2012 Main Street received its second major makeover. New storm sewers and twelve-inch water mains were constructed on both sides of the street. A new concrete roadbed, sidewalks and curbs were constructed and new traffic signals and lamp posts . . . — — Map (db m219945) HM
Main Street has always been the lifeblood of any town. Rochester's Main Street (also known as Rochester Road or M-150) has seen a number of different modes of transportation like horses and buggies, electric streetcars, automobiles, bicycles and . . . — — Map (db m179744) HM
This depressed path, northwest across the Almon Starr land, is the last visible remnant of a trail worn by the feet of Indians and the hoofs of their horses traveling between Detroit and Saginaw until the mid 1800s.
The children of the American . . . — — Map (db m33002) HM
Saginaw Trail
The Saginaw Trail, running from Detroit to Saginaw through Pontiac and Flint, was originally an Indian trail. In 1816 Michigan territorial government authorized the building of a road from Detroit to Saginaw along the trail. . . . — — Map (db m33001) HM
With encouragement from Henry Ford and
his son, Edsel, in 1932, what is today
Lawrence Technological University
established its first campus in the former.
Henry Ford Trade School building adjacent
to the Model T assembly complex
in Highland . . . — — Map (db m226162) HM
It was a time of exciting change,
as the first automobiles tangled with horses and trolley cars in the streets and countryside. On June 23, 1902 a group of leading businessmen and industrialists came together at the Detroit . . . — — Map (db m105226) HM
The sparkling lake has been a gift to the generations
Pine Lake Country Club began as a treasured rustic destination for Automobile Club of Detroit road tours in the early 1900s. By 1910, the clubhouse on Pine Lake had become a . . . — — Map (db m105200) HM
The lakes and landscape of Oakland County weren't ready
for the automobile in the early 1900s. Weekend visitors, in noisy "self-propelled" vehicles, churned up dust on unpaved roads and trespassed on private property. To . . . — — Map (db m105049) HM
They turned on their porchlights to signal the bus
to pick them up for the ride to work at the Chrysler plant in Highland Park. In 1939 nine Westacres residents bought a used bus to share the cost of commuting to work. They formed the . . . — — Map (db m175749) HM
He was a man of vision and achievement,
and he called Haven Hill his "nerve retreat," his restful refuge. The only child of Henry and Clara Ford, Edsel Ford was born in 1893 and became the youngest president of Ford Motor Company in 1919. . . . — — Map (db m99082) HM
Michigan state parks welcomed the newly-mobile drivers
of automobiles in the early 1900s. Genevieve Gillette made it her life's work to preserve precious natural settings and make them available to the travelling public. In 1920 she began . . . — — Map (db m99055) HM
They came from around the world.
In the early 1920s, "weekend jaunts" in automobiles and on new roads brought day travelers to this countryside like never before, and also brought prominent people from around the world. The world of Edsel . . . — — Map (db m99075) HM
White Lake Township's first white settler, Harley Olmstead, came here from New York State in 1830. The township was set off in 1836. Beginning around 1837 daily stagecoaches and wagons hauling lumber traveled along the old White Lake Road, part of . . . — — Map (db m94793) HM
A city and industrial complex were born here
at almost the same time. In the 1950s, Ford Motor Company chose the Wixom Road site for a new automobile assembly plant. It had unique advantages, including nearby railroad tracks to use for . . . — — Map (db m159756) HM
This road is a story with many chapters.
On Pontiac Trail people have traveled on foot, on horseback and on wheels, tracing the story of Wixom and southeast Michigan. It was vital in prehistory as a Native American footpath, and in 1828 it . . . — — Map (db m136792) HM
John Gurney Park
Former state senator Theron Gurney and his wife, Helen, donated land to the village of Hart in 1912 for a park to honor their son, Lieutenant John Gurney (1871-1898), a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at . . . — — Map (db m106965) HM
In memory of
Thomas R. Wiseman, 1925-1979.
Mr. Wiseman, Chief Maintenance Engineer for the State Highway
System from 1976 1979, exemplified the skilled and dedicated
engineers who administer Michigans outstanding highway
system. His 30 . . . — — Map (db m235240) HM
Built by the Western Railroad Supply Company of Chicago, Illinois.
The Disappearing Banner Type Autoflag was designed to be placed at the side of the road, with the banner overhanging the roadway, plainly visible to approaching traffic.
This . . . — — Map (db m154227) HM
While W. Christian Gugel (1874-1930) was the treasurer of Saginaw County (1915-1920), he used his influence to ensure that the Dixie Hwy. Bridge was moved to span the Cass River at the Beyer Rd. location near his farm.
Because of his efforts it . . . — — Map (db m121627) HM
The southeast 100 block of Saginaw Street was home to many
businesses in the 1900s. Due to its ideal location on the corner of Main
and Saginaw Streets. Many businesses like Roussin's Market and
William F. Mills grocery store and bakery were . . . — — Map (db m239865) HM
People first crossed the St. Clair River using logs, rafts and canoes. Steam-powered ferries began carrying freight and people in the 1840s. The river current pushed tethered swing ferries from shore to shore. Later other ferries were used, and . . . — — Map (db m76014) HM
This tablet marks the intersection of the eastern line of the Indian Reservation surveyed in 1810 provided by the treaty made Nov. 17, 1807 between the U.S. Government and the Chippewa, Ottawa, Pottawattamie [sic], and Wyandotte Indians with the . . . — — Map (db m76101) HM
Here resided from 1835 to 1849
John Stewart Barry
Governor of Michigan, 1843-46; 1850-52
He was born January 29, 1802, in Amherst, New Hampshire; came to White Pigeon in 1831; to Constantine in 1834; kept a general store and . . . — — Map (db m73001) HM
(Front Side)
The Great Sauk Trail, which connected Detroit, Chicago and Green Bay, Wisconsin, crossed the St. Joseph River at a shallow spot in this vicinity. Responding to the westward migration of pioneers, the federal government . . . — — Map (db m64545) HM
US-12 developed from
the Sauk Trail, a much
earlier series of Native
American trails, and
eventually became the
primary route linking
Detroit and Chicago.
Early photographs of
US-12 through Sturgis
taken in the late 19th
Century show a . . . — — Map (db m220918) HM
In the middle of the 20th
Century the bricks that
once paved US-12 gave way
to asphalt and concrete
(above). As buildings rose
and fell in the downtown
area, one thing remained
the same US-12 formed
the heart of Sturgis as
shown by the . . . — — Map (db m220329) HM
The state highway system began with the State Reward Road program, created by the Michigan Legislature in 1905. The program provided "rewards" to local governments for road improvements made according to state standards. Horatio "Good Roads" Earle, . . . — — Map (db m160949) HM
One of the three great east-west routes of pioneer days, the Territorial Road from Detroit to St. Joe tapped the rich lands of the second "tier" of counties. Approved in 1829, the road was not surveyed through Van Buren County until 1835. Although . . . — — Map (db m68436) HM
From the hill above Plank Road in the 1870s (North Main Street today), you could look back toward where you are now standing and view sources of Ann Arbors early power and transportation. In the panorama find your location, along with the dam, . . . — — Map (db m182210) HM
Walker's, opened in 1907, was one of the city's largest liveries, with more than thirty horses and a wide variety of buggies, wagons, and sleighs for rent. Adelbert Walker lived next door and took great pride in his two teams of white Arabian . . . — — Map (db m177083) HM
This plaque marks East University Avenue, which served as the eastern boundary of the original forty acres of land deeded to the State of Michigan in 1837 by the Ann Arbor Land Company for the location of the University of Michigan. — — Map (db m109021) HM
Imagine standing in this very spot 100 years ago. Do you hear gears churning in the mill behind you? In front of you is a large pond that supplies water to power the mill. In the distance cattle are grazing in a field. Over the last 180 years, . . . — — Map (db m236117) WM
Native Americans came from the northeast down the Pontiac Trail from the east down the Broadway hill following a trail that went through what later became Plymouth, and from the southeast up the Huron River along the Potawatomi Trail from what . . . — — Map (db m181976) HM
Residents living on the west side in the 1870s drove their buggies or walked across the bridge over Allen Creek, climbing the Liberty Street hill to join the celebration of German American Day. In the distance you can see the rooftops of their . . . — — Map (db m236145) HM
In 1929 long-distance buses replaced the electric interurban for travel between Ann Arbor and other cities. The first interurban in the state had linked Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti in 1891. Junius Beal, UM Regent and one of the main stockholders, . . . — — Map (db m156609) HM
Once the site of a livery, a blacksmith shop, dairy bars and a garage
Park Street was created when Elisha Congdon's second land addition to the village was added in 1861. If was the first of three streets, south of the original village . . . — — Map (db m180112) HM
To commemorate
the first settlement
in Washtenaw County
Godfroy's on the Pottawatomie Trail
Established by Gabriel Godfroy in 1809 — — Map (db m235731) HM
Along the road, a welcoming tradition.
The road was once called the Sauk Trail, the Military Chicago Road, Congress Road, and, eventually, Michigan Avenue. For travel by foot, horse, stagecoach, truck, or automobile, it has endured as a . . . — — Map (db m98488) HM
The building has stories to tell
It can tell about first being built as an electric plant before being converted to manufacturing in 1905. There are memories of 1916 when it became the first Dodge dealership outside Detroit, later becoming a . . . — — Map (db m94320) HM
The early automotive industry came to Ypsilanti
just after World War I. In 1919, Apex Motor Corporation built a small factory on River Street just south of Michigan Avenue to manufacture various "Ace" vehicles. But by 1925 three . . . — — Map (db m98724) HM
Henry Ford wasn't the first to harness the flowing Huron River.
In the 1880s, dams built along the river through Ypsilanti provided waterpower to mills processing paper, wool, lumber, and grain. In 1931, Ford bought property along the river . . . — — Map (db m98723) HM
It's hard to count all the brands of automobiles
that were sold on the south side of Michigan Avenue. Right here, between the Huron River Bridge and Park Street, 17 auto dealers sold 31 different brands of cars and trucks during the 1900s. . . . — — Map (db m98722) HM
The building, originally occupied by the Ypsilanti Electric Company in 1896, became a Dodge automobile dealership in 1917. Joseph H. Thompson was one of the first Dodge dealers in Michigan. In 1933 Hudson Sales and Services opened its doors, later . . . — — Map (db m94400) HM
It was America's "first completely new car in fifty years"
and the vision in 1945 of Preston Tucker, who lived at 110 North Park Street in Ypsilanti. He was the general manager of his family's Ypsilanti Machine & Tool Company at 103 North . . . — — Map (db m98420) HM
Aaron Greeley
In 1796, when the United States occupied Michigan, there existed many conflicting land claims along the Detroit and Rouge Rivers. Congress in 1806 created a Board of Land Commissioners to adjust these claims. Aaron Greeley, an . . . — — Map (db m155577) HM
Side 1 In 1829 the Territorial Legislative Council of Michigan moved to survey land to create a road from the east side of Michigan Territory to the west. The act stated that the road would start at “Sheldons Inn,” a business . . . — — Map (db m173173) HM
During his long career Robert Herndon developed over fifty subdivisions and nine golf courses. In 1922 he opened the Dearborn Hills Golf Club. According to the Dearborn Times Herald, it was Michigan's first public golf course. Having been . . . — — Map (db m33663) HM
Here Henry and Clara Bryant Ford lived from 1915 until their deaths in 1947 and 1950. The eminent American auto magnate and inventor named Fair Lane after the road on which his father, William Ford, was born in County Cork, Ireland. The fifty-six . . . — — Map (db m31690) HM
At this intersection stood the home in which Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863. The farm house was owned by Ford's parents, William and Mary Ford, and in 1944 it was moved to Greenfield Village. In a space of less than ten years at the beginning . . . — — Map (db m32946) HM
in 1909 for his Daughter and her family.
Three layers of bricks, from the local Clippert Brick Yard, comprise the structure. The garage in the rear of the lot (formerly known as the barn), housed small livestock and chickens (the sounds of . . . — — Map (db m218320) HM
Dearborn has long been a transportation hub,
first by water and land, later by rail, air and automobile. The Rouge and Detroit rivers provided water transport to the Great Lakes. Major overland routes included the Sauk Trail (later the . . . — — Map (db m217374) HM
This distinctive neighborhood was born in 1919 and 1920.
In those years, Henry Ford built 156 homes for sale to his Dearborn Fordson Tractor Plant employees. The two-story, three- and four-bedroom homes were built with the most current . . . — — Map (db m120397) HM
One of history's great scientists worked here.
Renowned scientist George Washington Carver and Henry Ford became friends in 1936. Both were interested in developing synthetic rubber and plastics from soybeans, peanuts and cotton. Ford built . . . — — Map (db m120318) HM
The Ford Airport
At this airport, built by Henry Ford in 1924, world and national history was made, ushering in a new era of flight embracing the all-metal airliner, radio control devices, air mail, scheduled flights, and the airline services . . . — — Map (db m14956) HM
Conrad Ten Eyck (1782-1847) built a famous tavern in 1826 about 300 feet west of this marker--the first resting place of travelers, one day's trip west of Detroit. It stood on the River Rouge at a point where the Chicago Road forked. The northerly . . . — — Map (db m32498) HM
The Chicago Road was the way to go west from Detroit.
After the Erie Canal in New York state opened in 1825, great numbers of Americans searched for their future to the west across the Great Lakes. Many of them traveled on the Chicago Road, . . . — — Map (db m96775) HM
Wyoming Avenue has a vivid industrial history.
Brick-making flourished in the 1800s as companies like Clippert, Haggerty and Mercier took advantage of the area's rich clay deposits. Automakers competing with Ford later came to this east . . . — — Map (db m120434) HM
From 1942 to 1945, Ford Motor Company
completely shut down vehicle
manufacturing at The Rouge and
dedicated all its resources to military
production to support the war effort.
The giant complex produced the jeeps,
tanks, and trucks, as well as . . . — — Map (db m165402) HM
The Model A was the first passenger
vehicle produced at The Rouge. As the
replacement for the Model T, the
Model A was an instant hit. When the
car hit dealer showrooms, an estimated
10 million people stood in line for two
days just to get a . . . — — Map (db m165393) HM
A group portrait of the Ford
negotiating team in Washington D.C.
June 1941. Ford's first collective
bargaining agreement with the United
Auto Workers was considered to be
groundbreaking because it explicitly
prohibited discrimination based . . . — — Map (db m165391) HM
Henry Ford began construction of this complex on the banks of the River Rouge in April, 1917. Here, the Ford Motor Company built World War I submarine chasers known as "Eagle" boats. By the mid-1920s this plant was the largest manufacturing center . . . — — Map (db m85592) HM
Henry Ford began construction of this complex on the banks of the River Rouge in April, 1917. Here, the Ford Motor Company built World War I submarine chasers known as "Eagle" boats. By the mid-1920s this plant was the largest manufacturing center . . . — — Map (db m85810) HM
The Rouge Complex, hailed as the
"icon of twentieth century manufacturing"
was the realization of Henry Ford's
innovative vision of vertical
integration... "A continuous, nonstop
process from raw material to finished
product with no pause even . . . — — Map (db m165398) HM
The pedestrian bridge is where the
famous 1937 "Battle of the Overpass"
occurred but it's also renowned for
being the well-traveled entry to the
Rouge Complex. The Miller Road
Overpass has been the main gateway
for autoworkers since 1923 . . . — — Map (db m165392) HM
Left to right from center of picture
are UAW-CIO officials: Robert Kanter,
Walter Reuther, Richard T. Prankensteen,
and J.J. Kennedy.
On May 26, 1937, Walter Reuther and three
fellow union organizers attempted to
enter The Rouge via the . . . — — Map (db m165396) HM
United Auto Workers distributing
flyers at the Rouge's Miller Road
Overpass in the late 1930s. a new era
in labor relations began in 1941,
when Ford and the UAW signed their
groundbreaking labor agreement. — — Map (db m165394) HM
In Lansing, on August 21, 1897, Ransom E. Olds (1864-1950) founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company, the precursor to Oldsmobile. He produced four vehicles that year. In 1899, Olds relocated to Detroit, opening the Olds Motor Works on West Jefferson . . . — — Map (db m14362) HM
This marker commemorates the birthplace of the Ford Motor car. Here in 1892, Henry Ford began experimenting with the motorized vehicle in his workshop, a small one-story brick structure, once located on this site. His invention was quite simple . . . — — Map (db m174295) HM
The Great Sauk Trail, the most important Indian trail in the Great Lakes region, was used later by French explorers, fur traders, missionaries, and soldiers. After the 1760's the trail became a major road for British and American travelers. In the . . . — — Map (db m42298) HM
David Dunbar BuickDavid Dunbar Buick, for whom the Buick automobile is named, came to Detroit from Scotland with his parents in 1856 at age two. A plumbing inventor and businessman, Buick turned to building gasoline engines for boats on the . . . — — Map (db m180137) HM
Ford Motor Company was incorporated as an automobile manufacturer on June 16, 1903. The articles of incorporation were drawn up and signed in the office of Alexander Y. Malcomson, who operated a coal yard once located on this site. Henry Ford gave . . . — — Map (db m33525) HM
Mariners' Church In 1842, according to the will of Julia Ann Anderson, Mariners' Church was organized to serve the spiritual needs of Great Lakes seamen. Anderson had come to Detroit in 1818 with her husband, John, a brevet lieutenant colonel . . . — — Map (db m208188) HM
When Michigan became a state in 1837, the Detroit office of the U.S. Topographical Engineers was headquartered on this site. The topographical engineers helped transform Michigan from a wilderness into a prosperous state. They also played a vital . . . — — Map (db m42294) HM
In the earliest days of Detroit, Campus Martius, which means "military ground," served as a drill ground for militia. When Judge Augustus Woodward created his street plan for Detroit in 1807, he began at Campus Martius.
In 1909 Wayne County built the first mile of concrete highway in the world here on Woodward between Six and Seven Mile Roads. From far and near road builders came to see how concrete stood up under the heavy traffic of that period. The success of . . . — — Map (db m173684) HM
Henry Ford was only 41 years old when the new Ford Motor Company moved to Piquette Avenue in lat 1904. Despite two earlier corporate failures, he was a gifted and self-taught engineer, a decisive risk-taker. And he was able to envision the new . . . — — Map (db m172661) HM
The Ford Motor Company Piquette Avenue Plant became the "laboratory"
in which Henry Ford explored design and created the car that changed the world, the Model T. Built for Ford Motor Company in 1904, its three brick stories rose next to the . . . — — Map (db m172660) HM
"Get a good lock for the door," Henry Ford told Charles Sorenson in January 1907. "We're going to start a completely new job." A special locked room was created at the back of the Piquette plant's third floor for Henry's special and secret . . . — — Map (db m172663) HM
Railroads were the powerlines of industry, for movement of parts and products. Around 1900, new plants were built along railroad tracks with sidings and loading platforms. Here, in what was open land on the northern outskirts of Detroit, the . . . — — Map (db m172664) HM
Nothing is as powerful as persistence, and at the Piquette plant Henry Ford pursued his dream of an affordable and reliable automobile "for the great multitude." Ford designed and produced Models B, C, and F, but dropped them by 1906. He never . . . — — Map (db m172662) HM
They moved into the Detroit automobile "neighborhood" in a big way.
Based in South Bend, Indiana, Studebaker had been the world's largest builder of horse-drawn wagons in the late 1800's. Starting in 1902, the first powered vehicles the . . . — — Map (db m172665) HM
Completed in 1904, the Piquette Avenue Plant was the first factory built by the Ford Motor Company. The building was designed by the Detroit firm of Field, Hinchman and Smith. Models B, C, F, K, N, R, S, and T were produced here between 1904 and . . . — — Map (db m172659) HM
This complex was part of Henry Ford's "village industries" plan to decentralize production by building plants in rural areas. Designed by Detroit architect Albert Kahn, the early-1920s complex comprised a factory with hydroelectric generators, a . . . — — Map (db m156747) HM
Grosse Ile was an isolated farming community,
accessible from the mainland only on boats (or ice in the winter) until this bridge was built about 1871. As part of a railroad that was built across Grosse Ile and the Detroit River and into . . . — — Map (db m152542) HM
The Dodge Brothers
John (1864-1920) and Horace (1868-1920) Dodge grew up in Niles, Michigan. During the late nineteenth century they worked as machinists at the Murphy Boiler Works in Detroit and at the Dominion Typograph Company in Windsor, . . . — — Map (db m86444) HM
The Ford Motor Company Highland Park Plant was built between 1909 and 1920 on the lot bounded by Woodward, Manchester and Oakland Avenues, and three railroad tracks. An office building, a garage and several machine shops once stood on this portion . . . — — Map (db m173679) HM
Here at his Highland Park Plant, Henry Ford in 1913 began the mass production of automobiles on a moving assembly line. By 1915 Ford built a million Model Ts. In 1925 over 9,000 were assembled in a single day. Mass production soon moved from here . . . — — Map (db m173681) HM
The Newburgh Mill factory was built on the site of an earlier mill,
like other Ford "Village Industries." Bovee Cider Mill used to operate here along the Middle Rouge River, within the thriving village of Newburgh. In 1934, Newburgh Lake . . . — — Map (db m137131) HM
In Northville, Henry Ford tried something new.
His first "village industry" was established here in 1920, to make valves for Model-Ts and tractors, using the Rouge River for power. He hired local workers, and even selected local children . . . — — Map (db m137792) HM
This comfort station was one of the early public rest stops,
and it was a prototype for roadside development. When originally constructed in 1937, this station had a full-time attendant, an information booth and concession stand. Wayne . . . — — Map (db m136913) HM
This Stone Marks
The Plymouth Plank Road
Chartered March 5, 1850
And The Site Of
The Toll Gate No. 4
Operated From About
1851-1872 — — Map (db m175038) HM
In April 1812, as the United States prepared for a possible war with Great Britain, Michigan Territorial Governor William Hull, became the commander of the Army of the Northwest. His first task was to lead his army from Dayton, Ohio, to Detroit, . . . — — Map (db m212716) HM
These roadways, pathways and parking lots were built by Taylor's Public Works and Parks employees. If not for our dedicated employees and generous gift of $200,00 in material from the Edward C. Levy Co., this project, would not have been possible. — — Map (db m95119) HM
Wayne companies have gained nationwide fame here
along the railroad tracks. Prouty & Glass began to build carriages and sleighs here in 1888, and became the largest sleigh-maker in the United States. They became a prominent Wayne business, . . . — — Map (db m217355) HM
From this building many industries put people in motion.
The first was Harroun Motor Car Company, which built more than 3,000 vehicles here from 1915 to 1922. From 1924 to 1927 Gotfredson Truck made heavy duty trucks and bus chassis in this . . . — — Map (db m149713) HM
