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Detroit, Michigan, circa 1908. "Crowd at Belle Isle Park casino." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
My parents got married in the replacement casino in 1954. I've got lots of pictures of the interior that I should post. I no longer live in Detroit, but I believe the replacement casino got a big update a few years ago.
Is that guy in the foreground a graying werewolf or did he just puff out some cigar smoke?
The whole composition appears to be a blurred whirl of activity around the still center of the boy in the cap with his hands behind his back, staring at the camera.
This wouldn't have been a place for gambling, thus all the kids, one of whom seems to have an armload of presents. Originally, casino was another name for a ballroom or place of entertainment. Johann Strauss II, the Waltz King, often premiered his music at places like Dommayer's Casino in Vienna, which was a ballroom.
Built in 1887, torn down in 1908. (Hey, at least it didn't burn!) Replaced by a still existing Casino building.
The "Belle Isle Casino" was an open air building for decades on Detroit's Belle Isle, in the Detroit River. But it never was what we consider the "Casino" term today. No gaming in any form. It was just a nice place with tables and some food attractions then and forever more.
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