Howell, Mich. street scene

verso: Things reached a fever pitch in 1915 as the Wolverine Paved Way was nearing completion. A brick road from Detroit to Lansing would be finished and the town's main street would finally be paved. In this photograph autos had started from Lansing and picked up others in all the small towns on the way to Howell for the big celebration. As you can see, they didn't worry about parking. They stopped their cars in the street and left them. Before Prohibition, Howell was known as the fun city of Southern Michigan, and there is said to have been 13 bars in the main four blocks of town. All the travelling men made it a point to stay over in Howell whenever possible. It was said that you could not fall down on the main street of town without falling into the doorway of a bar. This probably explains the empty cars after a long dusty trip. Notice, too, that about half the cars are still right hand drive.

Huron Street

postmark dated

Main Street

postmark dated

Street at night Greenville, Mich.

on front of photograph: 1909/Electric Lights/Note Cross Walk/Cobble Stone Gutters; 1910/Main Street paved with Brick & Curb