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Night Alley: 1931

Cleveland circa 1931. "Night alley to Terminal Tower." Amazing shot from an 8x10 negative by the undeservedly obscure Theodor Horydczak. View full size.

Cleveland circa 1931. "Night alley to Terminal Tower." Amazing shot from an 8x10 negative by the undeservedly obscure Theodor Horydczak. View full size.

 

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Below is the same view from July of 2016.

More Horydczak, please

I first discovered Theodor Horydczak's work in the late '90s, in the "Washington as it Was" collection on the LoC's American Memory site. A lot of his work was architectural, of both commercial buildings and private residences.

Dating the Photo

Upon closer inspection, the Higbee Department store next to the Terminal is not there yet - the Midland building can be seen where the Higbee building is today (located on Prospect Ave. just behind the Terminal). Higbee was built in 1931 and the Terminal opened in 1930, so the image would appear to be from 1930.

Let's Get Down To Business

It all began innocently enough on Tuesday.

I was sitting in my office on that drizzly afternoon listening to the monotonous staccato of rain on my desktop and reading my name on the glass of my office door. "Regnad Kcin."

It was quiet....

a little too quiet. I knew he'd gone this way but I can't see around corners.
The butt of my pocketed Police Special felt warm to my hand, comforting.

Re: The alley today

The first present-day view is one block too close; the alley still exists as others have pointed out. Unfortunately, Google Street View did not drive this alleyway. It'd be cool if a local would take a picture from the exact same location and post it!

Frozen in Time

I walk through this alley daily on my way to the office on the 9th floor of the Higbee building (just out of view to the left of the Terminal Tower). The building on the immediate right is gone and a portion of the plaza for the "55" building is there now (built I believe in 1958). Otherwise the view is exactly the same. Just a wonderful image.

Re: The alley today

Regarding the location of the alley, it actually still seems to exist as W. 2nd St. (at Frankfort Street). The features of the building below on the right taken from Google Street View seem to match those of the building on the immediate left in the photograph (the Google view is looking toward where Horydczak would have been standing, northwest on W. 2nd St., with the tower behind the vantage point).

The alley today

It seems to be about where this Crosswalk is today, the buildings that framed the Alley are gone and a Park is in their place.


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Lights on in the Greenbrier Suite

I wonder if poor old Oris P. and Mantis J. Van Sweringen were there when the photo was shot.

Cleveland Noir

What a great looking building. I'm glad it's still around! I love to drive by it when I go to Cleveland.

Film Noir Redux

The next shot will be the door of Sam Spade's office and his voiceover "I new the dame was trouble the minute she walked in with that helpless look on her pretty face." All the while Harlem Nocturne playing in the background.

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