This website is being touted as a complete rebuild of the Downriver Things website, begun in 2013 and last revised in 2019. As a result of this major format change to the WordPress provider, we have had to make changes, most importantly in the layout of how we present our material.
The blog function will be the heartbeat of the new site. What was once accessible by the “history” tab on top will now be grouped into sections of the blog in a specific year range. This, most importantly, is being done in an effort to conserve on bandwidth and sheer size. Remember, the latest Weebly edition was 93 pages in length, so to condense it will result in navigation ease.
Here are some images from OUR past:
What’s New (recently) around the website
This information has been redirected from the top of the homepage to make way for a worthy call seeking a podcast interviewer (volunteer) position as advertised by the Southgate Historical Foundation.
Here is our latest summary, dated June 24, 2026:
- All Photo Stories are now completed
- History timeline from 1701-1827 now complete
- Blog menu navigation display has improved
- Blog entries are still in the midst of a design overhaul, to be complete by August
- Video & multi-media page has been overhauled
- Ricky Nelson’s jacket journey now profiled
- Den Rooney’s story now on Urban Legend page
- Newest page to profile old website’s “Hall of Fame”
- Consistently working on obtaining full image credits on-site to their proper source(s)
Current project: Blog reconstruction very thorough
As of June 24, 2026 I have finally decided upon a permanent style for the blogs, which include an image displaying proper photo credits, as well as four navigation boxes, all to be located on the bottom of each blog entry. Through a little CSS coding (I am not immune to learning!), I was able to rid the blog bottoms of the mess that was left with backwards sequences, wayward entry suggestions, and improper use of spacing.
It also took me quite awhile to determine what the navigation buttons & photo credit box would look like while determining their own spacing allotment. By nature I am a perfectionist, and have been trying to get the same entry redesigned before I proceed to the others. This is also why I have not added anything yet prior to 1957 so far. I’ve extended my deadline goal to August 2026 as a result.
Former updates on the subject: May, 2026
I am back to updating and expanding the blog section, which has only ran from 1967-2026 since the last part of February (!). The crazy thing is, copying the information from the old site to the new blogs is relatively quick… guess I got distracted again.
The main focus on these additions will be from 1938-1946. Newspapers.com has records of the Wyandotte News-Herald for that time period. I am hoping that in a seven-day free trial of that site, I can obtain all the information I need to spice up those years before I have to pay for a subscription service.
Speaking of subscriptions, I am quite tempted to finally buy into the News-Herald online offer of $1.00 deposit, or $2.00 for two years. I want to be able to skip the fine-print, but I must be careful. There has been some indication on the web that the NH tries to scam subscribers into increased and hidden fees. I’m still not quite Nelson Rockefeller here, so I must continue to exercise caution. But at this point, I’m ready to throw my hands into the air and say, “Just do it,” as the NH has gotten better in-depth archives in recent years (at least from what I can tell).
Website updates almost included photo scare
In late May of 2026, the time for the monthly renewal of my Flickr account came about. Normally, it’s a nominal fee to keep the nearly 4,300 photos going. However, this May brought about major headaches and (almost) an all-out panic over what to do next.
The prompt came up on my cellphone menu that the Flickr transaction was denied due to funding. I figured out that problem rather quickly: I had obtained a new debit card to replace the old aged-out one, and I just needed to modify the Flickr payment method with a new expiration date.
It would not let me in. I could not see the payment methods, payment scheduling, or anything of that nature. I tried following all sorts of tutorial menus, thinking they had changed something major after all these years. Not the case. In this instance, I thought we were totally stuck in waving a fond farewell to all the 4,300 curated photos.
While I was looking up new photo sharing sites (there aren’t many which can do the job Flickr has), it was suggested that I back up what I had into my roommate’s computer. This definitely took me back to the original purposes of starting the Flickr account, which begat this website in the first place: it was only to be an unseen backup.
Long story short, the .zip files (which I haven’t accessed in many years) did not take too long to upload as folders: I still have to branch out the photos into online albums for best effect. I face a June 2nd deadline to open all the unzipped folders, so I do need to get cracking, so they say.
And I ended up with all the Flickr files saved anyway! Turned out they tried processing my card a day earlier than scheduled without trying to debit the alternate card. The following day, they did so. I won’t worry about it for now… that’s something for mid-June to consider.
How to reformat the “Hall of Fame?”
UPDATED JUNE 2026: This page will be renamed “Readers’ Choice” on this new website. It is in place, but hidden from view for right now as I try to figure out how to present the material, as referred to below.
Long-time followers will remember that we hosted four polls of people, places and restaurants that would meet a “Hall of Fame” status Downriver, compiled with votes received from the Downriver History & Facts Facebook page. Up to now, we have not included that roster on the WordPress reboot, but are looking for ways to do so without taking up as much bandwidth. If you know of a particular way to present the material, please contact us. You can refer to the original pages in archive by visiting the Weebly legacy site at this time.