Main Street Looking North
Main Street in downtown Romeo has evolved a lot over the years. From horses and buggies and dirt roads, to streetcars and automobiles, see how Main Street has changed by looking at the historical photographs below.
Main Street in downtown Romeo has evolved a lot over the years. From horses and buggies and dirt roads, to streetcars and automobiles, see how Main Street has changed by looking at the historical photographs below.
This juxtaposition feature shows the evolution of Main Street Looking North in Romeo, Michigan. On the left, we have a historical image dating back to the early 1900s, and on the right, the current state of the building as it stands today (March 2025). This comparison highlights the changes over the years and serves as a reminder of the area's rich history.
This photograph depicts teenager Margeurite Proctor in 1918 taking a carriage ride down Main Street. Note the wood plank walkway behind the carriage.
Photograph of Main Street during the Peach Festival, 1940s
Photograph of Main Street during the Peach Festival, 1940s
Postcard of Main Street Looking North, 1940s
The Detroit United Railway’s interurban streetcars came to Romeo in 1898 and offered passenger and freight service to Detroit, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Flint, Rochester, Almont, and Imlay City. It ran up South Main Street, turned west at St. Clair Street (32 Mile Rd.) where there was a station (where Romeo Village Hall is today), then turned north on Morton Street, and then followed Van Dyke north. With the arrival of the automobile, the streetcar service ended in 1934.
“Romeo is a very historic place. It's all about tradition. Everybody who lives here values the history of Romeo, the traditions of Romeo, the culture of Romeo, because it's been around for nearly 200 years at this point.”
“I remember back in the early 90s, we came here for [the] Peach Festival, and it happened to be when they were redoing all of the county roads . . . and [there were] hundreds of thousands of people, it was packed. And we had my niece in this little, tiny stroller, and she's almost three, and you know, she's got the peach ice cream dripping off her face. She's just exhausted from all of the fun. And I sometimes walk past that same corner, I remember exactly where we were, and I hadn't lived here yet at that point, I was still just a visitor. But I think of that like, I can feel the heat, and I hear the people and the peach ice cream coming down her face, and I'm like, I remember being on this corner before I even lived here.”
