Until the Wayne County Road Commission was established in 1906, local roads and bridges in Dearborn were under the responsibility of the village and town government.
In this postcard image, the Dearborn Commandant’s Quarters is behind the trees to the left. To the right is a saloon building which replaced the Papke’s Ten Mile House Saloon that was destroyed by fire in the 1890s. The building later became Standard Auto Supply and was eventually integrated into a larger building that became Kiernan’s Restaurant.
The above postcards look east on Michigan Avenue toward the Monroe Street intersection. While their images may have been taken as early as 1900, the postcards were produced between about 1907 and 1915. In each of the images, an interurban train can be seen. It was effectively the commuter rail version of a streetcar and it ran between Detroit, Ann Arbor, and points westward. For many years, the interurban had a station on the north side of Michigan just west of Monroe. To the left of the images is a brick saloon building that later became part of Kiernan’s Restaurant. The turreted structure is the 1896 built Wagner Hotel. It was recently restored as part of the Ford Wagner Place development. The wooden building visible to the right is another saloon.
It should be noted on the last postcard that the airplane was photoshopped in by the postcards maker.
In addition to the Wagner Hotel, the above postcard of the Michigan and Monroe Street intersection shows the American State Bank building which was completed around 1918. Just to the north is the former Detroit Arsenal Gun Carriage Shed which had a second story added on to it while it served as a Masonic Temple during the early 1900s.
These postcards show shops along the south side of Michigan Avenue between Monroe and Mason probably between about 1907 and 1915.
These postcards show shops along the north side of Michigan Avenue between Monroe and Mason probably between about 1907 and 1915.
Dearborn Historical Museum 