8453 Dearborn Street
United States Post Office, USPS Delray Branch
I’ve been curious about this building for ages but struggled to find the information that I’m looking for about it. Despite believing most of what’s in this piece is correct, it’s impossible to say with certainty that a few dates are accurate. If you have any information to offer, I’d love to hear it!
This structure was built to be a new post office in Delray. The former one was on West Jefferson next to the Zolkower Department Store. By the time the 1940s rolled around, fewer Detroiters were walking or taking public transit around, and the old post office became problematic because it didn’t offer much parking. A new building was built to provide those from Delray and elsewhere a place to park their cars and go inside and to modernize how the mail was sorted and delivered to Detroiters.
The new location would back up to the old one; you could throw a rock from the entrance of one to the other if you had a good arm. The new structure, pictured here, was built around 1953. The old post office may have been in use until around 1955. Despite the promise of better parking, a dedicated lot may never have actually been built.
Despite having a stable population in the 1950s, Delray began seeing hard times as the decades passed. By the 1960s, the population loss was palpable and would only worsen.
On Wednesday, September 30, 1970, the Delray Post Office Branch closed. According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, it had operated for 64 years, dating the old one back to 1906. That’s the same year Delray was annexed into Detroit.
The closure notice also claimed that it had been housed for the last eight years in a leased space at 7453 Dearborn Street, which appears to be a misprint, as that’s an address near the water intake station that Ford built.
After the post office closed, Delray’s postal operations were split up between the nearby offices. Those living or working west of the Rouge River were served by River Rouge and were allowed to keep their 48217 area code. According to the Detroit Free Press, anyone east of the Rouge River was grouped into the Springwells branch, meaning that their area code was changed to 48209.
Considering the large area abandoned by the USPS, window service was contracted out at Fox Hardware at 8000 West Jefferson Avenue. The hardware store had closed by 1986, so there was no more dedicated office in Delray by that time despite still having a somewhat sizable population.
The structure pictured here, 8453 Dearborn Street, was used for various odd jobs after ceasing to be used as a post office.
In 1973, Richard Montanbault and Dan Vukmirovich had a studio space here. They designed a hemispheric movie theatre that “produces a wraparound, total immersion viewing experience.” They hoped to sell the design and create immersive theatres across the country.
Some members of the Return to Old Delray, Old Detroit Facebook Group remember it being used as a pallet shop and a scrap yard. At some point, it became a place for the owner to store random things.
At the close of 2023, the structure was owned by Richard Truchan, the same person who owns the former Ideal Bar across West Jefferson. The one-time Post Office appears to be in solid shape, but I haven’t seen anyone in and out of there in years. I used to see somebody occasionally moving things and some dogs in the fenced area, but it’s been a while.
Hopefully, this structure can be saved. It isn’t the most architecturally significant, but it’s one of the few pieces of Delray’s history that still stands and is viable.
Considering how much of Delray has been demolished, I’m not holding out much hope.
