I deliberately choose this tired old structure to symbolize Delray, and its adjoining ethic neighborhood of Carbon Works. I cannot separate Carbon Works from Delray. To me they are one and the same. The tower is Delray, and Delray is the tower. It was the first thing I saw when I came here, and the last thing I saw when I left. It was the center of life as I experienced it in Delray. As a small child, this was my road sign to safe haven. Standing here I could walk East to one set of grandparents, and if I walked in the opposite direction for five minutes, I would arrive at the home of my other set of grandparents. For me all of my activities revolved around finding my way back to this tower..

 

Garlic Town

The railroad tower needs no explanation to anyone who has ever called Delray home. It is a gracious landmark and welcoming beacon to the countless Hungarian and Polish immigrants who found refuge in this small ethnic community straddling Dearborn Street just off W. Fort, and bounded by the River Rouge in Southwest Detroit. The ethnic presence was so predominant that when the streetcar would stop at Delray, the conductor would call out, “Garlic town,” as the distinct scent of garlic permeated the air

 

Visits to my Grandparents

As a youth I have vivid memories of visits to my grandparents. As soon as my fathers ’51 Chrysler, affectionately nick named, “The Blue Streak,” turned off of W. Fort onto Dearborn; all eyes strained for that first glimpse of the Delray Tower. Only then did we know that a long and tiring journey was at an end. Shouts of joy would erupt from the back seat of this auto that took almost three hours to travel 100 miles. We were finally there, and soon there would be all kind of good things to experience in our grand parent’s homes.

The Last Hurrah

The Delray tower was more then just a train tower. To me it symbolized everything that was good and great about growing up in Delray. I can still vividly remember tightly clutching my grandmother's hand as we took a shortcut to the butcher store while trying to cross all those train tracks, with so many trains in motion at one time. Very scary to a five year old. This is the soil my roots are buried in. Someday they will tear down this great landmark in the name of progress. The economics of maturity find no value in sentiment. When governments and business find it necessary to remove the landmarks of our culture in the name of growth, sooner or later they will also find a reason to remove the aged headstones from Woodmere Cemetery. Why not just tear down and abandon Ellis Island, we don’t use it any more; someone will suggest. When they tear down this cultural landmark, Delray will become just another urban orphan. Blight will become its destiny unless the grand children of Delray can unite, and contribute to the adoption, and preservation of this once significant landmark that towered graciously over the lives of countless immigrants, in this once vibrant and dynamic ethnic community.
When you saw the tower, you knew you were home.