Detroit
Detroit (French: Détroit, lit. 'strait') is the largest and most-populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of Wayne County. The municipality of Detroit had a 2019 estimated population of 670,031, making it the 24th-most populous city in the United States. The metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area, and 14th-largest in the United States. Regarded as a major cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music and as a repository for art, architecture and design, along with its historical automotive background.
Detroit is a major port on the Detroit River, one of the four major straits that connect the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The City of Detroit anchors the second-largest regional economy in the Midwest, behind Chicago and ahead of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and the 13th-largest in the United States. Detroit is best known as the center of the U.S. automobile industry, and the "Big Three" auto manufacturers General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis North America are all headquartered in Metro Detroit. As of 2007, the Detroit metropolitan area was the number one exporting region among 310 defined metropolitan areas in the United States. The Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among the most important hubs in the United States. Detroit and its neighboring Canadian city Windsor are connected through a highway tunnel, railway tunnel, and the Ambassador Bridge, which is the second busiest international crossing in North America, after San Diego–Tijuana.
In 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, the future city of Detroit. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, it became an important industrial hub at the center of the Great Lakes region. The city's population became the 4th-largest in the nation in 1920, after only New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia, with the expansion of the auto industry in the early 20th century. As Detroit's industrialization took off, the Detroit River became the busiest commercial hub in the world. The strait carried over 65 million tons of shipping commerce through Detroit to locations all over the world each year; the freight throughput was more than three times that of New York and about four times that of London. By the 1940s, the city's population remained the fourth-largest in the country. However, due to industrial restructuring, the loss of jobs in the auto industry, and rapid suburbanization, Detroit entered a state of urban decay and lost considerable population from the late 20th century to the present. Since reaching a peak of 1.85 million at the 1950 census, Detroit's population has declined by more than 60 percent. In 2013, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, which it successfully exited in December 2014, when the city government regained control of Detroit's finances.
Much of what is below is taken from Detroit's Wikipedia page, modified to suit the needs of a world of rising darkness.
Detroit's diverse culture has had both local and international influence, particularly in music, with the city giving rise to the genres of Motown and techno, and playing an important role in the development of jazz, hip-hop, rock, and punk music. The rapid growth of Detroit in its boom years resulted in a globally unique stock of architectural monuments and historic places. In 2015, Detroit was named a "City of Design" by UNESCO, the first U.S. city to receive that designation. Unlike in the real world, where the population of Detroit is increasing in many key areas, our fictional Detroit continues to struggle. Abandoned buildings are all too common, the crime rate soars and police are often ineffective or corrupt. With many potential victims who can easily slip through the cracks, supernatural threats have found modern-day Detroit to be an ideal hunting ground. The increasing number of disappearances among the poor and indigent of Detroit came to the attention of the DHS-PIG around a decade ago, leading to them opening a branch office downtown, inside the Renaissance Center, in Tower 600.
Detroit and the rest of southeastern Michigan have a hot-summer humid continental climate which is influenced by the Great Lakes like other places in the state. Winters are cold, with moderate snowfall and temperatures not rising above freezing on an average 50 days annually, while dropping to or below 0 °F on an average 6 days a year; summers are warm to hot with temperatures exceeding 90 °F on 15 days. The warm season runs from May to September. The monthly daily mean temperature ranges from 23.6 °F (−3.6 °C) in January to 76.6 °F in July. Official temperature extremes range from 105 °F on July 24, 1934, down to −21 °F on January 21, 1984; the record low maximum is −4 °F on January 19, 1994, while, conversely the record high minimum is 80 °F on August 1, 2006, the most recent of five occurrences. A decade or two may pass between readings of 100 °F (38 °C) or higher, which last occurred July 17, 2012. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 18 thru April 25, allowing a growing season of 175 days.
Precipitation is moderate and somewhat evenly distributed throughout the year, although the warmer months such as May and June average more, averaging 33.5 inches annually, but historically ranging from 20.49 inches in 1963 to 47.70 inches in 2011. Snowfall, which typically falls in measurable amounts between November 15 through April 6 (occasionally in October and very rarely in May), averages 42.5 inches (108 cm) per season, although historically ranging from 11.5 inches in 1881–82 to 94.9 inche in 2013–14. A thick snowpack is not often seen, with an average of only 27.5 days with 3 in (7.6 cm) or more of snow cover. Thunderstorms are frequent in the Detroit area. These usually occur during spring and summer.
In our version of Detroit, winters are a little colder and longer, summers a little hotter, and the city a fair amount more dangerous than the real world Detroit. It is critical we do not let this city with its history and potential fall victim to the predations of monsters. We must hunt them.
Detroit's diverse culture has had both local and international influence, particularly in music, with the city giving rise to the genres of Motown and techno, and playing an important role in the development of jazz, hip-hop, rock, and punk music. The rapid growth of Detroit in its boom years resulted in a globally unique stock of architectural monuments and historic places. In 2015, Detroit was named a "City of Design" by UNESCO, the first U.S. city to receive that designation. Unlike in the real world, where the population of Detroit is increasing in many key areas, our fictional Detroit continues to struggle. Abandoned buildings are all too common, the crime rate soars and police are often ineffective or corrupt. With many potential victims who can easily slip through the cracks, supernatural threats have found modern-day Detroit to be an ideal hunting ground. The increasing number of disappearances among the poor and indigent of Detroit came to the attention of the DHS-PIG around a decade ago, leading to them opening a branch office downtown, inside the Renaissance Center, in Tower 600.
Detroit and the rest of southeastern Michigan have a hot-summer humid continental climate which is influenced by the Great Lakes like other places in the state. Winters are cold, with moderate snowfall and temperatures not rising above freezing on an average 50 days annually, while dropping to or below 0 °F on an average 6 days a year; summers are warm to hot with temperatures exceeding 90 °F on 15 days. The warm season runs from May to September. The monthly daily mean temperature ranges from 23.6 °F (−3.6 °C) in January to 76.6 °F in July. Official temperature extremes range from 105 °F on July 24, 1934, down to −21 °F on January 21, 1984; the record low maximum is −4 °F on January 19, 1994, while, conversely the record high minimum is 80 °F on August 1, 2006, the most recent of five occurrences. A decade or two may pass between readings of 100 °F (38 °C) or higher, which last occurred July 17, 2012. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 18 thru April 25, allowing a growing season of 175 days.
Precipitation is moderate and somewhat evenly distributed throughout the year, although the warmer months such as May and June average more, averaging 33.5 inches annually, but historically ranging from 20.49 inches in 1963 to 47.70 inches in 2011. Snowfall, which typically falls in measurable amounts between November 15 through April 6 (occasionally in October and very rarely in May), averages 42.5 inches (108 cm) per season, although historically ranging from 11.5 inches in 1881–82 to 94.9 inche in 2013–14. A thick snowpack is not often seen, with an average of only 27.5 days with 3 in (7.6 cm) or more of snow cover. Thunderstorms are frequent in the Detroit area. These usually occur during spring and summer.
In our version of Detroit, winters are a little colder and longer, summers a little hotter, and the city a fair amount more dangerous than the real world Detroit. It is critical we do not let this city with its history and potential fall victim to the predations of monsters. We must hunt them.
Demographics
The census of 2010 for the Metro Detroit region reported 70.1% White, 22.8% African American, 0.3% Native American, 3.3% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.2% of the population. Arab Americans were at least 4.7% of the region's population.
According to the United States Census Bureau, as of July 2018, approximately 79.1% of those residing in the City of Detroit proper are African American. Most but not all of the suburban cities are still predominantly white. In the 2000s, 115 of the 185 cities and townships in Metro Detroit were over 95% white. Of the more than 240,000 suburban blacks in Metro Detroit, 44% lived in Inkster, Oak Park, Pontiac, and Southfield. Highland Park and Hamtramck, two cities surrounded by Detroit, have a similar split with Highland Park being 93% African American but Hamtramck only 15%. In Wayne County, the city of Dearborn has a large concentration of Arab Americans, mainly Lebanese. Recently, the area has witnessed some growth in Albanian, Asian and Hispanic populations. Immigration continues to play a role in the region's projected growth with the population of Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint (CMSA) estimated to be 6,191,000 by 2025.[4]
Government
A mayor and 9 city council members are responsible for governing Detroit.
Industry & Trade
Several major corporations are based in the city, including three Fortune 500 companies. The most heavily represented sectors are manufacturing (particularly automotive), finance, technology, and health care. The most significant companies based in Detroit include General Motors, Quicken Loans, Ally Financial, Compuware, Shinola, American Axle, Little Caesars, DTE Energy, Lowe Campbell Ewald, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and Rossetti Architects.
About 80,500 people work in downtown Detroit, comprising one-fifth of the city's employment base. Aside from the numerous Detroit-based companies listed above, downtown contains large offices for Comerica, Chrysler, Fifth Third Bank, HP Enterprise, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and Ernst & Young. Ford Motor Company is in the adjacent city of Dearborn. Thousands of more employees work in Midtown, north of the central business district. Midtown's anchors are the city's largest single employer Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University, and the Henry Ford Health System in New Center. Midtown is also home to watchmaker Shinola and an array of small and startup companies. New Center bases TechTown, a research and business incubator hub that is part of the WSU system.
About 80,500 people work in downtown Detroit, comprising one-fifth of the city's employment base. Aside from the numerous Detroit-based companies listed above, downtown contains large offices for Comerica, Chrysler, Fifth Third Bank, HP Enterprise, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and Ernst & Young. Ford Motor Company is in the adjacent city of Dearborn. Thousands of more employees work in Midtown, north of the central business district. Midtown's anchors are the city's largest single employer Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University, and the Henry Ford Health System in New Center. Midtown is also home to watchmaker Shinola and an array of small and startup companies. New Center bases TechTown, a research and business incubator hub that is part of the WSU system.
Infrastructure
The shipyards of Detroit are still busy with ships carrying cars and other manufactured goods away from the city.
There are four connections to Canada from Detroit (see Geography for more details). As the American city closest to Toronto, the most populous city in Canada, there is brisk commercial traffic across these points, and facilities close to the riverfront of the city to accommodate shipping concerns.
Tourism
In the real world, because of its unique culture, distinctive architecture, and revitalization and urban renewal efforts in the 21st century, Detroit has enjoyed increased prominence as a tourist destination in recent years. The New York Times listed Detroit as the 9th-best destination in its list of 52 Places to Go in 2017, while travel guide publisher Lonely Planet named Detroit the second-best city in the world to visit in 2018.
However, in our darker version of the city, the revitalization has not taken hold. Tourism has not spiked to the Motor City, despite all it has to offer. Even without this surge of tourism, there are still many cultural events that draw crowds to the Paris of the Midwest.
Detroit is one of 13 U.S. metropolitan areas that are home to professional teams representing the four major sports in North America. Since 2017, all of these teams play in the city limits of Detroit itself, a distinction shared with only three other U.S. cities. Detroit is the only U.S. city to have its four major sports teams play within its downtown district.
There are three active major sports venues in the city: Comerica Park (home of the Major League Baseball team Detroit Tigers), Ford Field (home of the NFL's Detroit Lions), and Little Caesars Arena (home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and the NBA's Detroit Pistons). A 1996 marketing campaign promoted the nickname "Hockeytown". Many of the area's prominent museums are in the historic cultural center neighborhood around Wayne State University and the College for Creative Studies. These museums include the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Historical Museum, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Science Center, as well as the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Other cultural highlights include Motown Historical Museum, the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant museum, the Pewabic Pottery studio and school, the Tuskegee Airmen Museum, Fort Wayne, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID), and the Belle Isle Conservatory.
In 2010, the G.R. N'Namdi Gallery opened in a 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) complex in Midtown. Important history of America and the Detroit area are exhibited at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, the United States' largest indoor-outdoor museum complex. The Detroit Historical Society provides information about tours of area churches, skyscrapers, and mansions. Inside Detroit, meanwhile, hosts tours, educational programming, and a downtown welcome center. Other sites of interest are the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak, the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle, and Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills.
The city's Greektown and three downtown casino resort hotels serve as part of an entertainment hub. The Eastern Market farmer's distribution center is the largest open-air flowerbed market in the United States and has more than 150 foods and specialty businesses. On Saturdays, about 45,000 people shop the city's historic Eastern Market. The Midtown and the New Center area are centered on Wayne State University and Henry Ford Hospital. Midtown has about 50,000 residents and attracts millions of visitors each year to its museums and cultural centers; for example, the Detroit Festival of the Arts in Midtown draws about 350,000 people. Annual summer events include the Electronic Music Festival, International Jazz Festival, the Woodward Dream Cruise, the African World Festival, the country music Hoedown, Noel Night, and Dally in the Alley. Within downtown, Campus Martius Park hosts large events, including the annual Motown Winter Blast. As the world's traditional automotive center, the city hosts the North American International Auto Show. Held since 1924, America's Thanksgiving Parade is one of the nation's largest. River Days, a five-day summer festival on the International Riverfront lead up to the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival fireworks, which draw super sized-crowds ranging from hundreds of thousands to over three million people.
An important civic sculpture in Detroit is The Spirit of Detroit by Marshall Fredericks at the Coleman Young Municipal Center. The image is often used as a symbol of Detroit and the statue itself is occasionally dressed in sports jerseys to celebrate when a Detroit team is doing well. A memorial to Joe Louis at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward Avenues was dedicated on October 1, 1986. The sculpture, commissioned by Sports Illustrated and executed by Robert Graham, is a 24-foot long arm with a fisted hand suspended by a pyramidal framework.
Artist Tyree Guyton created the controversial street art exhibit known as the Heidelberg Project in 1986, using found objects including cars, clothing and shoes found in the neighborhood near and on Heidelberg Street on the near East Side of Detroit. Guyton continues to work with neighborhood residents and tourists in constantly evolving the neighborhood-wide art installation.
There are three active major sports venues in the city: Comerica Park (home of the Major League Baseball team Detroit Tigers), Ford Field (home of the NFL's Detroit Lions), and Little Caesars Arena (home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and the NBA's Detroit Pistons). A 1996 marketing campaign promoted the nickname "Hockeytown". Many of the area's prominent museums are in the historic cultural center neighborhood around Wayne State University and the College for Creative Studies. These museums include the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Historical Museum, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Science Center, as well as the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Other cultural highlights include Motown Historical Museum, the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant museum, the Pewabic Pottery studio and school, the Tuskegee Airmen Museum, Fort Wayne, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID), and the Belle Isle Conservatory.
In 2010, the G.R. N'Namdi Gallery opened in a 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) complex in Midtown. Important history of America and the Detroit area are exhibited at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, the United States' largest indoor-outdoor museum complex. The Detroit Historical Society provides information about tours of area churches, skyscrapers, and mansions. Inside Detroit, meanwhile, hosts tours, educational programming, and a downtown welcome center. Other sites of interest are the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak, the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle, and Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills.
The city's Greektown and three downtown casino resort hotels serve as part of an entertainment hub. The Eastern Market farmer's distribution center is the largest open-air flowerbed market in the United States and has more than 150 foods and specialty businesses. On Saturdays, about 45,000 people shop the city's historic Eastern Market. The Midtown and the New Center area are centered on Wayne State University and Henry Ford Hospital. Midtown has about 50,000 residents and attracts millions of visitors each year to its museums and cultural centers; for example, the Detroit Festival of the Arts in Midtown draws about 350,000 people. Annual summer events include the Electronic Music Festival, International Jazz Festival, the Woodward Dream Cruise, the African World Festival, the country music Hoedown, Noel Night, and Dally in the Alley. Within downtown, Campus Martius Park hosts large events, including the annual Motown Winter Blast. As the world's traditional automotive center, the city hosts the North American International Auto Show. Held since 1924, America's Thanksgiving Parade is one of the nation's largest. River Days, a five-day summer festival on the International Riverfront lead up to the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival fireworks, which draw super sized-crowds ranging from hundreds of thousands to over three million people.
An important civic sculpture in Detroit is The Spirit of Detroit by Marshall Fredericks at the Coleman Young Municipal Center. The image is often used as a symbol of Detroit and the statue itself is occasionally dressed in sports jerseys to celebrate when a Detroit team is doing well. A memorial to Joe Louis at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward Avenues was dedicated on October 1, 1986. The sculpture, commissioned by Sports Illustrated and executed by Robert Graham, is a 24-foot long arm with a fisted hand suspended by a pyramidal framework.
Artist Tyree Guyton created the controversial street art exhibit known as the Heidelberg Project in 1986, using found objects including cars, clothing and shoes found in the neighborhood near and on Heidelberg Street on the near East Side of Detroit. Guyton continues to work with neighborhood residents and tourists in constantly evolving the neighborhood-wide art installation.
Architecture
The architecture of metropolitan Detroit continues to attract the attention of architects and preservationists alike. With one of the world's recognizable skylines, Detroit's waterfront panorama shows a variety of architectural styles. The post-modern neogothic spires of One Detroit Center refer to designs of the city's historic Art Deco skyscrapers. Together with the Renaissance Center, they form the city's distinctive skyline.
Detroit's architecture is recognized as being among the finest in the U.S. Detroit has one of the largest surviving collections of late-19th- and early-20th-century buildings in the U.S. Because of the city's economic difficulties, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed many of Detroit's skyscrapers and buildings as some of America's most endangered landmarks. The suburbs contain some significant contemporary architecture and several historic estates. In the late 19th century, Detroit was called the Paris of the West for its architecture and open public spaces, in keeping with the City Beautiful movement. Architects John and Arthur Scott designed the Wayne County Building (1897) in downtown Detroit. Expense was not a factor in construction of its lavish design. Topped with bronze quadrigas by J. Massey Rhind and an Anthony Wayne pediment by Edward Wagner, it may be America's finest surviving example of Roman Baroque architecture with a blend of Beaux-Arts. Stanford White, architect of Newport, Rhode Island's Rosecliff mansion, designed Detroit's Neoclassical Savoyard Centre (1900) at 151 Fort St. Belle Isle Park provides panoramic views of city skyline along the Detroit International Riverfront. Col. Frank J. Hecker House (1891), 5510 Woodward, designed by Louis Kamper after Château de Chenonceaux. The French-American architect Paul Philippe Cret designed the Detroit Institute of Arts which includes a 1,150-seat theatre in the Detroit's Cultural Center Historic District. Cret was educated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon then in Paris, and came to the United States in 1903 to teach at the University of Pennsylvania. Cret was also the architect of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Michael Graves designed the 2007 renovation and expansion of the Detroit Institute of Arts with its exterior covered in white marble. Harley, Ellington and Day designed the marble Neoclassical Horace Rackham Education Memorial Building (1941) also within the Cultural Center Historic District. French Gothic styled St. Paul Catholic Church (1899) in Grosse Pointe is among Metro Detroit's many historic churches. The Detroit area is home to light houses, yacht clubs, and many unique monuments. Examples include the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (1929) and the Beaux-Arts Hurlbut Memorial Gate (1894) at Waterworks Park. The Detroit Historical Society has compiled an incomplete list with more than 122 public sculptures and monuments just near the downtown area, while Detroit1701 lists many additional downtown monuments. Architects such as Cass Gilbert who designed the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. also designed the marble Detroit Public Library (1921) in the Cultural Center Historic District and Belle Isle's exquisite marble James Scott Memorial Fountain. Frederick Olmsted, landscape architect of New York City's Central Park, designed Detroit's 982-acre (3.97 km2) Belle Isle park. Marshall Fredericks' sculptures, which include the Spirit of Detroit, may be seen throughout the metropolitan area. Sculptor Corrado Parducci's work adorns many notable Metro Detroit buildings such as the Meadowbrook Hall mansion, the Guardian Building, the Buhl Building (1925), the Penobscot Building, the Fisher Building and the David Stott Building. Metro Detroit's many architecturally significant landmarks extend beyond the city and include the French Gothic St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church (1899) by Harry J. Rill in Grosse Pointe Farms, Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian (1958) in Bloomfield Hills by Wirt C. Rowland, and Christ Church Cranbrook (1928) by Bertram Goodhue in Bloomfield Hills. Eliel Saarinen was the architect for the Cranbrook Educational Community in the Metro Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. Eliel's son, the famed modernist Eero Saarinen, designed a complex of buildings in the suburb of Warren, Michigan for General Motors known as the GM Technical Center. Sculptor Carl Milles' numerous works in Metro Detroit include those at Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan such as Mermaids & Tritons Fountain (1930), Sven Hedin on a Camel (1932), Jonah and the Whale Fountain (1932), Orpheus Fountain (1936), and the Spirit of Transportation (1952) at the Detroit Civic Center.
Detroit's architecture is recognized as being among the finest in the U.S. Detroit has one of the largest surviving collections of late-19th- and early-20th-century buildings in the U.S. Because of the city's economic difficulties, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed many of Detroit's skyscrapers and buildings as some of America's most endangered landmarks. The suburbs contain some significant contemporary architecture and several historic estates. In the late 19th century, Detroit was called the Paris of the West for its architecture and open public spaces, in keeping with the City Beautiful movement. Architects John and Arthur Scott designed the Wayne County Building (1897) in downtown Detroit. Expense was not a factor in construction of its lavish design. Topped with bronze quadrigas by J. Massey Rhind and an Anthony Wayne pediment by Edward Wagner, it may be America's finest surviving example of Roman Baroque architecture with a blend of Beaux-Arts. Stanford White, architect of Newport, Rhode Island's Rosecliff mansion, designed Detroit's Neoclassical Savoyard Centre (1900) at 151 Fort St. Belle Isle Park provides panoramic views of city skyline along the Detroit International Riverfront. Col. Frank J. Hecker House (1891), 5510 Woodward, designed by Louis Kamper after Château de Chenonceaux. The French-American architect Paul Philippe Cret designed the Detroit Institute of Arts which includes a 1,150-seat theatre in the Detroit's Cultural Center Historic District. Cret was educated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon then in Paris, and came to the United States in 1903 to teach at the University of Pennsylvania. Cret was also the architect of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Michael Graves designed the 2007 renovation and expansion of the Detroit Institute of Arts with its exterior covered in white marble. Harley, Ellington and Day designed the marble Neoclassical Horace Rackham Education Memorial Building (1941) also within the Cultural Center Historic District. French Gothic styled St. Paul Catholic Church (1899) in Grosse Pointe is among Metro Detroit's many historic churches. The Detroit area is home to light houses, yacht clubs, and many unique monuments. Examples include the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (1929) and the Beaux-Arts Hurlbut Memorial Gate (1894) at Waterworks Park. The Detroit Historical Society has compiled an incomplete list with more than 122 public sculptures and monuments just near the downtown area, while Detroit1701 lists many additional downtown monuments. Architects such as Cass Gilbert who designed the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. also designed the marble Detroit Public Library (1921) in the Cultural Center Historic District and Belle Isle's exquisite marble James Scott Memorial Fountain. Frederick Olmsted, landscape architect of New York City's Central Park, designed Detroit's 982-acre (3.97 km2) Belle Isle park. Marshall Fredericks' sculptures, which include the Spirit of Detroit, may be seen throughout the metropolitan area. Sculptor Corrado Parducci's work adorns many notable Metro Detroit buildings such as the Meadowbrook Hall mansion, the Guardian Building, the Buhl Building (1925), the Penobscot Building, the Fisher Building and the David Stott Building. Metro Detroit's many architecturally significant landmarks extend beyond the city and include the French Gothic St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church (1899) by Harry J. Rill in Grosse Pointe Farms, Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian (1958) in Bloomfield Hills by Wirt C. Rowland, and Christ Church Cranbrook (1928) by Bertram Goodhue in Bloomfield Hills. Eliel Saarinen was the architect for the Cranbrook Educational Community in the Metro Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. Eliel's son, the famed modernist Eero Saarinen, designed a complex of buildings in the suburb of Warren, Michigan for General Motors known as the GM Technical Center. Sculptor Carl Milles' numerous works in Metro Detroit include those at Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan such as Mermaids & Tritons Fountain (1930), Sven Hedin on a Camel (1932), Jonah and the Whale Fountain (1932), Orpheus Fountain (1936), and the Spirit of Transportation (1952) at the Detroit Civic Center.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 142.87 square miles, of which 138.75 square miles is land and 4.12 square miles is water. Detroit is the principal city in Metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan. It is situated in the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region.
The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is the only international wildlife preserve in North America, and is uniquely located in the heart of a major metropolitan area. The Refuge includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along 48 miles (77 km) of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie shoreline. The city slopes gently from the northwest to southeast on a till plain composed largely of glacial and lake clay. The most notable topographical feature in the city is the Detroit Moraine, a broad clay ridge on which the older portions of Detroit and Windsor are located, rising approximately 62 feet (19 m) above the river at its highest point.[96] The highest elevation in the city is directly north of Gorham Playground on the northwest side approximately three blocks south of 8 Mile Road, at a height of 675 to 680 feet. Detroit's lowest elevation is along the Detroit River, at a surface height of 572 feet. Belle Isle Park is a 982-acre (1.534 sq mi) island park in the Detroit River, between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. It is connected to the mainland by the MacArthur Bridge in Detroit. Belle Isle Park contains such attractions as the James Scott Memorial Fountain, the Belle Isle Conservatory, the Detroit Yacht Club on an adjacent island, a half-mile beach, a golf course, a nature center, monuments, and gardens. The city skyline may be viewed from the island. Three road systems cross the city: the original French template, with avenues radiating from the waterfront, and true north–south roads based on the Northwest Ordinance township system. The city is north of Windsor, Ontario. Detroit is the only major city along the Canada–U.S. border in which one travels south in order to cross into Canada. Detroit has four border crossings: the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel provide motor vehicle thoroughfares, with the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel providing railroad access to and from Canada. The fourth border crossing is the Detroit–Windsor Truck Ferry, near the Windsor Salt Mine and Zug Island.
In 1805, Detroit experienced a devastating fire, which destroyed most of the city's French colonial architecture. Shortly afterward, Father Gabriel Richard said, Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus, meaning, We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes, which became the city's official motto. For Detroit, Justice Augustus B. Woodward devised a plan similar to Pierre Charles L'Enfant's design for Washington, D.C.. Detroit's monumental avenues and traffic circles fan out in a Baroque styled radial fashion from Grand Circus Park in the heart of the city's theater district.
Detroit's performance centers and theatres emanate from the Grand Circus Park Historic District and continue along Woodward Avenue toward the Fisher Theatre in the city's New Center. The ornate Fox Theatre (1928), by C. Howard Crane, near the Grand Circus is a National Historic Landmark which was fully restored in 1988. Crane also designed the Orchestra Hall along Woodward which is home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In Gothic revival design, St. John's Episcopal Church (1861) stands across from the Fox Theatre and beside Comerica Park along with Woodward Avenue's vintage street lights. Restored in 1996, the Detroit Opera House (1922), by Crane, faces Grand Circus Park. The grounds include antique statuary and old-fashioned water fountains. Architect Henry Bacon designed the Russell Alger Memorial Fountain (1921) in Grand Circus Park. The Russell Alger Memorial Fountain contains a classic Roman figure symbolizing Michigan by renowned American sculptor Daniel French.[
The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is the only international wildlife preserve in North America, and is uniquely located in the heart of a major metropolitan area. The Refuge includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along 48 miles (77 km) of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie shoreline. The city slopes gently from the northwest to southeast on a till plain composed largely of glacial and lake clay. The most notable topographical feature in the city is the Detroit Moraine, a broad clay ridge on which the older portions of Detroit and Windsor are located, rising approximately 62 feet (19 m) above the river at its highest point.[96] The highest elevation in the city is directly north of Gorham Playground on the northwest side approximately three blocks south of 8 Mile Road, at a height of 675 to 680 feet. Detroit's lowest elevation is along the Detroit River, at a surface height of 572 feet. Belle Isle Park is a 982-acre (1.534 sq mi) island park in the Detroit River, between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. It is connected to the mainland by the MacArthur Bridge in Detroit. Belle Isle Park contains such attractions as the James Scott Memorial Fountain, the Belle Isle Conservatory, the Detroit Yacht Club on an adjacent island, a half-mile beach, a golf course, a nature center, monuments, and gardens. The city skyline may be viewed from the island. Three road systems cross the city: the original French template, with avenues radiating from the waterfront, and true north–south roads based on the Northwest Ordinance township system. The city is north of Windsor, Ontario. Detroit is the only major city along the Canada–U.S. border in which one travels south in order to cross into Canada. Detroit has four border crossings: the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel provide motor vehicle thoroughfares, with the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel providing railroad access to and from Canada. The fourth border crossing is the Detroit–Windsor Truck Ferry, near the Windsor Salt Mine and Zug Island.
In 1805, Detroit experienced a devastating fire, which destroyed most of the city's French colonial architecture. Shortly afterward, Father Gabriel Richard said, Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus, meaning, We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes, which became the city's official motto. For Detroit, Justice Augustus B. Woodward devised a plan similar to Pierre Charles L'Enfant's design for Washington, D.C.. Detroit's monumental avenues and traffic circles fan out in a Baroque styled radial fashion from Grand Circus Park in the heart of the city's theater district.
Detroit's performance centers and theatres emanate from the Grand Circus Park Historic District and continue along Woodward Avenue toward the Fisher Theatre in the city's New Center. The ornate Fox Theatre (1928), by C. Howard Crane, near the Grand Circus is a National Historic Landmark which was fully restored in 1988. Crane also designed the Orchestra Hall along Woodward which is home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In Gothic revival design, St. John's Episcopal Church (1861) stands across from the Fox Theatre and beside Comerica Park along with Woodward Avenue's vintage street lights. Restored in 1996, the Detroit Opera House (1922), by Crane, faces Grand Circus Park. The grounds include antique statuary and old-fashioned water fountains. Architect Henry Bacon designed the Russell Alger Memorial Fountain (1921) in Grand Circus Park. The Russell Alger Memorial Fountain contains a classic Roman figure symbolizing Michigan by renowned American sculptor Daniel French.[
Natural Resources
Near Zug Island, the southwest part of the city was developed over a 1,500-acre salt mine that is 1,100 feet below the surface. The Detroit salt mine run by the Detroit Salt Company has over 100 miles of roads within.
Suggested Media
Movies
- Out of Sight
- Robocop
- Beverly Hills Cop
- Black Day in July (Gordon Lightfoot)
- 8 Mile (Eminem)
- From the D (Eminem, Trick Trick, and Kid Rock)
- Detroit vs. Everybody (Eminem, Royce Da 5'9", Big Sean, Danny Brown, Dej Loaf, Trick Trick)
Founding Date
1701
Alternative Name(s)
The Motor City, Motown, Renaissance City, City of the Straits, The D, D-Town, Hockeytown, The Automotive Capital of the World, Rock City, The 313, The Arsenal of Democracy, The Town That Put The World on Wheels, Tigertown, Détroit, Paris of the West
Type
Large city
Population
City of Detroit: 670K Metro Detroit: 5.6 million
Inhabitant Demonym
Detroiter
Included Locations
Characters in Location
Comments