was available, and a not changed between the turn of the century and the 20's-40's in Lansing. Furthermore, because the area wasn't quite as developed at this time, they only include part of the block of shiwassee between Cedar and Larch. In both of these maps, the only thing on that block at the time were single family homes and duplexes.
Between Cedar and the River, however, there was quite a bit of industry. On the southside of Shiawassee was the Lansing Boiler & Engine works. The building closes to the Shiawassee was the businesses' two-story foundry. Not sure if it was still there when the picture above was taken. Right on the river on the southside was various concerns for the Lake South & Southern Michigan Railroad whose tracks ran right near the river (and would later become the River Trail). North of Shiawassee was the Michigan Condensed Milk Company, but it was quite a ways from the corner with Cedar and close to the river. The building, however, did step up to the river going from a one story section on the east end to a three story section closest to the river.
I'm still not sure if we're looking from Larch or Cedar in that shot, honestly. Since there were railroad tracks that came through between Cedar and the river, it could certainly look like more blocks away than it is.
Comments
What I found really interesting in assessor records is that the last time the building was sold prior to his purchasing it it was sold for $250,000 back in 2005. How much did Doherty get it for last year? A measley $30,000. lol He made out like a bandit. Also of interest? They have the building having been constructed in 1888. I hadn't guessed it that old.
I don't know if I ever talked about them here, but I wanted to share a few books I continually go back to for Lansing history stuff, lots of photos with good info in paragraph long descriptions:
Lansing: City on the Grand; 1836-1939 - Amazon
R. E. Olds and Industrial Lansing - Amazon
Another book from the same series on East Lansing that I haven't bought yet: East Lansing: Collegeville Revisited - Amazon
Another great book, heavy on photos and of higher quality than the others, put together by the LSJ several years ago: Journal of Our Times - Amazon (it's available for about $10 used, I paid $40 new when it came out)
Those first three books are part of series called Images of America, their are a lot of books even just on Michigan locales. An Amazon search for "Images of America Michigan" yielded 317 results of which I haven't sorted through, but even the Portland area has its own book! the search results
After posting the dam in north town pictures yesterday, I realized I left it that hanging, unfinished......the dam was replaced by 1934.
Between Cedar and the River, however, there was quite a bit of industry. On the southside of Shiawassee was the Lansing Boiler & Engine works. The building closes to the Shiawassee was the businesses' two-story foundry. Not sure if it was still there when the picture above was taken. Right on the river on the southside was various concerns for the Lake South & Southern Michigan Railroad whose tracks ran right near the river (and would later become the River Trail). North of Shiawassee was the Michigan Condensed Milk Company, but it was quite a ways from the corner with Cedar and close to the river. The building, however, did step up to the river going from a one story section on the east end to a three story section closest to the river.
I'm still not sure if we're looking from Larch or Cedar in that shot, honestly. Since there were railroad tracks that came through between Cedar and the river, it could certainly look like more blocks away than it is.