--- description: Photographer Sean Hemmerle finds an elegiac sign of America's fading industrial might in the crumbling urban ruins of the Motor City title: The Remains of Detroit image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) # The Remains of Detroit by [TIME](/author/time/) Dec 4, 2008 5:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Dec 4, 2008 5:00 AM CUT Photographer Sean Hemmerle finds an elegiac sign of America’s fading industrial might in the crumbling urban ruins of the Motor City ### Michigan Central Station  Once the city's primary passenger depot, Central Station has not been used since 1988\. Photographer Hemmerle sought out Detroit's derelict buildings as part of a project exploring how far America has fallen. "Industry is one of the things that we let go that we need to get back," he says. Sean Hemmerle ### Hastings Street  About working in downtown Detroit, Hemmerle comments, "It was odd. Everywhere we went in the Rust Belt, people told us, 'Be careful. Detroit is very dangerous.' But all of the people we met when we were working were really, really kind." Sean Hemmerle ### Michigan Central Station  Hemmerle's project, photographed in March, took on a new resonance once global markets collapsed in the fall. "America was once the standard bearer for quality," he says. "In transitioning from a production economy to a service economy, we gave away something that we didn't understand the importance of." Sean Hemmerle ### Michigan Central Station, Exterior  Opened in 1913, the terminal was designed by the architects Warren & Wetmore and Reed & Stern, the same firm that designed New York City's Grand Central Terminal. "It's staggering," says Hemmerle, "that such a phenomenal piece of architecture could stand empty for 20 years." Sean Hemmerle ### Fisher Body Plant No. 21  Abandoned in 1991, the Fisher plant was originally built to produce Buick and Cadillac bodies. Sean Hemmerle ### Fisher Body Plant No. 21, Interior  The pyramid in the middle of the floor was constructed by artist Scott Hocking. Sean Hemmerle ### Fisher Body Plant No. 21, Interior  The former automotive plant offers a half-million square feet of floor space to prospective developers. Sean Hemmerle ### Bellevue Avenue  Though Central Detroit still contains many functioning businesses, large portions of the downtown area are occupied by abandoned structures. Sean Hemmerle ### The Michigan Theatre  Built in 1926, this glorious building functioned as a performance space until 1976, when it was converted into a parking garage. Sean Hemmerle ### Packard Automobile Manufacturing Plant  Many of the derelict structures are used by homeless people. Sean Hemmerle ### Former Housing Plots  "On many occasions," Hemmerle says, "I had the feeling I was working in a postapocalyptic environment." Sean Hemmerle The Remains of Detroit - Photo Essays - TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7063674/the-remains-of-detroit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7063674/the-remains-of-detroit/"},"headline":"The Remains of Detroit","datePublished":"2008-12-04T05:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:45:41.848Z","description":"Photographer Sean Hemmerle finds an elegiac sign of America's fading industrial might in the crumbling urban ruins of the Motor City","url":"https://time.com/archive/7063674/the-remains-of-detroit/","keywords":["LightBox"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME","url":"https://time.com/author/time/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7063674/the-remains-of-detroit/","name":"The Remains of Detroit"}}]}] ```