Muskegon, Michigan - a town with a rich and vibrant history. But like most towns, Muskegon has suffered through some tough times. The center of activity in Muskegon, was its downtown. Heavy industry surrounded the commercial district. Companies like Lakey Foundry, and Continental Motors dotted the perimeter along with many other industries making Muskegon an industrial magnet.
And within that perimeter was the commercial center of the town. I wish to take a look at the downtown as it was, before urban renewal. And just what the city fathers were thinking when it came to "fixing" the downtown.
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| Regent Theater - 1943 |
Downtown consisted of roughly 75 acres of commercial and retail businesses. In it's hay day it was the place to go for shopping and entertainment. Here we see the Regent theater one of three theaters in the downtown area, The Regent, the Michigan and the N&K.
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| Towner Packard - 1943 |
You could find most anything downtown. Needed a new car? You could just shoot on over to the Packard Dealership and see what the new models look like.There were a multitude of dealerships all right downtown.
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| Chop Suey House, Western Ave, 1944 |
And if you got hungry, there were so many different restaurants downtown you could eat your self silly. This is just one of the many places to find good ethnic food, long before ethnic became chic. The Chop Suey House on Western Avenue served authentic Asian food. G&L Greek Chili Dogs were also a fixture along Western Avenue.
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| G&L Greek Chili Dogs - Western Avenue - 1973 |
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| Greyhound Terminal - Western and 1st Ave. |
Muskegon's downtown was a thriving and bustling transportation center as well, the Greyhound station was the place to start your travels from downtown by road, or you could take a train , just head down to the Union Depot. Even the local bus system would take you just about anywhere you needed to go !
In the next post we will look at the slow demise of the downtown, and the idea of urban renewal begins to turn in the minds of city government.... stay tuned.....
1 comment:
Intersting web-site! Incidently, the photo of the Regent Theater is actually from 1943 (not 1949). The proof is the release dates of of the movies listed on the marquee:
Sonja Henning's "Wintertime" and "The Falcon and the Co-eds"
My father's flower shop can also be seen on the right of this picture.
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