Print, Photographic

Photograph (and 1 copy). Black and white photo showing an elevated view of Campus Martius. The view looks northward along Woodward Avenue and shows the busy Campus Martius area with many pedestrians, streetcars, and horse-drawn wagons on Woodward. The ground is lightly covered with snow. Michigan Avenue and Fort Street can be seen intersecting Woodward Avenue on the left side of the photo with Monroe Street and Cadillac Square intersecting from the right. A tall aerial light tower can be seen near the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Woodward Avenue. Business names that are visible include: the Detroit Opera House, Wright Kay Company, Hull Brothers Grocers, J. L. Hudson Clothier, Hudson & Symington, Eagle Art Gallery Photographers, Mills & Barker Furniture, Charles H. Werner Crockery and Glassware, J. H. Black & Company, and Farnsworth Boots and Shoes.

The date, "7-16-28," is printed near the lower right corner although it is not indicative of the date of the image that is depicted in the photo. An undated, unnamed newspaper article glued to the verso shows "Do you Remember? Artificial Moonlight; This view of downtown Detroit in the mid-1880s shows one of the city's first electric lights (high steel tower). Placed 150 feet in the air, these arc lamps cast an eerie 'moonlight' glow. Erected 1883-1885, they went out with the dawn of [the] auto age."