I was doing some research the other day and came across some more illuminating maps of Detroit. This one's part of an 1831 map (American State Papers and Library of Congress). Jefferson Avenue and Woodward -- they're already well-established long before the rise and fall of the Hudson Building.
French fort at the end of the Seven Years War, 1763. This is really cool: Rue Saint Louis, Rue Saint Jacques, Rue Saint Joseph and so on. Detroit really could have its own "French Quarter" like New Orleans, even if it would have to be reimagined. (This map of Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit can be found via Wikipedia under "Fort Detroit.").
Here's part of the US military reserve, with fortifications, 1826 (American State Papers, Library of Congress). Not long after this, in 1832, General Winfield Scott came to Detroit during the Black Hawk War, losing many of his troops to a cholera epidemic on the way from New York to Chicago. As lower ranking officers, Joseph E. Johnston and Augustus Canfield also came to Detroit. Isn't it grand?
Today's Rune: Initiation.
3 comments:
that's pretty neat, I never even knew there ever was a french fort in Detroit.
For the longest time Detroit was traded back and forth between the French who founded it and the British who wanted it because the river was the water route to the upper Mississippi. For want of a few beaver pelts we could be a part of Canada. Then there was the war with Ohio...
I love maps, myself. I found a Nat'l Geographic map for sale at a library years ago for 50 cents, showing the top of the globe before WWII. I really need to get a good frame for it, before it just falls apart...
Post a Comment