Bus stop shelters.... I'm sure most of you are probably familiar with them. Back in 2008 (when this article was first written), under the city's DDOT bus system, nearly 175 bus stop shelters could be found among the approximately 6,000 bus stops erected along the 45 bus routes within the city of Detroit. The purpose of these shelters are to provide greater protection for waiting passengers, and — under current DDOT policies — are placed only at locations that have 75 or more average boardings per day. Although now fairly common along city bus routes, the first of these type shelters made their appearance nearly 60 years ago.

According to the June, 1955 edition of The DSR Reporter (an employee publication), the first bus shelter in the city was erected on W. McNichols at Southfield Road and placed into service on Monday, May 9, 1955. The McNichols Road shelter was the first of ten passenger loading shelters to be initially erected by the DSR. By July, four more shelters had been erected; at E. Warren and Conner, Plymouth and Southfield, Seymour and Hayes, and Schaefer and Fort. Other bus shelters were soon to be erected at the following intersections: Outer Drive-Conant, Outer Drive-Van Dyke, Gratiot-Conner, Joy-Wyoming, and Pontchartrain-Seven Mile.

The new shelters cost between $900 and $1,000 each and were built on a steel frame with aluminum sash and roof. DSR officials at the time told The Detroit News that if the first ten shelters prove popular others would soon follow.

In the above photo, taken by The Detroit News on May 9, 1955, passengers can be seen boarding a DSR inbound Second Blvd. bus from the city's first bus stop shelter on W. McNichols and Southfield. If you look close enough you might be able to see the "Wet Paint" signs that are still taped to the shelter.