Squint Shot 113010

Well, so long to an awesome month of "squint shots" from the air of the village of Fowlerville. We are heading west and this picture is taking looks somewhat east. There are experiences in life that you imagine will be pretty cool, but until I started looking through these pictures, I realized I did something that few have had the privilege -- that is what makes the internet so awesome. I am able to share all of these pictures. I hope you have enjoyed these aerials as much as I did -- not we are on to December. See you next month.

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Today and tomorrow ends this round of November aerial pictures. I hope you have enjoyed seeing Fowlerville from the sky. I've been trying to decide if I like seeing Fowlerville in my close-up "squinty-eyed" view when I take pictures of bricks, door treatments, intriguing inner-workings, and all the other myriad of things that catch my eye -- or to see it from a distance. Maybe it is a wash. It is good to see our hometown both up close and personal and from a few steps (or many feet) back.

Tomorrow's shot will be of the west side of the village where I snapped one more picture before we flew farther west to see what our home looks like from the air.

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As this month comes to a close, it is only fitting that it feels like we are flying off into the sunset. In this second sweep around the village, I yearned to have him swoop down to about 500 feet so I could get even more detail, but, alas, Scott, my willing pilot, had to climb to a higher altitude in order to keep us safely on our route. The item that stood out the most for me in this particular picture is of the old hotel on South Grand Avenue. It used to be a wooden structure, burning to the ground in 1901. This brick structure was completed sometime in 1902 and has stood ever since. It has gone through a few name changes and numerous remodelings, but it still remains over a hundred years later.

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This picture is very similar to yesterday's squint shot, except for the fact we had just crossed over South Grand Avenue. This is the photograph (although slightly cropped) on the back of my book, The Fowlerville Chronicles. If you check out the book's back cover, you will see more residential areas.When I had hoped and dreamed about this adventure, my one thought was to get a picture at this very angle in order to replicate a 1956 aerial I had found in the Fowlerville Historical Collection. I included that photograph in my book, which you can find on page 290. It is interesting to compare Fowlerville in 1956 to today's village. You can see many of the buildings of which I spoke about that no longer exist along South Grand Avenue.

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This is another great shot of the downtown area from about 1200 feet in the air. Starting at the upper left hand corner, a bit of the wing brace is visible but then the empty lot front on West Grand River is shown along with the buildings in the northwest quadrant.

The northeast corner shows all of those buildings, the public parking lot, the fire department and library buildings, and something that no longer exists. Does anyone have any ideas? (Hint: It has been torn down recently and I will be showing squint shots at a later date of that whole process.)

Onto the southeast quadrant, you can see the roofs of the buildings fronting on Grand River Avenue as well as all of the other buildings around the block. In the block south of this one, you can see the village offices.

Across South Grand Avenue, Curtis Grocery building and parking lots are visible in the same block with the old Ford garage. Can you imagine what that block may have looked like with a 2 1/2- story hotel building right at the southwest corner, and then one-and-two-story brick buildings lined along South Grand Avenue, all the way to the Baptist Church parking lot? All of those buildings slowly disappeared from about 1935 until the last one came down in the late 1970s.

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Ignoring the slight reflection off the glass (I didn't want to hang my camera out an open window as was suggested to me) and one of the braces for the wing, this is an excellent picture. It shows almost everything -- from the two churches on South Second Street (at the bottom of the photograph) to the now open Curtis Grocery store, west to the Waldecker Used Car lot, and the entire main four corners buildings. One note in particular, the "Lockwood Hotel," as it was called in the early 1900s is across South Grand Avenue from Curtis'. At present, all of the storefronts on the first floor are filled -- from Jazzercise, to a treasures store, Sozo's Coffee House, Bella Donna Hair Salon, and a photography shop. It is worth stopping and checking out.

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With the humid, breezy air, the second circle around the village did take us farther east than originally planned but this picture gives a great overall view of the main four corners and how West Grand River heads out of town.

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Two buildings that were hidden in yesterday's photograph can be found at the right hand side of today's. The Fowlerville Library and the Fowlerville Fire Department buildings can be seen on Mill Street -- did you know the grist mill (that stood three, maybe four, stories tall) occupied these two lots until into the late 1950s? It was eventually used by the fire department as an intentional burn, and then the buildings you see today were built in its place. At the center of the picture, the large empty lots can be seen. At one time, it was hoped to build more storefronts and office space, fronting on West Grand River, but those plans have been put on hold. These lots, though, carry the hidden ghosts of a rich history -- from being Fowler's Orchard in the mid-to-late 1800s, to the location of a roller skating rink (the place to be in the 1890s), to a lumberyard owned by numerous entrepeneurs, as well as the location for the old water tower and a used car lot.

As regards to Fowler's Orchard, I came across the following article, published in The Fowlerville Review in 1883:

Although the night was rather cold for ice cream, about 300 people gathered at R. Fowler's orchard on Wednesday evening in attendance at the lawn social. Several tents had been erected and the trees were liberally hung with Chinese lanterns, giving a very pleasing effect to the scene. The proceeds amounted to about $32.00.

And now for a commercial . . . if you are interested in reading more about the evolution of this land, be sure to pick up a copy of The Fowlerville Chronicles, either through this website or by giving me a call.

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Once past the school campus, Scott directed the plane closer to the downtown area than our first go-round. At this point, we were northeast of the main four corners. At the lower portion of the picture, the Senior Center is visible -- as the years have gone along, three different buildings have stood at or very close to this site -- the white, wooden school house, then the red brick school house, and eventually the North Collins Street school that some may still remember. A great deal of information can be found in The Fowlerville Chronicles regarding all three schools, including some interesting photographs when the last schoolhouse was demolished. But, I digress . . . back to the picture!

At the right hand side of the picture, the backs of the buildings in the northeast quadrant can be seen. This picture also gives a good reference point to how tall the township building is in relation to the Harmon building. At the far right of the picture, the Centennial Park gazebo can be seen.

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Earlier in the month, two squint shots showed both the high school and middle school from the air. As we made our second sweep around the village, I took this picture of more of the campus area.The only school missing in any of these shots is Kreeger Elementary. At the lower left corner, H.T. Smith Elementary can be seen. To its right, in the picture, is the former Munn Middle School, which is now being used by the parks and recreation program, as well as housing the Glad Center. At the right side of the shot, the school's track and part of the football bleachers can be seen.

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Beginning our second time circling the village in Scott Niblack's airplane, which you can see a picture of by heading back to the squint shot for November 1st, North Grand Avenue can be seen below at a slight diagonal from left to right. In the lower half of the picture, seen on the west side of North Grand, the new location for the Family Impact Center can be seen directly across from the high school parking lot. As I was doing research for The Fowlerville Chronicles, I learned a few interesting facts about that building. Did you know that building used to be the location for the Ford dealership? And do you know why? You can find the answers in the book, but if anyone would like to guess by commenting, I will confirm right or wrong.

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As with a few other photographs, the bottom of the wing can be seen at the top of the picture. This is a second shot of the Community Park as we flew along the north edge of it. The sledding hill, which can be seen at the right hand side of the shot, appears as nothing more than a bump, when at ground level it seems quite tall. How deceiving elevations can become from the air! The remaining portion of the "Rotary Mile," which was not visible in yesterday's show, can be seen as it winds along the tree-line at the north edge of the park.

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The following photograph, taken the day Scott Niblack and I flew around the village (twice), is of the Community Park on the north end of town, just south of the new Family Impact Center location and not far from the high school. One of the older lagoons at the wastewater treatment complex can be seen at the bottom right hand corner. This picture gives nearly a complete look at the "Rotary Mile," except for the northern portion that skirts the park's boundaries. If you have never taken a walk there, try to get to the park before the snow flies. My husband and I, along with our dog, KC, have enjoyed many walks there and always enjoy the sounds of nature, watching KC delight in all the smells, and for us to have a mile-long conversation.

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It was a hot, humid day when we flew around the village twice. The air was very heavy and very little breeze, but all the same, it was a bit bumpy. This aerial is taken from a higher altitude -- probably about the time, Scott adjusted our heighth in order to have a smoother ride. From this view, it is easily noticeable how the downtown proper, which has so much asphalt, is surrounded by trees. At the bottom left corner, a small portion of the "Rotary Mile" walkway can be seen, which is located at the Community Park. In the upper right hand corner, I-96 is visible.

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As we flew over the western edge of the village and the plane was turned eastward, I took this picture. I never had realized how the stream forked just north of Grand River Avenue -- one fork heading along the northern edge of the houses and the other alongside the fairgrounds -- well I suppose the flow is really that these two forks come together and head south. Anyhow, as we were completing this circle of the town, Scott began tightening the route so we would fly closer to the downtown. Be sure to check back each day through the end of the month for the next half of our fly-over.

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We ascended slightly higher just as I took this photograph. The wing is at the top of the picture and West Grand River Avenue runs straight through the middle. The car wash and Hungry Howie's are at the bottom of the shot.

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West Grand River runs diagonally from the left bottom toward the upper right side of the picture. Centennial Park is at the upper left hand corner. At this point in our fly-over of the village, we had just about completed our first circle. I was getting very excited to get even closer, hoping my trusty zoom camera wouldn't wear out its batteries too soon!

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By the time I took this picture, the airplane was now pointing northward. At the very bottom of the photograph, a portion of American Compounding can be see, with Veterans' Drive running to the left of it. Even though the downtown is looking rather small from this vantage point, it does provide a good view of this part of the village where the VFW Hall, CarQuest, CRI, Waldecker Used Cars, and other businesses are located.

Of interest or curiosity to me is what is that circle at the bottom left corner? Possibly someone playing on a quad behind these businesses?

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Today's aerial is at the southwestern part of the village, looking northeasterly. Beginning in the upper left hand corner, Centennial Park can be seen (note the teal-patena roof of the gazebo), then the upper center portion is the downtown proper, on the right hand side, down about halfway, the village offices can be seen, then Frank Street is at the bottom of the picture, with the Planet Video building toward the left side.

Squint Shot 111110

The following aerial was taken has Scott Niblack and I took our first sweep around the village. At this point, we were about over the railroad tracks, having just passed South Grand Avenue. The horizontal (and slightly diagonal) street toward the bottom of the picture is Frank Street. Later this month, there will be a photograph similar to this angle, but closer to the downtown.

As a side note, and one that isn't very pleasant, the two long white buildings at the bottom of the picture is the former location of Boltec (if you drive by the front of the building, you can still see the name on the front door). As I did research for The Fowlerville Chronicles, I found a few articles along about the mid-1970s regarding this industry. There were some issues between the company and the village council, and eventually the owner of the business relocated in Howell. But, in the meantime, this location was designated as an EPA Superfund site (and can be found on the EPA website) -- in other words, there was some contamination that went into the ground. At this date, I do not know the status of this land, but it would appear it is still not being used.