Learn a little more about Detroit!
Long before Detroit came to be the largest city in Michigan, it was home to several Native American tribes. Some of those include Potawatomi, Ottawa, Ojibwa/Chippewa, Miami, and Huron. On July 24th, 1701, French explorer and adventurer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac established a settlement in Detroit.
For several years, the population grows slowly within the Fort Pontchartrain stockade but in 1740, farmer Jean Baptiste Baudry builds the first home outside the stockade.
In 1760, the British take control of Detroit as a part of the treaty to end the French and Indian War and find that the population at the time was only about 2,000.
In 1796 Detroit becomes a part of Wayne County, but it isn’t until 1815 that Detroit is incorporated as a city. In 1827 Detroit is divided into townships: Brownstown, Bucklin, Detroit, Ecorse, Hamtramck, Huron, Manguagon, Plymouth and Springwells.
When Michigan becomes the 26th state in 1837, Detroit is declared the capital until 1848 when the capital moves to Lansing.
Fun facts:
Campus Martius Park is considered Detroit’s point of origin for coordinates. This means that every mile road (six mile, seven mile, etc.) is that many miles away from the park.
The first mile of concrete was paved in Detroit at Woodward between six and seven Mile.
Detroit is the only city in the U.S where you can look South at Canada instead of North.
Detroit is home to the United States only floating post office called the J.W Westcott.
Martin Luther King Jr actually delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech in Detroit during the city’s Walk to Freedom before giving it in Washington the next month.
Things to do:
Michigan Science Center
5020 John R St
Detroit, MI 48202
Outdoor Adventure Center
1801 Atwater St
Detroit, MI 48207
Detroit Historical Museum
5401 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48202
Detroit Dart Club
6545 St Antoine St
Detroit, MI 48202
Motown Historical Museum
2648 W Grand Blvd
Detroit, MI 48208
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
315 East Warren Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
