Detroit, Michigan

“ Though Governor Cass did his best to overcome this prejudice, for years settlers preferred to gather mainly about Detroit, leaving the rich interior to fur-traders. When enlightenment eventually came, population poured in with a rush. Detroit—which was a village in 1820—became ten years later a thriving city of thirty thousand and the western terminus of a steamboat line from Buffalo, which year after year multiplied its traffic. By the year 1837 the great territory lying east of Lake Michigan was ready for statehood. ”

“ But owing to the rise of the other towns on the lake, the great increase of commerce, and Michigan having been admitted as a State into the Union, with Detroit as its capital, a large Eastern population has now poured into it, and Detroit will soon present an appearance very different from its present, and become one of the most flourishing cities of America. Within these last six years it has increased its population from two to ten thousand. ”

“ The wholesale business of Detroit is very large. Its merchants do the larger part of the wholesale business through the entire state of Michigan and in parts of northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. They even furnish certain supplies to some parts of Canada. Dry goods, drugs, hardware, and groceries are the principal things in which Detroit wholesalers deal.
Detroit has also many large retail stores, which supply not only the people who live in the city of Detroit but those in the surrounding country as well. ”

“ It has not the old and settled state of New York behind it, nor the great canal. Michigan, of which Detroit is the capital, has been recently settled, and that only in the southern parts. The fur trade was for years its{88} main dependence, and that has of late fallen off very much. As man invades the recesses of the forest, the animals retreat before him. Detroit has, however, felt the wind in her sails, and is rapidly following after her southern sisters. Of this, the increase of population is one proof—2,222 being their number in 1830, and 1839, 9,278. ”

“ Detroit (285) , the largest city in Michigan, U.S., a great manufacturing and commercial centre, situated on a river of the same name, which connects Lake St. Clair with Lake Erie; is one of the oldest places in the States, and dates from 1670, at which time it came into the possession of the French; is a well-built city, with varied manufactures and a large trade, particularly in grain and other natural products. ”

“ Detroit is served by the Michigan Central, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, the Wabash, the Grand Trunk, the Père Marquette, the Detroit & Toledo Shore Line, the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton and the Canadian Pacific railways. Two belt lines, one 2 m. to 3 m., and the other 6 m. from the centre of the city, connect the factory districts with the main railway lines. Trains are ferried across the river to Windsor, and steamboats make daily trips to Cleveland, Wyandotte, Mount Clemens, Port Huron, to less important places between, and to several Canadian ports. ”

“ First into Detroit, formerly the French Fort Pontchartrain, and now become the capital of Michigan State. Opposite Detroit runs the Canadian shore, to which we are borne by a steam ferry boat, and where the same contrast strikes me as at Niagara. On the American side I find a very pretty town, with all the comforts of civilisation, a scene of hard-working activity. On the Canadian shore I see a village of poor cottages, surrounded with apple orchards, like a village in Normandy, in front of which the red sentry marches up and down, as stiff as an automaton. ”

“ Secondly, that was it not for the purpose of comprehending the settlement of Detroit within the jurisdiction of the new government a more compact and better shaped District for a State would be for the above described line to proceed from the Miami Fort and village along the river of that name to Lake Erie, leaving in that case the settlement of Detroit and all the territory north of the rivers Miami and St Joseph's between the Lakes Erie, St Clair, Huron, and Michigan to form hereafter another State equally large, compact and water bound. ”

“ The climate here is the very best in America, although the State itself is unhealthy. The land near the town is fertile. A railroad from Detroit already extends thirty miles through the State; and now that the work has commenced, it will be carried on with the usual energy of the Americans.
Left Detroit in the Michigan steam-vessel for Mackinaw; passed through the Lake St. Clair, and entered Lake Huron; stopped at a solitary wharf to take in wood, and met there with a specimen of American politeness or (if you please) independence in the gentleman who cut down and sold it. ”

“ An adequate force is maintained to give the Detroit business the attention it merits, and it is the intention to add to this force from time to time, until a complete ttaff of writers and solicitors is at work in the Michigan metropolis. ”

“ Then too, by the lakes, Detroit can reach all of the American lake ports, and from Buffalo, through the Erie Canal, it can even reach New York.
The many railroads which serve Detroit give it excellent communication with all parts of the United States. The Michigan Central Railroad dives under the river, from Detroit to Windsor, through one of the most remarkable tunnels in the world. For years the cars of the Michigan Central Railroad, both passenger and freight, were carried across the river on ferryboats. ”

“ Clair Flats beyond its mouth, keeping that lake shallow, and requiring the long ship canal to maintain navigation. Below Lake St. Clair, the wider Detroit River presents many fine bits of scenery, while the city of Detroit spreads for several miles along the northwestern bank, and has Windsor opposite, on the Canadian shore. Pretty islands dot the broadening stream below Detroit, and the varying width, with the bluffs on the Canadian side, and the meadows, fields and forests of Michigan, give lovely views. ”

“ The industry is well distributed throughout the State, and is the third largest of the State's manufactures. The manufacture of cars is another of the State's leading industries, and a thriving chemical manufacturing business is located in Detroit. The advantages of Detroit for transportation, being located conveniently for lake navigation, and at the point of union between the railroad systems of Canada and the States, make that city the largest manufacturing centre in the State. ”

“ Detroit was the name then selected be cause of the presence in the community of a number of Michigan people . Detroit post office was established October 16 , 1891 , with Varmess G. Danforth first post master . DEVILS BACKBONE , Clackamas County . This is a narrow divide between Sandy and Bull Run rivers . It was named in pioneer days because of the great difficulty emigrants experienced in getting their wagons past the place . DEVILS BACKBONE , Crater Lake National Park , Klam ath County . ”

“ Have you any relatives living in the West? He said he had two sisters living in Michigan, in the town of Dearborn. Why, said I, I have been in the town often and am well acquainted there I know a good many of the people. It is ten miles west of Detroit on the Chicago road. ”

“ Ann Arbor is fast becoming one of the most beautiful little cities in the country, with winding streets, shaded by noble maples and elms and many of the original forest oaks, and lined by substantial homes, charming in their simple architecture and setting. This development came at first, as was natural, largely from the Faculty, but an increasing number of families from Detroit and elsewhere have of late come to make Ann Arbor their permanent residence, attracted by the unusual beauty of the city and the advantages afforded by the University. ”

“ DINNING, JAMES, Pvt., 1265 15th St., Detroit, Michigan. DUING, HENRY, Cook, 277 W. 134th St., New York City. DWIGHT, SAMUEL, Pvt., Decatur, Michigan. ECKHOUT, FRED, Pvt., 815 May Ave., Detroit, Michigan. ECKHOUT, HENRY, Pvt., 815 May Ave., Detroit, Michigan. EDDY, FRANK A., Pvt., Mayfield, New York. EVANS, CHARLES, Pvt., 804 Grand Ave., Connorville, Indiana. FARQUER, ROBERT F., Farrier, Route 1, Blanchester, Ohio. FIELD, BYRON, Pvt., 1302 1st St., Jackson, Michigan. FLACHSMAN, MATTHEW, Pvt., 830 Benitean St., Detroit, Michigan. FOURNIER, FLOYD, Pvt., 508 Porter St., Detroit, Michigan. ”

“ A large mileage, however, was early recorded for the southern part of the State, and railway construction has steadily spread to the northward, until recently almost every region is well supplied with railway advantages. Detroit ranks first among the lake ports in the amount of its exports, and second in the amount of its imports. The customs districts Huron and Superior also have a large foreign trade, and a small trade is done from the Michigan district. ”

“ So far had civilization progressed in a little over a year. By that time there were nine log houses in the little settlement, which had already begun to take its place as one of the way-stations in the general tide of westward travel. For some time, however, communication with Detroit was difficult, and it was not until two years before the University was opened that the long-awaited railroad actually reached Ann Arbor. Therefore, for many years the little settlement had to be largely self-supporting. Such water power as the Huron could furnish was quickly developed ”

“ Our route lay through the wild and but partially inhabited countries of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, for about five hundred and eighty miles, to Detroit, the capital of the State of Michigan, situated at the head of Lake Erie.
The first day we rode seventeen miles through a beautiful plain, or prairie. Our route was a most delightful one.
On all sides, as we turned our eyes, we beheld a boundless field of grass and flowers, with here and there a small grove of timber; the landscape was level or diversified with gentle swells; the surface smooth as a garden; the soil extremely rich ”

“ But with the rapidly growing population, envious eyes were soon cast on these tracts by immigrants, many of whom settled on these sections as squatters, to make endless trouble in the future with their conflicting claims. The first lands definitely set aside were selected by the Trustees of the old University of Detroit in 1827 within the limits of what is now the city of Toledo. ”

“ The Captain says 'every man on deck and look out for himself.'" Mr. Purdy was too sick to get up. The good old steamer weathered the storm and landed safely at Detroit.
Father said that Michigan was a beautiful country, that the soil was as rich as a barn-yard, as level as a house floor, and no stones in the way. (I here state, that he did not go any farther west than where he bought his land.) He also said he had bought eighty acres of land, in the town of Dearborn, two and a half miles from a little village, and twelve miles from the city of Detroit. ”

“ PRITCHARD, HARRY S., Pvt., Decatur, Michigan. PRESTON, WILLIAM E., Pvt., 2905 W. Fort St., Detroit, Michigan. RACE, HENRY, Pvt., 18 1st St., Oakwood, Michigan. RAY, BEN H., Pvt., Milton, West Virginia. REEVES, MATTHEW, Pvt. 1st class, 631 Lorain Ave., Detroit, Michigan. RHODES, FINLEY J., Pvt., 296 Baker St., Detroit, Michigan. ROWSTON, FRANK A., Pvt., 435 Cass Ave., Detroit, Michigan. ROSENAW, LOUIS, Pvt., 990 Lillibridge St., Detroit, Michigan. ROWLEY, CLARENCE, Pvt., 183 E. North St., Geneva, New York. RUTHERFORD, MELVIN M., Pvt., 269 Baker St., Detroit, Michigan. ”

“ The populations of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties were 2,666,751; 907,871; and 625,309, respectively, in 1970. Detroit, the State's largest city, is located in Wayne County.
In the 1970-1971 school year, there were 2,157,449 children enrolled in school districts in Michigan. There are 86 independent, legally distinct school districts within the tri-county area, having a total enrollment of approximately 1,000,000 children. In 1970, the Detroit Board of Education operated 319 schools with approximately 276,000 students. ”

“ This movement toward forming local bodies began in Detroit in 1869, and quickly spread, so that by 1876 the Michigan graduates as far west as San Francisco were organized. While the primary reason for the existence of these clubs is the maintenance of the social and sentimental ties inspired by the common love of their members for the University, stimulated usually by an annual dinner and, in many cities, by weekly or monthly luncheons, they have begun to discover means more positive and useful to justify their existence. ”

“ In few, if any, other American cities of equal size are the streets and avenues kept so clean. The Grand Boulevard, 150 ft. to 200 ft. in width and 12 m. in length, has been constructed around the city except along the river front. A very large proportion of the inhabitants of Detroit own their homes: there are no large congested tenement-house districts; and many streets in various parts of the city are faced with rows of low and humble cottages often having a garden plot in front. ”

“ Under the Constitution of Michigan, art. 8, § 25 (as revised 1908) , it is provided that no city or village shall grant any public utility franchise, which is not subject to revocation at the will of the city or village, unless such proposition shall first have the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the electors. ”

“ The supreme court of Michigan affirmed the decision of the circuit court, that the franchises had expired, and that all rights of the railway to occupy the streets and to maintain and operate its railway had terminated, and held that the common council of the city might require the railway to cease the operation of its cars, and might also require the railway to remove its tracks from the streets, and provided the minimum time in which the railway should be compelled to comply with the demands of the common council. ”