Jim, this is really fascinating stuff you've dug up. Bravo for your investigative efforts.
My husband was watching a thing last night on some science channel (I don't know which one exactly; evidently there's a number of them and I was making dinner at the time) about exactly what you talked about in the final paragraph: what the world will look like after we're gone. The presumption in this show was that, once humans have disappeared, all of the nuclear reactors, with no one to maintain them, would explode, with things deteriorating from there.
I agree: there is something beautiful in all the wreckage. There almost always is.
I have been waiting for this post... explaining what happened to the depository. It's both intriguing, and appalling at the same time.
Molly- there is a really interesting book out- The World Without Us. If you have time, or the inclination, it's a great read!
Beautifully written, as always. I think it says something powerful about Detroit that this is preserved as is to rot and not torn down, built new, etc.
Great work, Jim. This is an amazing story.
I have been meaning to read that book. I have seen some show on the History Channel called "life after people" or something that seemed to say within 50 years all buildings would start collapsing without extensive maintenance.
from what I've seen around Detroit (at least with respect to 1920s buildings) makes me wonder if some of these ones will stand longer than that, though Kahn's steel-reinforced concrete certainly will contribute to the downfall of most (the steel will rust after enough Michigan winters).
besides, I don't how much you can trust a channel that has a show about Nostradamus on every night.
Such a fascinating portrait of a city and what happens when life moves through it. Your writing is exquisite here. Really. This line gave me chills -
Someday the books will tumble from the shelves at the Bodleian and there will be no one to replace them.
Please don't knock Nostradamus; he predicted I'd go bald.
Just wanted to say way to go on this wonderful read. I've edited news stories from investigative reporters working for two decades, and this would make them green with envy. There's oftentimes more than one answer for everything and you've captured that beautifully here. I'll be in Michigan soon on an unhappy errand and I have a feeling this decrepit building will cheer me up. Thanks.
What a beautifully written essay. The last few sentences took my breath away.
Jim, I don't think it will be long until we're seeing your byline in Harpers alongside the photo credits. A little more objectivity and a few more column inches, and this could run in any number of respected magazines. Great narrative and good research.
Awesome. It's amazing how these sets of beautiful photos you took have received this much attention and prompted you (and us) to learn the story behind it all. You did a really great job. When I got to the end I thought to myself, "And so it goes..." Thanks for doing this.
Thanks, Jim, for such a thoughtful perspective on such a complex issue. I appreciate your putting the voices of multiple stakeholders - Detroit Public schools, insurance companies, greedy landlords....all into the same conversation.
Beautiful and thoughtful--both words and pictures.
A really beautiful article - thank you.
Jim, this is such a great piece. I was thinking the same thing as Merseydotes while reading it.
I know everyone cries "waste" when a text book is destroyed. However, these same people will bemoan the fact that a school is using a 10 year old text book. A progressive district's claim to fame is often the latest textbook spouting the most current educational theories.
We've tried to recycle old textbooks into prisons, other countries, adult literacy programs. Seldom are they wanted. They are often poorly written besides and of little intetest to most people. The shame to me is all the resources (paper, ink) that end up in landfills.
The better way to do it for a variety of reasons is to give up most text books. My children didn't open a text book until 7th grade and then only for algebra. Much of what kids need to be taught can be originated with innovative educators who don't rely on textbooks.
And seriously, this piece is belongs in a literary magazine. It's interesting, informative and thought provoking.
Fascinating subject; thorough research (with no BS about its limitations) and poignant writing. That's a rare and excellent piece of journalism you've created. Thank you.
Even if your motivation for researching the Roosevelt Warehouse was only your own curiosity, thank you. Thank you for answering the questions your amazing photgraphs had ignited in the minds of everyone who's seen them, myself included.
I agree with you that there is something haunting and beautiful about these buildings and their decay; at least if they are still standing, it is possible to appreciate their grandeur, former and present. One could not say the same if they were torn down and hauled away.
I've got to run at the moment, so I'm saving this post (though I'd really call it An Article) for after I get back, but I've been waiting to say congratulations on getting into Harper's Magazine.
You mentioned you were in the magazine the very day the issue arrived at my house, so that was extra cool and convenient. Is it sad that I thought, "Hey, I know that guy!" when I read the caption? lol
blimey.what exciting stuff!
nickyx
Please write more like this. Detroit needs you.
Just fantastic, Jim.
A magical and important post, and you're right, as a book lover this is an especially sad situation to witness...
to me, the incredible part of this story lies in the power of your photographs. that a picture could evoke hate and sadness and confusion and questions is just amazing to me. it makes me further understand why I feel the need to snap pictures and write stories.
aside from that, i also wonder how many abandoned buildings exist like this in cities across america....remnants of failed or neglected school systems.
First, this piece you wrote is fantastic. Thank you for doing the research. I'm one who is pained by the loss of books, but I agree that there is beauty in that decay--much as we go to Rome to look at the Forum and the Colosseum, or go to Greece for those ancient ruins, so too are we fascinated by the decay of civilization, even if in our own "backyard".
Second, we also saw that show on the History Channel. They gave some reason that I can't really remember as to why even the steel-reinforced concrete buildings would also fail sooner than we think. I think it was something about the concrete crumbling, which would in turn expose the steel to decay. Anyway, because of the Nostradamus/Mayan stuff they've been really pushing lately, my husband now dubs it the Apocalypse channel (formerly known in our house as the WWII channel).
Jim, your talent is wasted as a lawyer. Write, write, write and we will read. What a pleasure every post is. As for the depository, being a total book freak, I'm sickened by the loss, but to some degree understand how it could happen. That said, it's still a very sad affair.
Wow. Thank you so much for your investigative work. I find it fascinating that a man with a monopoly may actually be the root of the problem. But I promise not to use that to feed my own anti-capitalist leanings. 
an absolutely fascinating read. thank you for taking the time to research this and write about what you learned -- and in such an eloquent way.
This is by far the best blog post I've ever read. I hope you continue to follow your obsessions and share them with us. You are incredibly talented and passionate. Thank you for continuing to give us glimpses of this.
Also: Harpers? Awesome.
Makes me think of Broken Windows article by Kelling and Wilson - for Atlantic Monthly. (Once a neighborhood tolerates a broken window, more neglect and harsher crimes follow.)
Amazing. I have to admit that while I feel better knowing what happened, I am more disturbed by the truth than by my previous assumption that this was an example of government mismanagement or administrative waste. Greed, corruption and lack of respect for human life - aren't they what brought down the Roman Empire too? I don't see the beauty in these ruins, they're too fresh, and too poignant a reminder that few things change for the better with time. Your photographs and essay are the beauty in all this. Thank you.
Thank you for taking time to find, and to tell the story.
I drove by the train station last weekend while in town early for the Tiger game....i wanted to see it up close. A MIchigan native - I now work in an office building attached to NY's Grand Central Station....I walk through it everyday and it is beautiful and it amazes me every day. That it represents to me what Detroit's terminal once was, and could have been, is a daily recognition that hits me as I walk through the cavern...
I have your picture of the graffitti'd walls framed, hanging on my office wall, high above the more pristine hall of NYC's Grand terminal.
It reminds me where I come from. And where I am. And reminds me, there is a difference...
bravo. excellent research and series of photos and words.
Living in almost-rural Michigan I have often felt like an outsider when visiting Detroit. I knew the places, but not the stories.
This is a great insider's view of a once great city, a lament and an homage. Well done, and thank-you for sharing.
I want to see more of the river of dissolved chalk. It adds an even more surreal aspect to this bizarre situation.
Very well written, interesting, and enjoyable though sad-- bravo
I rarely comment any more, but I still read every post and I've been waiting for this one with interest. I've always found your photos of Detroit beautiful and haunting, the book depository ones especially so. I love that you felt strongly enough about this to find out why and to tell us all about it. The world needs more people like you.
God, that was a heartbreaking post - it was like reading some sort of post-apocalyptic novel or something. I guess I'm naive, because the corruption and the cruelty of the world always astonish me; I always feel like they must be fiction, because how can real life be like that?
And yet, at the same time, I hope that those buildings stay there like that, rotting slowly and being filled with trees and letting nature take them back over, because it is just so incredibly beautiful.
It's such a pleasure to read your writing. The continuity of life really is beautiful.
I recently finished reading The World Without Us and thought of your pictures while doing so.
Now that I've heard the story, it's more annoying than sad. Even if he doesn't build the bridge himself, Moroun's political contributions will likely ensure a hefty payment to him from any expropriation (or eminent domain as you call it) if the government decides on a nearby location.
Thank you. This is why blogging matters, why citizen journalism is real.
Also thank you for noting the enormous infusion of cash by Mouroun (Peter Karmanos from Compuware and Rick Waggoner from GM were two of the others) in the 2005 campaign. I get furious when people point to Kilpatrick's win in 2005 and use it to bolster the racist argument that "Detroiters just don't know any better" when he was in fact headed for almost certain defeat until that happened. And thanks to that, my investment of heart, soul and much of our earthly wealth in the city is gone to nothing while these men who have no such personal stake in it can sit on the sidelines and continue to make their millions. I thank you for bringing that into the discussion. Until the text scandal broke,it made me angrier than anything else in my 25 years here.
"Someday the books will tumble from the shelves at the Bodleian and there will be no one to replace them."
Way to make a book designer cry at work.
"Embattled" is putting it lightly in reference to Kwame, but I'm glad you've touched on this. That man just makes me want to spit nails.
Your photography is brilliant--makes me really want to wander the streets of Detroit with camera in tow next time I'm home.
well done, my friend. someday very soon i hope you are well compensated for your literary skills- but continue on here from time to time so we can say "we knew jim back when he was recounting endless nights of bouncing a screaming baby on a ball, willing her to sleep"
may i request that if you are looking for a subject for your next investigative journalistic talents, you explore this sentence further: "Like the vacant automobile factories that provide a constant reminder of the industry that built and then destroyed this city"?
i do love to learn about detroit from your perspective- i'm embarrassed to say that most of what i know about michigan in general i've learned from you. thank you.
kwame was embattled in 2004-5. now he's just indicted.
Thank you, thank you so much. I miss home -- the beauty, the destruction, the politics -- all of it. Thanks for all of the time you've put in to share this information via words and images.
Thank you.
So interesting and wonderfully written. As a native Toledoan who has a bunch of friends living in Detroit, it didn't even occur to me to ask what happened when I first saw your shots. Isn't that strange? I think it's because of what you said, "this is Detroit."
Your shots are gorgeous and completely capture the city. they show a type of beauty that I think most people don't necessarily see.
I will never forget the first time I realised the beautiful building across the river was abandoned and all its windows were smashed. I wish now that I had gone inside.
Detroit fascinated me and changed my understanding of America. I love reading your stories and seeing your photos.
The first edition post on this one -- should have made Harper's. That one still hangs for me. I'll try to form a response.
(I wonder if you did ever link to those pictures from Shanghai.)
As school collections go this is all my business. I have refused these sorts of items so many times. I have facilitated their destruction. I am at once dispassionate about them and rabid about the idea of them or their replacements. I urge colleagues and innocents to let books, films and other recordings of moments of knowledge to whither and die. This is what I love about school libraries more than others -- our need for the finite and teachable. The refresh of years of classes and children is dear to me. The very impoverishment of school services is a liberty for us; we have no luxury for archives or rare books like universities or public libraries we must expel whatever is no longer applicable.
Mania for the book keeps accusations of waste ever present. The idealizing of instruments of individuality is inviolate -- suspicion of the common in the common good rampant.
We can handle each other best in very small portions. The very grossness in the depository pics is too much for many.
(sure it's true about the Bodleian; it's interesting but I still like the first post best.)
Bravo! Thank you, from a fellow Michigander, for this brave post.
thanks so much for doing this research. there is so much more to this story than i had imagined.
and how sad that people are using these photos to make the story much sadder and simpler than it really is. i feel queasy just thinking about it.
Yes, really, still interested, and I have already read your original post. The more I know, the more it makes me think and wonder.
And it hurts the book-and-stationery-lover and the frustrated-teacher in me.
Oh, and there is no way the books will ever tumble from the shelves at the Bodleian! Surely...
Wow. Great piece...you are a brilliant and compelling writer.
My wife is a reader of your blog, and she pointed me to your first post about the book depository, and then to this post today. I don't have a lot to say that everyone else hasn't, but I wanted to add my thanks to everyone else for such a great job.
I love the old architecture of downtown Detroit, and it is like a knife in the gut every time I see another structure crumbling or read about another being torn down. Keep up the good reporting, and maybe some day people will remember that old buildings are not bad buildings.
Holy shit, Jim. Great post. Really great post.
I do so much historical research on parcels of land and buildings to determine "recognized environmental conditions" and never get the chance to learn a story so colorful and bittersweet because it's all in the name of protecting deep pockets. Great research, beautiful pictures and, as always, keep us thinking!
Excellent work on the photos and the writing! Thank you so much for sharing!
Stunning work. Visually and verbally. Truly your heart and soul shine through and that is what makes an artist. Your passion is provacative.
This post was about 702% better than my thesis paper for my degree in 16th century English Literature. Awesome.
I never knew and I lived 20 minutes outside of Detroit all my life. Great investigating.
Absolutely incredible EVERYTHING, Jim!
I became interested in these building and others like in Detroit through readings in Rolling Stone and several other magazines. How two guys bought an industrial building for maybe $20k and turned it into a mega-grow weed business with FedEx trucks battling for position at the loading dock as they shipped their goods through wide open channels. How the train station was to become the new police headquarters. Detroit has always facinated me with these stories and this piece was truly and completely a joy to read.
I've never seen another blogger contribute something so remarkable.
Great article. Loved this quote:
"Even as we sit here at our computers, we pine for the feeling of pressed pulp between our fingers."
I love books. I love the smell of old books. I often take a particularly aged one off my shelf just to press my nose into its dusty spine. It smells of library and all the children's fingers who have once turned its pages. It is the smell of humanity and human wisdom. It is familiar and comforting.
However, I don't feel that ALL knowledge will feed trees. Surely human wisdom will. Being a Christian, I take heart in these verses:
1 Corinthians 13:8 -
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
Revelation 21:1-3
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."
So while human books and wisdom might be food for trees for a while, I'm sure there will be one book that will remain in tact. That would be the Book of Life.
In the meanwhile, I plan to continue to take pictures - and hope you will, too. Your photos are out of this world.
- Heather
As a person living in a city that is being rebuilt as a loft condo paradise/hell. I can only agree with your summation that Detroit is beautiful, if only because it is one of the few cities in North America that has a visible history left to it. Every location in Toronto that would offer pictures of the same magnitude has been turned into yuppie shopping grounds. Thanks for showing me more of a city that has created so much culture and inspired me personally.
That was beautifully written. Thank you so much.
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