The Whitney Lumber businessman David Whitney started building his grand mansion at 4421 Woodward Avenue around 1890. Considered one of both Detroit’s and Michigan’s wealthiest citizen’s, Whitney spared no expense on the design, building and furnishing of the house. To call it a house is a huge understatement. It cost nearly $400,000 to build the […]
Monthly Archives: October 2015
Mike’s Really Haunted Detroit – Part 2
Grace Hospital & The Majestic With the words “I’m tired of fighting” Erik Weisz died at 1:26 in the afternoon of October 31, 1926, in room 401 in Detroit’s Grace Hospital. Weisz, better known as Harry Houdini, suffered from peritonitis as result from a ruptured appendix. He was punched in the stomach by J. Gordon […]
New Podcast “Detroit in World War II” with Author Greg Sumner at Historic Abicks Bar
A look inside the “Arsenal of Democracy” as Professor Gregory Sumner of University of Detroit Mercy joins Digging Detroit’s Thomas J. Reed Jr. and Detroit History Tours‘ Bailey Sisoy Isgro at Detroit’s historic Abick’s Bar. Sumner previews his upcoming book-signing, Detroit in WWII, at Abick’s on November 10, 2015. (Order yours on Amazon.) Thanks to our Abick’s […]
Remembering Darrell Evans’ Worst Day as a Tiger
Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series will go down as one of the most memorable games in baseball history. The errors made by Elvis Andrus and the despicable display of sportsmanship by the Toronto fans made me think of Darrell Evans and the 1987 American League Champion Series. [Before all my Canadian […]
Treasures from the Burton Historical Collection at the DPL
For Episode 13, curators Mark Bowden and Romie Minor share six of their favorite treasures from the Detroit Public Library’s Burton Historical Collection, celebrating its 100th year this fall. Mark shares the story of Clarence Burton, a Detroit attorney whose passion for history sent him into attics, cellars and even chicken coops to save […]