Through the Years - a Photographic History of Center Line, Michigan
A block-by-block
photographic tour of Center Line as it appeared in days gone by.
PART
1 | PART 2
Unless noted otherwise, all
photos are from the collection of
Captions and text by Mike
Grobbel
Click on any thumbnail photo below to view a larger sized image of it, which will open in a new window. In order to view most of the larger images at their full size, you will also have to position your cursor on the image and then click on the "Enlarge" button in the lower right corner of the image. Close the new window to return to this page.
Click here to view a 2004 street map of Center Line, which will open in a new window.
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Van Dyke between Wiegand and Engleman
The building on the north corner of Wiegand Ave.
was built by the Center Line State Savings Bank in 1920. The bank
failed during the Depression and the building was later occupied
by the Michigan State Police. In 1958, it became the warehouse
for J & J Vending, a wholesale distributor of tobacco and
candies that was owned by the Jenuwine brothers, Ed, John, Lee
and Jim. Next to them, to the north, was Follo Jewelers, then
Hoste Bros. Electric and then Celane Bar and the Center Line
Lanes. The left and center photos were probably taken sometime in
the early 1960s. The photo at right was taken in about 1945 and
it shows young Suzie and Barb Meredith standing in the middle of
Wiegand Ave. near their home. Their home was close to the
intersection with Van Dyke and from the photo, it is clear that
back then, Wiegand Avenue was only paved for a short distance
west from the intersection. Suzie and Barb were the daughters of
Center Line Policeman Leon Meredith (photo courtesy of Suzie (Meredith)
Wheeler).
The image scanned from a newspaper photo on the left was taken in
the 1940s looking south down Van Dyke from Engleman and it shows Ma
Zott's Center Line Recreation on the
right (later the Celane Bar and Center Line Lanes). The 1970s
photo on the right shows the Chatham grocery store and other
business that were built on the site of this block as a result of
urban renewal.
Van Dyke between Ritter and Engleman
St. Clement Parish constructed a wooden-framed church in 1854 at the
southeast corner of what is now Van Dyke and Engelman (shown at
center-right in the circa 1870 painting above, with the Michael
Weingartz cabin shown across the street). Prior to then, the
business establishments in the area were all located at "Kunrods
Corner", which was named after a Mr. Kunrod who ran a saloon
on the corner of 10 Mile and Sherwood Roads. On the northeast
corner, John Buechel had a 10 acre plot of land on which he
established a General Merchandise Store. However, once the St.
Clement Parish was built on Van Dyke, it was only a short time
before the Buechel Store was physically moved to a parcel
adjacent to the new church. Once at the new location, it was
expanded to provide living quarters upstairs for the Buechel
family and in later years it was remodeled and a brick facing was
added.
The photo at left shows John Buechel's General Merchandise Store
and some of their customers ca. 1901 (photo from the June 28,
1961 "Tri-City Progress"). The undated photo at right
was taken inside Buechel's store. At left is his son, Raymond.
John is at right and his wife Dora is at right-center.
Van Dyke between Engleman and Harding
A late 19th century view of Van Dyke looking south
from about Harding Avenue. The Mathias Miller homestead is on the
left and St. Clement Church can be seen in the distance.
Mathias Miller and his wife Elizabeth operated a saloon in their
homestead around the turn of the century. The photo on the left
appears to pre-date the one on the right by a few years. The
"Tivoli Beer" sign on the porch column in the left
photo indicates that this picture was taken after the founding of
that brewery in 1898. The Tivoli Brewing Company was located on
Mack Ave. in Detroit and later produced the "Altes"
brand of beer. Center Line had its own brewery for a brief period
during the 1930s after the repeal of Prohibition. The Walker
Brewing Co. built their brewery at Alex Ave. & Ten Mile Rd.
Today that building houses the ABC Appliance Warehouse Store.
Van Dyke between Engleman and Gronow
The photo at left shows this block as it appeared in the spring of 1962. Shuster's Hardware Store occupied the lower floor of the building at the northwest corner of Engleman and Van Dyke for many years. The upstairs was the location of the first Center Line telephone exchange, which cost $250,000 to construct and began operation at noon on Saturday May 19, 1928. After Michigan Bell decided to build a stand-alone building on 10 Mile Rd. between Landau and Godin Avenues, that upstairs area was converted to apartments. The commercial space to the north of Schusters at one time was occupied by Thompkin's Ice Cream parlor but by the time this photo was taken, a gift shop was operating there. During World War II, this store front was occupied by a dress shop which was operated by Rose and Roger Martin, who lived in the apartment above. Next door to the north was Vic's Bar, which was owned by Victor and Claire Braun and who purchased it in 1940 from the prior owner, Charles Gates. The next storefront was occupied by Detroit Edison during the 1950s and 60s. At the corner of Gronow Ave. was Geitzen's Mobilgas service station. Urban renewal cleared this block for the construction of the Bodega Steak House restaurant (shown in photo at right taken in the mid 1970s). This site became a Rinke Toyota cars sales lot in the late 1980s. |
Van Dyke between Gronow and Voerner (west side)
Van Dyke between Central and Dale
25616 Van Dyke - This building housed a duck decoy woodcarver's shop prior to its demolition in 1959. This building may have also housed a clothes cleaner/tailor shop during the 1930s. The house with the darker exterior to the north was at one time the home of the Bash family.
![]() Rear of 25616 Van Dyke before demolition (ca. 1958) |
![]() Looking south towards the corner of Central prior to demolition (March 1959) |
![]() View from across the street (March 1959) |
Van Dyke between Voerner and Dale (west side)
Van Dyke between Dale and Helen (west side)
Lazoen's Hay and Feed was founded in 1933 by Frank
Lazoen and his brother-in-law, Maurice VanDenBussche. Their new
business occupied the building that was once Richard Giff's
Livery Stable on Van Dyke. They moved to this new building at the
corner of Helen Ave. in 1938. Sometime during the 1960s, Lazoen's relocated to 26549 Lawrence
Ave.
Others
Groesbeck Flowers at 26662 Van Dyke (mid 1960s) |
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Visit these pages for more information about
a) Wesley
Arnold, who collected these old photos and has his own local history web site.
b) Mike
Grobbel, who supplied the captions for
these old photos and created these web pages
c) the History of the City of Center
Line at the Center Line municipal web site
Read the comments in Grobbel's Guestbook
Contact: Mike Grobbel or |
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