History
The city's name comes from the Detroit River (in French le détroit du Lac Erie), meaning "the strait of Lake Erie," linking Lake Huron and Lake Erie, in the historical context the strait included Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River. Traveling up the Detroit River on the ship Le Griffon (owned by La Salle), Father Louis Hennepin noted the north bank of the river as an ideal location for a settlement. There, in 1701, the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded a settlement called Fort Détroit, naming it after the comte de Pontchartrain, Minister of Marine under Louis XIV. Francois Marie Picoté, sieur de Belestre (Montreal 1719–1793) was the last French military commander at Fort Detroit (1758–1760), surrendering the fort on November 29, 1760 to the British.
During the French and Indian War (1760), British troops gained control and shortened the name to Detroit. Several tribes led by Chief Pontiac, an Ottawa leader, launched Pontiac's Rebellion (1763), including a siege of Fort Detroit. Partially in response to this, the British Royal Proclamation of 1763, included restrictions in unceded Indian territories. Detroit passed to the United States under the Jay Treaty (1796). In 1805, fire destroyed most of the settlement. A river warehouse and brick chimneys of the wooden homes were the sole structures to survive. Detroit's city flag reflects this French heritage. (See Flag of Detroit, Michigan.)
From 1805 to 1847, Detroit was the capital of Michigan. As the city expanded, the street layout followed a plan developed by Augustus B. Woodward, Chief Justice of the Michigan Territory. Detroit fell to British troops during the War of 1812 in the Siege of Detroit, was recaptured by the United States in 1813 and incorporated as a city in 1815. Prior to the American Civil War, the city's access to the Canadian border made it a key stop along the underground railroad.
Many Detroiters volunteered to fight during the American Civil War. Following the death of President Abraham Lincoln, George Armstrong Custer delivered a eulogy to the thousands gathered near Campus Martius Park. Custer led the Michigan Brigade during the American Civil War and called them the "Wolverines."
Detroit's many Gilded Age mansions and buildings arose during the late 1800s. The city was referred to as the "Paris of the West" for its architecture. Strategically located along the Great Lakes waterway, Detroit emerged as a transportation hub. The city had grown steadily from the 1830s with the rise of shipping, shipbuilding, and manufacturing industries. In 1896, a thriving carriage trade prompted Henry Ford to build his first automobile in a rented workshop on Mack Avenue, and in 1904, the Ford Motor Company was founded. Ford's manufacturing — and those of automotive pioneers William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, and Walter Chrysler—reinforced Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital. The industry spurred the city's spectacular growth during the first half of the twentieth century as it drew many new residents, particularly workers from the Southern United States. Strained racial relations were evident in the trial of Dr. Ossian Sweet, a black Detroit physician acquitted of murder after he shot into a large mob when he moved from the all-black part of the city to an all-white area. With the introduction of prohibition, the river was a major conduit for Canadian spirits, organized in large part by the notorious Purple Gang.
Labor strife climaxed in the 1930s when the United Auto Workers became involved in bitter disputes with Detroit's auto manufacturers. The labor activism of those years brought notoriety to union leaders such as Jimmy Hoffa and Walter Reuther. The 1940s saw the construction of the world's first urban depressed freeway, the Davison and the industrial growth during World War II that led to Detroit's nickname as the Arsenal of Democracy. The city faced major challenges during the war as tens of thousands of workers migrated to the city to work in the war industries. Many of these migrant workers were blacks and whites from the U.S. south. Housing was difficult to find. The "color blind" promotion policies of the auto plants resulted in racial tension that had erupted into a full-scale riot in 1943.
With white flight to the suburbs, many Detroit inner-city neighborhoods endured a painful decline from the 1960s and 1970s leaving many areas of the inner-city with urban blight. The Twelfth Street riot in 1967 and court-ordered busing accelerated the white flight from the city. An extensive freeway system constructed in the 1950s and 1960s facilitated commuting. The percentage of black residents increased rapidly thereafter. Accordingly, the city's tax base began a steep decline. Retailers and small business owners departed the city in the wake of the increased crime rate. Within a few years large numbers of buildings and homes were abandoned, many remaining for decades in a state of decay. In 1973, the city elected its first black mayor, Coleman Young. Young's chaotic style during his five terms in office was not well received by many whites, who continued to leave the city in large numbers.
The gasoline crises of 1973 and 1979 shook the U.S. auto industry as small cars from foreign makers made inroads into the traditional dominance of the domestic automakers. High-paying manufacturing jobs became scarce. Acute heroin and crack cocaine use afflicted the city with the influence of Butch Jones, Maserati Rick, and the Chambers Brothers. Drug-related violence and property crimes rose, and many abandoned homes were demolished as they had become havens for drug dealers. Sizable tracts have reverted to a form of urban prairie with wild animals spotted migrating into the city. "Renaissance" has been a perennial buzzword among city leaders since the Twelfth Street riot, reinforced by the construction of the Renaissance Center in the late 1970s. This complex of skyscrapers, designed as a "city within a city," was unable to reverse the trend of businesses leaving the city's downtown.
In 1980, Detroit hosted the Republican National Convention which nominated Ronald Reagan to a successful bid for President of the United States. Four years later, the city again appeared on the national radar, but for unwanted reasons: rioting in the wake of the Detroit Tigers' World Series championship left three dead and millions of dollars in property damage.
In the 1990s, the city began to enjoy a revival, much of it centered downtown. Comerica Tower at Detroit Center (1992) arose on the city skyline. In the ensuing years, three casinos opened in Detroit: MGM Grand Detroit, Motor City Casino, and Greektown Casino which are now adding resorts. New downtown stadiums were constructed for the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions in 2000 and 2002, respectively; this put the Lions' home stadium in the city proper for the first time since 1974. The city hosted the 2005 MLB All-Star Game and the 2006 Super Bowl XL, both of which prompted many improvements to the downtown area. The city's riverfront is the focus of much development; in 2007, the first portions of the Detroit River Walk were laid, including miles of parks and fountains. More accelerated urban development in Detroit is a mainstay in the city's efforts to reinvent itself as a new Detroit through tourism, neighborhoods, and economic activity.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
