Detroit’s First Greyhound Bus Terminal, 1937 (Plus Some Old Michigan Bus Depots)

I never had to take a bus to school, as all I had to do was walk a block to get to it. But I remember the first time I took a real bus trip. When the time came, I was hesitant.

I was not looking at it as some kind of adventure whatsoever. I must've been no older than ten years old when my uncle passed away. He lived in Kansas, and my mom wanted to get out there for the funeral. My dad couldn't go as his work kept him here. My sister didn't wanna go, so I got stuck. I didn't want to go either, but I also didn't want my mom to go alone. As time drew closer, I was dreading the trip more & more each day. I have nothing against taking a bus trip, but because of that childhood incident, I never took another one.

Okay, I take that back...I did have to take the bus again once – when I was drafted and they bussed all of us to Detroit. Boy, that was fun.

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England had busses in 1910, when they began implementing the first mass-produced (double-decker) bus in London. As for Greyhound, their busses kicked off in 1914, when Carl Wickman picked up a bunch of miners in a Hibbing, Minnesota saloon. He took fifteen cents a piece for the drive and took 'em four miles to the mine. Hatching a plan, he  turned his seven-seat Hupmobile into a ten-seater and the bus was born. Originally named the Mesaba Transportation Company, that soon changed. During the early 1920s, one of the busses was grey and thin...which kinda reminded Carl of a greyhound dog. So the company name was therefore changed to “Greyhound.” By 1930, they adopted the image of an actual greyhound dog as their logo mascot.

Although Detroit already had a bus system, the city's first Greyhound bus terminal opened in May 1937 at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Grand River Avenue. 50,000 people turned out for the opening! At the time, it was the largest and most modern bus terminal in the United States. The Greyhound garage, filled with mechanics, opened in 1948 at 2300 W. Fort Street...and it there to this day.

The gallery below includes a good many photos of busses depots from around Michigan going back a good number of decades!

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