Website offers fascinating look at Detroit, now and then

 

I came across a fascinating website today called DetroitUrbex.com that provides dozens of then-and-now photos of the Motor City dating back to the late 19th Century.
The compelling aspect of this site is that it is interactive, allowing users to roll their computer mouse over a photo and instantly see a particular building or location in Detroit now and how it looked decades ago.

Some of the before-and-after shots are disheartening, as anyone familiar with Detroit's decline would expect. But some pics are quite uplifting, such as the two photos above of the Book-Cadillac Hotel, once one of Motown's most famous and glamorous hotels.
According to Detroit Urbex, everyone from Katharine Hepburn to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed there. Baseball legend Lou Gehrig collapsed on its grand staircase, marking the beginning of the end of his career. The hotel closed in 1984 and was left to rot. Today, the site declares, it has been reborn, a symbol of the city's latest renaissance.

After you've scanned the photos, there's a back story to this site that is intriguing. The photographers who put it together remain anonymous, apparently to avoid complaints about trespassing but also to avoid claims that the site blatantly engages in "ruin porn."
If you want, check out the irreverent FAQs page (foul language warning) that explains what DetroitUrbex is all about.