Abandoned Places in Michigan

Packard Plant, Detroit, Michigan

2010-06-25T18:13:00.001-07:00

Detroit's Packard Plant is a massive complex of industrial buildings that have become an icon for the failing automotive industry. The plant has long been abandoned; Packard closed its doors in the 1950s, and the site has been left largely forgotten ever since. You can see several great sets of black and white photos of the Packard Plant at Silent Buildings.

As with so many abandoned buildings in Detroit, it has been victim to much vandalism and arson. A June 2010 fire at the Packard Plant burned for about a week; there are unstable tunnels running below the plant, so bringing fire trucks into the complex is too risky. See photos from the fire here.

University Club, Detroit, Michigan

2010-06-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

This abandoned building once housed the University Club, an exclusive, members-only organization that provided such amenities as racquetball courts, gardens, and guest rooms. The building was erected in 1931 and was used by the University Club until the group filed bankruptcy in 1992. DetroitFunk has a fabulous set of photos from the University Club; check them out here.

Big Rapids Drive-In, Big Rapids, Michigan

2010-06-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

At the peak of drive-in movie popularity in 1972, Michigan was home to 137 drive-in theaters; as of 2010, only 8 remain. Among the abandoned theaters is the Big Rapids Drive-In. Though the screen has long since been torn down, the projection and concessions building still stands on the site along with other remnants of the theater. See pictures of what remains here.

Albion Drive-In Theater, Albion, Michigan

2010-06-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

Though the decrepit screen was torn down in the late 1980s because of safety concerns, the projector building/concession stand from the Albion Drive-In Theater still stands. The speaker poles also still stand in rows across an overgrown field, and piles of screen pieces are still strewn about. See some pictures of the remains, plus some older pictures of the theater, here.

Edgewater Park, Detroit, Michigan

2010-06-24T12:31:00.001-07:00

Detroit's Edgewater Park was a small amusement park that was open from 1927 until 1981. Though the site has since been demolished (a church now sits there), the park is remembered here with historical photos, old family photos, and a lot of wonderful photos of the ruins of the abandoned park before the site was cleared to make way for new developments.

Four Bears Water Park, Shelby Township, Michigan

2010-06-24T12:16:00.001-07:00

The Four Bears Water Park in Shelby Township, Michigan operated from 1983 until 2004. By 2008, everything but the main building was dismantled and demolished, making way for a block of condos. You can see more photos of the park before it was torn down here.

Wonderland Mall, Livonia, Michigan

2010-06-24T12:04:00.001-07:00

The Wonderland Mall in Livonia, Michigan was built in 1959 with Montgomery Ward as the anchor store. Originally built as an outdoor mall, it was enclosed in the 1980s. In 2003, the Wonderland Mall was closed and soon met with the wrecking ball, demolished to make way for a "power center" with several major store surrounded by restaurants. Click here to view historical photos of the mall, photos of the empty mall prior to demolition, as well as photos of the demolition process and remaining rubble.

Eastown Theater, Detroit, Michigan

2010-06-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

Another great set (as always) from DetroitFunk features the Eastown Theater. How majestic and gorgeous this place must have been in its heyday, and how sad it is now. It started out as a home for stage productions, hosted a bunch of rock shows (including Alice Cooper), and ended its life in the 1980s after a run as an adult movie house. There are multiple sets of photos of the theater on the website; check out another one here.

United Artists Theater, Detroit, Michigan

2010-06-22T14:14:00.000-07:00

The United Artists Theater opened in February of 1928, taking its place as one of the city's opulent movie houses of the era. Today, most of these theaters that remain standing have been renovated, however the UA stands abandoned in a forlorn state of decay, constantly worsening from the elements and vandalism.

There are many great photos of the theater at Forgotten Detroit, along with a complete history of the building.

Hiawatha Iron Ore Mine, Iron River, Michigan

2010-06-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Michigan's Upper Peninsula is home to scores of mining ghost towns and other abandoned remnants of the area's mining past. This abandoned iron ore mine shaft in Iron River is made of cement that is stained red from the iron dust that has escaped from the shaft. The photo is from a Flickr set by hole-in-one; you can see the rest of the set here.

Michigan Central Station, Detroit, Michigan

2010-02-25T17:01:00.001-08:00

Photo by Urbanarcheology via Wikimedia Commons

Perhaps the most notorious vacant structure in Detroit is Michigan Central Station. Opened in 1913, the station was home to Detroit's passenger rail services, remaining in operation until Amtrak left the aging facility at the beginning 1988. Passenger service was moved to a new station.

In April of 2009, the Detroit City Council voted to raze the building immediately, but were sued by a Detroit resident who cited the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. To date, no plans have been made for the building, which continues to deteriorate.

Click here to see more photos of Michigan Central Station.

The building has also appeared in many movies, including Transfomers, The Island, and Four Brothers. This being such an incredible location, and there being so many wonderful photos of this place out there, this is likely not the last post to be made about this beautiful abandoned train station!

Starlight Lanes, Detroit, Michigan

2010-02-25T16:26:00.000-08:00

DetroitFunk, one of my favorite places to look at decaying Detroit, has a haunting and beautiful set of photos depicting Starlight Lanes, an abandoned bowling alley. It is located in Royal Oak Township, just across 8 Mile from north central Detroit.

Sadly, this is just another building in Detroit. Entire blocks, even entire neighborhoods, lay in this state of repair. I recently read an article about the state of Detroit and its plague of vacancies. I don't want to throw out any numbers because I don't recall exactly (I will have to look them up again for another post), but all of the statistics were pretty staggering.

Click here to see the complete set of photos.

Eddystone Hotel, Detroit, Michigan

2010-02-25T14:15:00.001-08:00

Photo by Andrew Jameson via Wikimedia Commons

Detroit's Eddystone Hotel was built in 1924. Like so many of the city's beautiful structures of the period, it stands nearly skeletal with gaping windows and has fallen into a state of disrepair.

In 2005, Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm announced a development firm had purchased the building and planned to renovate it into condominiums with retail spaces on the ground level. However, nearly five years later no such work has commenced, likely due to the collapse of Michigan's economy.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Despite this, the site is rumored to be a possible location for a proposed hockey area, as NHL team the Detroit Red Wings look to replace their aging venue.

The website Stoned Planet has a nice gallery of photos of the Eddystone taken fairly recently. Click here to see the complete set of photos.

Photo by urbantiki via MorgueFile.com

Holy Family Orphanage, Marquette, Michigan

2010-02-24T19:10:00.000-08:00

Marquette, Michigan's Holy Family Orphanage is an imposing structure. It served as an orphanage from 1915 to 1965 and was completely abandoned in 1985. The building is said to be haunted and has been the subject of numerous paranormal investigations.

There are some wonderful photos of both the exterior and interior of the orphanage at BR Nation.

General Chemical Factory, Manistee, Michigan

2010-02-24T17:05:00.001-08:00

As part of an effort to clean up the shores of Manistee Lake, this old factory began to undergo demolition in the summer of 2007. It had most recently been home to General Chemical, though it was best known to locals as Hardy Salt and later as Akzo Salt.

Hazmat crews worked much of the summer dismantling the massive structure. In September of 2007, an accident with a cutting torch caused a fire to rip through what remained of the building.

Click here to see a slideshow with photos of the factory in various stages of deconstruction as well as photos of the fire. Photos taken in August and September of 2007.

This 1995 newspaper photo is from an article announcing the closing of the Manistee Akzo salt plant.

According to a report by the University of Missouri at St. Louis, "Thomas Walter Hardy, a salesman for Morton Salt, began his own salt packing and distribution company in 1914. Hardy's business grew rapidly and incorporated as the Hardy Salt Company in 1916. The company was located at 22nd and Dock Street in St. Louis. While vacationing near Lake Michigan in 1930, Hardy learned of the Robson Leather Company, an abandoned tannery with an adjoining salt well located in Manistee, Michigan. Hardy bought the tannery and built the Manistee Salt Works, a Hardy Salt Company subsidiary and manufacturer of all its salt."

Hardy sold the salt company in 1985. From this point on, the salt manufacturing plant changed hands several times before being repurposed. The site would later be occupied by Ambar Chemical, which was subsequently bought out by General Chemical.

The area is currently used by Seng's Crane and Excavating to store their aggregate rock.

Abandoned Furniture on Radio Tower Hill, Manistee, Michigan

2010-02-24T16:48:00.001-08:00

Atop a hill overlooking the city, tucked away where one might never notice, someone went through the trouble of gathering a bunch of old furniture. We happened upon it quite by accident, and I was delighted at the find.

Click here to see the complete set of photos.

It's been a while since this visit, and posting these photos has made me want to revisit the site in the spring. I promise I will post those photos as well! These photos were taken June 7, 2008.