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Histories
of the Dally, the Alley, and the North Cass Community Union
Dally
History
What
began as an inner city art fair in 1977 evolved into a performing
arts festival when it was moved to its present alley and renamed
in 1982 to “DALLY IN THE ALLEY”, the title of a medieval
drinking song. Great musical talent, good beer and a remarkable
string of fabulous September weather has indelibly marked the alley
at Second and Forest in Detroit ’s Cass Corridor as the site
of the best music festival in the Midwest .
Gary
Grimshaw designed the first Dally poster in 1982, featuring Brian
Taylor’s
dancing cats, replicas of which grace a garage wall at Third
and Forest . Gary also created the 1986 and 1997 posters. Other
recent Dally poster artists include Steven Goodfellow (1996),
Glen Barr (1998), Kevin Stanislowski (1999), Mary Iverson (2000),
Jerome Ferretti (2001), and Shades (2002). The 2005 Dally Poster
was designed by Mark Heggie.
The Dally expanded beyond its original alley to include Forest
Avenue in 1997 and added the Urban Electronica stage on Second
Avenue in 1999. The skateboard ramps of 1999 were subsequently
banned by the police department, but new and weird events are added
every year.
Both
the quality and quantity of the food and art vendors has significantly
improved since our 1977 beginnings, and more than 100 participants
sell food, beer and things one can only find in the Cass Corridor.
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Alley
History
In
1866, Lewis Cass, Michigan Governor, first subdivided his enormous
farm and gave a portion to William A. Butler, which was bordered
by Putnam on the north side, Prentis on the south, and Second
and Third. Butler farmed the land until he died in 1890. Butler ’s
heirs began selling off lot size portions of the property in
1891 and sold off the farm lot by lot over the next 25 years.
It was during this subdivision that the alleys were laid out
as a home for horses and carriages.
As the streets of Detroit were paved, starting downtown and moving
outward, trolley lines extended and utilities installed, home building
followed the city services. The first homeowner on this block was
Phillip Van Zile, an attorney and later circuit court judge who
built his home on Forest in 1891 and lived there until his death
in 1919.
Second and Third Avenues were paved with cedar at the turn of
the century, and Forest Avenue was paved with brick west of Woodward
to Third. Luxury apartment buildings sprang up along both Second
and Third starting downtown and northward during this period. By
1904, Renaud Fiats and Forest Arms were full of tenants, but the
block surrounded by Forest , Hancock, Second and Third remained
sparsely developed.
On
this block in 1899 there were only five houses – four
on Forest and one on Second. Nothing was built on Third or Hancock
until 1912. In 1904, Horace Dodge purchased one of the Forest houses.
More significantly, he constructed the famous garage in the rear,
and here it is believed that he developed his own motor car, working
for Henry Ford by day and with his brother by night.
By 1910, the Winthrop had been built on Second. It was the first
and only apartment building on the block until 1912 when the Hollender
went up on the corner of Second and Forest . In 1913, the Hyesta
and Netherland opened. Third Avenue had nine residences including
a boarding house occupied by five unrelated persons. Many of the
apartment buildings were built by neighborhood residents. In 1913,
LaBelle and Blanche Altman built the LaBelle apartment building
on Second and made two of the six apartments their home.
In
1914, the new Wellesley on Hancock was then the largest and most
luxurious apartment building. The Sherbrooke opened the same
year, owner occupied by Roselee Ginsberg. In 1917, the Goldberg
brothers (Jacob lived at 70 Prentis) borrowed $75,000 to build
the Hancock Court Apartments; this, the last of the Dally blocks’ apartment
buildings, opened in 1918 next door to the Wellesley . The Goldbergs
leased the corner store at Forest and Third to the Kroger Grocery
and Baking Company in 1925. Kroger later moved to Second and Prentis
(now Parker’s) and the Yono family, many of whom were born
in the townhouses at Third and Hancock, now operate their drug
store on this site.
These
beautiful buildings are still used very much as they were intended.
They provide comfortable homes and a sense of community in an
urban development. New houses and lofts are surrounding the alley,
further evidence of the viability of the city in general and
North Cass in particular. And the alley which they surround is
perfect for the community fair that we’ve all come to
know as the Dally in the Alley.
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North
Cass Community Union History
The
North Cass Community Union (NCCU) is a non-profit organization
that began as a neighborhood effort to prevent the “urban
removal” of the gracious, historic buildings on the north
side of Forest between Second and Third by the City of Detroit
in 1976. The project gained support when it was discovered that
Horace and Anna Dodge resided at 642 W. Forest from 1904 to 1908,
with Horace building a garage workshop for himself in 1905. The
Dodge brothers, John and Horace, rolled out their first Dodge automobile
in 1906, and it was likely fabricated at this location.
The wonderfully designed garage was a source of neighborhood
pride until it was demolished by brick scavengers in 1989. The
bricks were saved, however, and detailed architectural plans were
drawn from photographs which will allow for the accurate reconstruction
of the building in the near future. The NCCU has plans and money
to construct an urban garden park and restore the Dodge carriage
house on vacant land at Second and Hancock, less than 100 feet
from its original location. Although the Detroit City Council voted
against selling the land to the NCCU in March 2002, the group has
not given up its goal of building the historic garage.
Proceeds from the Dally in the Alley benefit the NCCU. The organization
has used the Dally proceeds to fund the environmental lawsuit against
the City of Detroit trash incinerator, provide roaming security
during the nighttime hours, and grant scholarships to enable neighborhood
children to attend the Art Center Music School. Currently in the
works are plans to donate Michigan-themed books or books authored
by local residents to the Detroit Public Library and a plan to
light the Dally alleys to make it safer for residents when walking
to and from their houses and apartments. Additionally, the NCCU
will donate a portion of the 2005 art auction proceeds to the Charles
H. Wright Museum of African American History.
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