Hastings Street used to be a very happening place in Paradise Valley, Detroit, going way back to the earlier part of the twentieth century. Much of it was destroyed by the routing of I-94 (Edsel Ford Freeway) and I-75 (Chrysler Freeway) some fifty years ago. But not all of it. What's left of Hastings Street goes from East Grand Boulevard to just beyond Harper Avenue near the highways. In the photo I took above, the eye can see down almost the entire length of Hastings Street's remnant as of the first decade of this century.
Battle of Hastings Street: Raw Detroit Blues and R & B from Joe's Record Shop, 1953-1954 (2006) is a 24-track UK release featuring John Lee Hooker associates like Eddie Kirkland and many others. The title appeals to English sensibilities -- referring to the 1066 victory of William the Conqueror as well as Hastings Street, Detroit, both largely forgotten or unknown among Americans, I suspect.
Harper Avenue fragment with pilings, running into the freeway interchange embankment. "Progress." In the 1940s, Sportree's Music Bar was at 2014 Hastings Street, near Gratiot Avenue. During The Great Depression, Ace Bar was at 3678 Hastings near the Mack Avenue intersection, and Club Tuxedo was at 4758 Hastings not far from East Warren.
Today's Rune: Signals.
2 comments:
My grandparents lived off of Hastings in the 1920's and my grandfather had a barber shop on Oakland back then...I think they played cards in the backroom. KK
I do believe it was in one of the Hastings street clubs that the rumors started flying that began the riots of'43.
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