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"Grand River Avenue and Greenfield Road marked the center of a community bustling with retail, recreation, faith, and civic pride during the 1950s. Once a rural farming village, the neighborhood gained popularity following the World War II housing boom. New schools were built, local businesses filled storefronts, and the area prospered for 20-plus years until suburban life, facilitated by new superhighways, beckoned white, middle-class residents and business owners to abandon life in the city. Like a microcosm of Detroit, the neighborhood echoed the trend commonly called white flight. Today, strip malls have replaced national retailers and once well-manicured homes are in disrepair; however, another wave of dramatic change is promised as the city targets the area for urban renewal."--Back cover.
About the author
Joseph McCauley lived one block from the Grand River Avenue and Greenfield Road intersection between 1951 and 1978. He went on to study journalism at Wayne State University and has retired after 30 years of service with the US Postal Service in Royal Oak. In addition to local archives, this collection of images was curated from the albums of many who remain nostalgic for the old neighborhood.
