(DN_36201_3) Ethnic Communities, Irish, Neighborhoods, Corktown, 1960

Architectural details are highlighted in this photograph of a Civil War era Corktown home. A notice from the Detroit Housing Commission posted on its porch proclaims its forthcoming demolition and denounces 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 before razing 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.