Thursday, February 8, 2018

The Sad Tale of Fort Wayne, Michigan


Inside the city of Detroit is an old military fort along the Detroit River, 
just a mile from the Canadian shore. 


There was never a hostile shot fired from this fort, 
but it is believed it served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. 


 Formerly beautiful brick homes sit inside a star shaped fort. 
Desolate, forgotten and rotting.


 The fort was refurbished in the 1960s
but apparently left to decay once again under the 
care if the city of Detroit. 



If you've seen Detroit, you would understand. 
There isn't enough money to stop the massive decay throughout the city,
let alone an unused fort. 


But there ARE options to save this place.  
An example would be a fort we visited in Hampton Roads, Virginia. 

The similarly beautiful structures of Fort Monroe 
have been refurbished and rented cheaply 
to people willing to maintain their residence. 
It would be nice if this would happen at Fort Wayne. 


Admission to see Fort Wayne is free, 
But I wish they would charge a small fee 
to help with maintenance. 

For more photos of Fort Wayne click here


Fort Wayne 
6053 West Jefferson Avenue






6 comments:

Tamar SB said...

Wow - what a find!

MadSnapper said...

they are beautiful old buildings and it would be a great idea to make them into affordable housing, but not sure it would work since Detroit is in such bad shape. something like this in another place would be remodeled and sold for big bucks to the yuppies. I love love love that first photo, like they were stacked and built from blocks by a child. the perspective is perfect

Sarah Huizenga said...

Gosh I need to check this place out too. But Glen won't let me go to Detroit alone, and he doesn't travel over there often anymore.

likeschocolate said...

We lived in Michigan for three years and so I totally understand, but how sad! Too bad their isn't a heritage society who wants to protect these historical buildings for future generations.

betty-NZ said...

I had no idea! Thanks for sharing this piece of history. Maybe someone will care enough to preserve it :(

Jenny Woolf said...

What a shame that they are not properly restored. I too hope that someone has some creative solutions, and letting them go to people who would maintain them sounds like a great idea. Detroit sounds like such a sad place.