I photographed the Haynes mansion the day it was moved. It was in the ‘Urban Renewal’ project by the city of Port Huron, the federal government and community college. Is began work for the city of Port Huron’s planning department as a draftsman right out of high school in 1968. My assignment for that day was to make a photographic record of the city’s continuing ‘urban renewal’ progress. I worked in city p,anting under Ray Straffon and James Downey the urban renewal director until the federal project began to wind down in 1972. Incidentally the moving of the massive Haynes mansion sparked an interest for me in the construction and house moving business. I was a self employed general contractor in St. Clair, Sanilac and Lapeer counties. My company was involved in the house raising/foundation replacement and the steel sea wall construction business for forty years in the ‘Blue Water Area’...thanks for the memories !.....Gary Bugaiski
Bob Davis I wish I knew, my only interest that day was to record it’s removal for the city’s ‘urban renewal’ project. As soon as it was moved into Glenwood street, I left to get back to the city planning office.....ps... if my memory is correct, I think Davis House moving was the mover that day.
Bob, I have really enjoyed watching these videos. I just started watching on Wednesday and am on Part 19. Thank you for doing this. I was born in Port Huron, grew up there, and moved back in 2013. I miss any of the stores and buildings now gone, but these videos are great. I remember swimming in the canal pictured during lunch hours while working for the City cutting grass at Lakeside Cemetary. My father is on his 40th year at the paper mill. I was wondering if you might have pictures of the cobbler shop that was across from what is now Ernst Camera Shoppe. It was Great Grandfather Karandreas' cobbler shop. Also wondered if you had pictures of Doctor Shoudy's old doctor's office near the college. Dr. Shoudy was my grandfather.
+Michael Thomas Glad you're enjoying them. I am now working in #112. Sorry I don't have the pictures you requested but I remember the cobbler shop as we lived on Elk St. and that is where we took our shoes.
+Bob Davis thank you for letting me know. i am sharing these with family. my mother grew up at sperry's cottage (the green house across from the gratiot inn). i am sharing these with her. i was born in 1978 and remember some like sperry's (the elevator was neat), London's, George Innes, Thom McAn's and Diana's and even Burger Chef. Times change but these are great shots.
Michael 11803 -- For some reason I remember Dr. Shoudy's office being on 10th Street. It was a regular house, on a corner as I recall, and we had to go up a set of stairs to the entry. I still remember the receptionist's desk and the door leading to the hallway where the examination room was. It was just a regular late 19th Century or Turn of the 20th Century old fashioned house. He delivered me, but I don't remember that far back 😆 -- I think the only reason I remember anything about it is that going to the doctor was a very scary thing. You know, getting shots or mom thinking you're going to die or something 🤣 When he took the job as ER administrator for the hospital I was still pretty young. By then we were living in his dad's old house. Your great-grandpa was a tv builder and repairman. He could custom build tv sets for customers, and he had custom built a unit in the house my parents bought from him. It was built into a case in the corner of the dining room. He also had a humongous television antenna, tallest I'd ever seen. It was a sturdy ladder style. Oh the stories I could tell ...now that it's too late to get a spanking 🤣 One night there was a thunderstorm that struck the antenna and blew out both tvs in the house. You have to remember, in the 1960s, NOBODY had more than one television set, and we were by no means of any means. My parents had scrimped and scraped to buy their television set used before we moved in. We had only lived there about a year when lightning struck and we didn't have tv any more. They were both beyond repair. We kept the case in the corner of the dining room, though. Just took out the tv, and since we didn't have a working tv, we kids put on our own entertainment. Only one of us at a time could fit into it, but we'd climb into the case and pretend we were on tv. Eventually my dad took the case out and paneled the walls, but by then we had gotten another tv. I think your great-grandpa bought the house from my great-uncle and aunt. They lived there during the late Depression and WWII, when my great-uncle was off fighting. Before the War they put stucco on the walls of the stairwell leading to 2 of the bedrooms and bathroom. There wasn't a railing, so we kids fell down the stairs a lot. My elbows are still scarred from that stucco. It took the skin right off 😒 They had to move to a ranch style house out of the city after the War because my great-uncle was wounded, carried the shrapnel to his grave. The wound disabled him, but Mueller Brass hired him ... at "Women's Wages," because he couldn't do as much as a fully able bodied man. He couldn't easily get upstairs to use the bathroom, so he needed a one-storey home, and he couldn't afford city residential income taxes, or city property taxes, so he moved out to the country. I'm pretty sure it was your great-grandpa who bought the house from him. It sure was a fun house to grow up in ... except for that stucco wall on the stairwell.
in port huron gratiot is in the book of world records for the street with the most names...military,electric.huron,us 25,lakeshore,m3, and a bunch of others i can not remember i had to learn this in augusta ga funny in georgia they knew this but in port huron we never gave it a second thought
bob god bless you for your work on the history of this place... we can not let port huron become like california.... we lost to much to greedy folks already...
Continued this map shows fort Gratiot is shown with the original street names prior to the annexation into port Huron Gratiot and Stone are numbered and the streets were named after trees going east and west.
I photographed the Haynes mansion the day it was moved. It was in the ‘Urban Renewal’ project by the city of Port Huron, the federal government and community college. Is began work for the city of Port Huron’s planning department as a draftsman right out of high school in 1968. My assignment for that day was to make a photographic record of the city’s continuing ‘urban renewal’ progress. I worked in city p,anting under Ray Straffon and James Downey the urban renewal director until the federal project began to wind down in 1972. Incidentally the moving of the massive Haynes mansion sparked an interest for me in the construction and house moving business. I was a self employed general contractor in St. Clair, Sanilac and Lapeer counties. My company was involved in the house raising/foundation replacement and the steel sea wall construction business for forty years in the ‘Blue Water Area’...thanks for the memories !.....Gary Bugaiski
Interesting. Where was it moved to?
Bob Davis I wish I knew, my only interest that day was to record it’s removal for the city’s ‘urban renewal’ project. As soon as it was moved into Glenwood street, I left to get back to the city planning office.....ps... if my memory is correct, I think Davis House moving was the mover that day.
Bob, I have really enjoyed watching these videos. I just started watching on Wednesday and am on Part 19. Thank you for doing this. I was born in Port Huron, grew up there, and moved back in 2013. I miss any of the stores and buildings now gone, but these videos are great. I remember swimming in the canal pictured during lunch hours while working for the City cutting grass at Lakeside Cemetary. My father is on his 40th year at the paper mill. I was wondering if you might have pictures of the cobbler shop that was across from what is now Ernst Camera Shoppe. It was Great Grandfather Karandreas' cobbler shop. Also wondered if you had pictures of Doctor Shoudy's old doctor's office near the college. Dr. Shoudy was my grandfather.
+Michael Thomas Glad you're enjoying them. I am now working in #112. Sorry I don't have the pictures you requested but I remember the cobbler shop as we lived on Elk St. and that is where we took our shoes.
+Bob Davis thank you for letting me know. i am sharing these with family. my mother grew up at sperry's cottage (the green house across from the gratiot inn). i am sharing these with her. i was born in 1978 and remember some like sperry's (the elevator was neat), London's, George Innes, Thom McAn's and Diana's and even Burger Chef. Times change but these are great shots.
Michael 11803 -- For some reason I remember Dr. Shoudy's office being on 10th Street. It was a regular house, on a corner as I recall, and we had to go up a set of stairs to the entry. I still remember the receptionist's desk and the door leading to the hallway where the examination room was. It was just a regular late 19th Century or Turn of the 20th Century old fashioned house. He delivered me, but I don't remember that far back 😆 -- I think the only reason I remember anything about it is that going to the doctor was a very scary thing. You know, getting shots or mom thinking you're going to die or something 🤣
When he took the job as ER administrator for the hospital I was still pretty young. By then we were living in his dad's old house. Your great-grandpa was a tv builder and repairman. He could custom build tv sets for customers, and he had custom built a unit in the house my parents bought from him. It was built into a case in the corner of the dining room. He also had a humongous television antenna, tallest I'd ever seen. It was a sturdy ladder style. Oh the stories I could tell ...now that it's too late to get a spanking 🤣 One night there was a thunderstorm that struck the antenna and blew out both tvs in the house. You have to remember, in the 1960s, NOBODY had more than one television set, and we were by no means of any means. My parents had scrimped and scraped to buy their television set used before we moved in. We had only lived there about a year when lightning struck and we didn't have tv any more. They were both beyond repair. We kept the case in the corner of the dining room, though. Just took out the tv, and since we didn't have a working tv, we kids put on our own entertainment. Only one of us at a time could fit into it, but we'd climb into the case and pretend we were on tv. Eventually my dad took the case out and paneled the walls, but by then we had gotten another tv.
I think your great-grandpa bought the house from my great-uncle and aunt. They lived there during the late Depression and WWII, when my great-uncle was off fighting. Before the War they put stucco on the walls of the stairwell leading to 2 of the bedrooms and bathroom. There wasn't a railing, so we kids fell down the stairs a lot. My elbows are still scarred from that stucco. It took the skin right off 😒 They had to move to a ranch style house out of the city after the War because my great-uncle was wounded, carried the shrapnel to his grave. The wound disabled him, but Mueller Brass hired him ... at "Women's Wages," because he couldn't do as much as a fully able bodied man. He couldn't easily get upstairs to use the bathroom, so he needed a one-storey home, and he couldn't afford city residential income taxes, or city property taxes, so he moved out to the country. I'm pretty sure it was your great-grandpa who bought the house from him. It sure was a fun house to grow up in ... except for that stucco wall on the stairwell.
in port huron gratiot is in the book of world records for the street with the most names...military,electric.huron,us 25,lakeshore,m3, and a bunch of others i can not remember i had to learn this in augusta ga funny in georgia they knew this but in port huron we never gave it a second thought
bob god bless you for your work on the history of this place... we can not let port huron become like california.... we lost to much to greedy folks already...
There is a map on the second floor of the museum bldg ( the old Library)
Continued this map shows fort Gratiot is shown with the original street names prior to the annexation into port Huron Gratiot and Stone are numbered and the streets were named after trees going east and west.