(DN_36201) Ethnic Communities, Irish, Neighborhoods, Corktown, 1960

An exterior view of a Victorian-Era duplex on Labrosse Street. At left is the shell of one of Corktown's fabled "shotgun Victorian" homes. A notice from the City of Detroit is posted to its eaves proclaiming its forthcoming demolition and denouncing illegal occupancy.

Part of a series of photographs taken to document the abandoned buildings around Trumbull, Porter, Abbott and nearby streets. According to a Detroit News article from April 26, 1960, the demolition was part of a larger slum clearance that moved 450 families out of the area and razed their historic neighborhood to make way for "light industry and trucking stations." According to the reporter, Russell Harris, the windows in the area were recently broken by neighborhood children having a bit of fun. The schools and churches, however, were spared from the vandalism.