Lost Detroit: Stories Behind the Motor City's Majestic Ruins

By Dan Austin

Lost Detroit tells the stories behind 12 of the city's most beautiful, all-but-forgotten landmarks and of the people behind them, from the day they opened to the day they closed. While these buildings might stand as ghosts of the past today, their stories live on within these pages. The team behind BuildingsofDetroit.com brings you the memories of those who caught trains out of the majestic Michigan Central Station, necked with girlfriends in the balcony of the palatial Michigan Theatre, danced the night away at the Vanity Ballroom and kicked out the jams at the Grande Ballroom. As Detroit Free Press Architecture Critic John Gallagher said, the buildings in these pages "held a central place in the story of Detroit's Auto Century. It was America's story, too. Detroiters lived, loved, toiled, played, celebrated and dreamed great dreams in these buildings and thereby helped shape a nation."

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Aug 2, 2010
• ISBN: 9781625842374

Dan Austin

Dan Austin is a former Detroit Free Press journalist who served as Mayor Mike Duggan’s deputy communications director before joining Van Dyke Horn public relations. He has been chronicling Detroit’s history for more than a decade and runs the online architectural resource HistoricDetroit.org. He is the author of Lost Detroit and Forgotten Landmarks of Detroit.

Reviews for Lost Detroit

[annbury_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great book. The author takes pains to first, use different examples of architecture, including churches, dance halls, movie palaces, train stations and office buildings, and second to find outeverything that he can about the history, including the latter years, when the property was open to all of the elements, including thieves and vandals.

[jwood652 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book highlights many of the awesome buildings in Detroit that are continuously deteriorating at the hands of scrappers, taggers and natural forces. The author's lnformative and compelling text and the photographs, both black and white and color, deliver a wonderful story of these magnificent structures. I was so fortunate to attend a presentation, at the local library, by the photographer, Sean Doerr, who shared many incredible picture's from his massive database. Some of these, such as Cass Tech High, where my aunt and uncle met, have been demolished since the book was published.

Here's the list:
Broderick Tower
Cass Technical High School
Eastown Theatre
Grand Army of the Republic Building
Grande Ballroom
Lee Plaza
Metropolitan Building
Michigan Central Station
Michigan Theatre
United Artists Theatre
The Vanity Ballroom
Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church

[kevinyezbick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lost Detroit stands apart from other recent offerings in Detroit's ruin porn collection with it's "stories behind the motor city's majestic ruins." While the photos offer a beautiful and fascinating glance inside the shuttered windows and locked doors of a dozen buildings, the words of the author partner well with the city's slogan, Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus. Brief histories, but engaging in their quick and short reads. A wonderful chance to get beyond the pale, into the heart of the passion so many share for their city.