Maintained by | City of Detroit |
---|---|
West end | Jefferson Avenue, Detroit |
Major junctions | M-85 (Fort Street) I-75 ContentsM-3 (Gratiot Avenue) |
East end | Riverbank Drive, Belle Isle |
Grand Boulevard is a thoroughfare in Detroit, running east to west in some places and north to south in other places and is approximately 11 miles in length. It once constituted the city limits of Detroit. Grand Boulevard is named the "Berry Gordy Jr. Boulevard" in the area where the Motown Historical Museum is located and the "General Motors Boulevard" in the area of Detroit's "New Center" where the Fisher Building and Cadillac Place (formerly the General Motors Building) are located. [1] [2] Grand Boulevard is commonly referred to by residents of the city simply as "the Boulevard". [3]
As early as 1876, Bela Hubbard and other Detroiters were cognizant of the efforts of Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann to make Paris into a beautiful city by designing parks, broad streets, and grand boulevards. [4] [5]
These citizens proposed adopting Haussmann's concepts by surrounding Detroit with its own "Grand Boulevard." When Belle Isle was transferred from the state to the city of Detroit, Michigan legislator James Randall included a rider calling for the construction of this Grand Boulevard. [4] However, the city government refused to begin work on the road right away, although a few people built homes along the Boulevard's proposed route. [4]
Finally, in 1891, Detroit mayor Hazen S. Pingree supported the idea and broke ground on the construction of Grand Boulevard, a ring road that wrapped around the city of Detroit. [6] The Boulevard ran for 12 miles (19 km), curving from the Detroit River on the west and returning to that river on the east, crossing Woodward Avenue at a point approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the downtown area. [6] The Boulevard was originally thought to represent the absolute limit of the city's expansion, although tremendous growth at the beginning of the 20th century quickly pushed the city limits far beyond Grand Boulevard to its north, its east, and its west. [6]
By 1913, Grand Boulevard was completed, encircling the central most and oldest portion of the city. It was generally recognized as a major attraction of the city; the entire length was decorated with trees, shrubbery, and flowerbeds. [7]
By the early 1980s, to accommodate construction of a new General Motors plant, portions of East Grand Boulevard were reconfigured. This was part of a controversial use of eminent domain by the City of Detroit which allowed for demolition of a substantial portion of the nearby Poletown neighborhood in order to make way for the plant. The controversy sparked opposition within the neighborhood. [8] [9] The Michigan Supreme Court, in the 1981 case of Poletown Neighborhood Council v. City of Detroit, settled the matter by ruling that the project did constitute a legitimate use of eminent domain authority and that the evictions could proceed. [10]
Many years ago, the streetcar route which traveled along much of Grand Boulevard, as well as on neighboring streets parallel to Grand Boulevard, was formally called the "Grand Belt" line because of Grand Boulevard's belt-like configuration around the most central part of Detroit. [11] The subsequent bus route which likewise traveled on some, but not all, of Grand Boulevard retained the "Grand Belt" name until a service cut in 2009 eliminated that public transit coverage entirely. [12]
Name | Image | Location | Summary | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lee Plaza | 2240 W. Grand Blvd. 42°21′34″N83°5′19″W / 42.35944°N 83.08861°W | ||
2 | Motown Record Corporation | 2648 W. Grand Blvd. 42°21′52″N83°5′2″W / 42.36444°N 83.08389°W | ||
3 | Henry Ford Hospital | 2799 W. Grand Blvd. 42°22′0″N83°5′2″W / 42.36667°N 83.08389°W | ||
4 | Fisher Building | 3011 W. Grand Blvd. 42°22′8.5″N83°4′36.92″W / 42.369028°N 83.0769222°W | Built in 1927 by the Fisher brothers, who owned Fisher Body of General Motors, this skyscraper is one of the greatest works by architect Albert Kahn. The Fishers spent lavishly to make this Art Deco masterpiece a monumental gift to Detroit and one of the most finely detailed major commercial buildings in the United States. [13] | |
5 | Cadillac Place | 3044 W. Grand Blvd. 42°22′7″N83°4′32″W / 42.36861°N 83.07556°W | Housing offices for the state of Michigan, it was originally known as the General Motors Building until 2002. [14] | |
6 | Hotel St. Regis | 3071 W. Grand Blvd. 42°22′12″N83°04′30″W / 42.37000°N 83.07500°W | ||
7 | East Grand Boulevard Historic District | E. Grand Blvd., bet. E. Jefferson Ave. and Mack Ave. 42°21′12″N83°0′22″W / 42.35333°N 83.00611°W | ||
8 | Packard Automotive Plant | 1539 E. Grand Blvd. 42°22′42″N83°01′37″W / 42.3782°N 83.0270°W | The Packard Plant was a former automotive-manufacturing-facility that crossed over Grand Boulevard; the connecting walkway was destroyed in a windstorm in 2019. [15] The city ruled in 2022, that the Industrial complex undergo an emergency demolition. [16] | |
9 | Saint Paul Manor Apartments | 356 E. Grand Blvd. 42°21′13″N83°0′21″W / 42.35361°N 83.00583°W | ||
10 | El Tovar Apartments | 320 E. Grand Blvd. 42°21′12″N83°0′20″W / 42.35333°N 83.00556°W | ||
11 | Kingston Arms Apartments | 296 E. Grand Blvd. 42°21′16″N83°0′28″W / 42.35444°N 83.00778°W | ||
12 | Belle Isle | Detroit River, at the base of Grand Blvd. 42°20′32″N82°58′46″W / 42.34222°N 82.97944°W | Belle Isle is a 982-acre (3.97 km2) island park in the Detroit River, home to the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, the Detroit Yacht Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, a Coast Guard post, and a municipal golf course. It is the largest island park in the United States. [17] |
Detroit is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the United States. The Metro Detroit area, home to 4.3 million people, is the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area, and the 14th-largest in the United States. A significant cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music, art, architecture and design, in addition to its historical automotive background.
Poletown East is an industrial district of Detroit, Michigan, bordering the enclave city of Hamtramck. The area was named after the Polish immigrants who originally lived in the area. A portion of residential area known as Poletown became the General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant in 1981 with those residents relocated by General Motors and the cities of Detroit and Hamtramck which claimed eminent domain in order to make way for a new automobile plant.
Albert Kahn was an American industrial architect. He was accredited as being an architect of Detroit and also designed industrial plant complexes such as the Ford River Rouge automobile complex. He designed the construction of Detroit skyscrapers and office buildings as well as mansions in the city suburbs. He led an organization of hundreds of architect associates and in 1937, designed 19% of all architect-designed industrial factories in the United States. Under a unique contract in 1929, Kahn established a design and training office in Moscow, sending twenty-five staff there to train Soviet architects and engineers, and to design hundreds of industrial buildings under their first five-year plan. They trained more than 4,000 architects and engineers using Kahn's concepts. In 1943, the Franklin Institute posthumously awarded Kahn the Frank P. Brown Medal.
M-1, also known as Woodward Avenue, is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan. The highway, called "Detroit's Main Street", runs from Detroit north-northwesterly to Pontiac. It is one of the five principal avenues of Detroit, along with Michigan, Grand River, Gratiot, and Jefferson avenues. These streets were platted in 1805 by Judge Augustus B. Woodward, namesake to Woodward Avenue. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has listed the highway as the Automotive Heritage Trail, an All-American Road in the National Scenic Byways Program. It has also been designated a Pure Michigan Byway by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), and was also included in the MotorCities National Heritage Area designated by the US Congress in 1998.
"Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was purchased by Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1959.
Detroit, the largest city in the state of Michigan, was settled in 1701 by French colonists. It is the first European settlement above tidewater in North America. Founded as a New France fur trading post, it began to expand during the 19th century with American settlement around the Great Lakes. By 1920, based on the booming auto industry and immigration, it became a world-class industrial powerhouse and the fourth-largest city in the United States. It held that standing through the mid-20th century.
Cadillac Place, formerly the General Motors Building, is a landmark high-rise office complex located at 3044 West Grand Boulevard in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It was renamed for the French founder of Detroit, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. It is a National Historic Landmark in Michigan, listed in 1985.
New Center is a commercial and residential district located in Detroit, Michigan, adjacent to Midtown, one mile (1.6 km) north of the Cultural Center, and approximately three miles (5 km) north of Downtown. The area is centered just west of the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Grand Boulevard, and is bounded by, and includes the Virginia Park Historic District on the north, the Edsel Ford Freeway (I-94) on the south, John R Street on the east and the Lodge Freeway on the west. New Center, and the surrounding areas north of I-94, are sometimes seen as coterminous with the North End, while in fact separate districts.
Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly, also referred to as Factory Zero and GM Poletown, is a General Motors automobile assembly plant straddling the border between Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan. It is located about three miles (five km) from GM's corporate headquarters.
The culture of Detroit, Michigan, has influenced American and global culture through its commercial enterprises and various forms of popular music throughout the 20th and 21st century. Its automotive heritage plays an important role in the city's culture.
Planning and development in Detroit since the late 20th century has attempted to enhance the economy and quality of life of Detroit, Michigan, United States. In 1970, the private group Detroit Renaissance began to facilitate development in the city. Its successor, Business Leaders for Michigan, has continued to facilitate development into the 21st century. Projects have included new commercial facilities, revitalization of neighborhoods, hospitality infrastructure, and improvements to recreational and public facilities, such as the QLine light rail project.
Washington Boulevard Historic District is a multi-block area of downtown Detroit, Michigan. It consists of structures facing Washington Boulevard between State and Clifford Streets. In 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It includes the Book-Cadillac Hotel, the Book Tower, the Industrial Building, and Detroit City Apartments among other architecturally significant buildings. Washington Boulevard is one of the city's main boulevards and part of Augustus Woodward's 1807-design for the city. Because Woodward's plan was never completed, the boulevard contains a sharp curve south of Michigan Avenue where it was connected to an existing street.
The Boston–Edison Historic District is a neighborhood located in Detroit, Michigan. It consists of over 900 homes built on four east-west streets: West Boston Boulevard, Chicago Boulevard, Longfellow Avenue and Edison Avenue, stretching from Woodward Avenue in the east to Linwood Avenue in the west. It is one of the largest residential historic districts in the nation. It is surrounded by Sacred Heart Major Seminary to the west, the Arden Park-East Boston Historic District and the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament to the east, and the Atkinson Avenue Historic District to the south. The district was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The New Amsterdam Historic District is a historic district located in Detroit, Michigan. Buildings in this district are on or near three sequential east-west streets on the two blocks between Woodward Avenue and Second Avenue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The QLine, originally known as M-1 Rail by its developers, is a 3.3-mile-long (5.3 km) streetcar system in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Opened on May 12, 2017, it connects Downtown Detroit with Midtown and New Center, running along Woodward Avenue (M-1) for its entire route. The system is operated by M-1 Rail, a nonprofit organization.
Transportation in metropolitan Detroit comprises an expansive system of roadways, multiple public transit systems, a major international airport, freight railroads, and ports. Located on the Detroit River along the Great Lakes Waterway, Detroit is a significant city in international trade, with two land crossings to Canada. Three primary Interstate highways serve the region.
The Packard Automotive Plant was an automobile-manufacturing factory in Detroit, Michigan, where luxury cars were made by the Packard Motor Car Company and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Demolition began on building 21 on October 27th, 2022, and a second round of demolition began on building 28 on January 24th, 2023, which was wrapped up by April 1st, however all demolition efforts by the City of Detroit halted, which stopped finishing demolition work of building 21. The Packard Plant currently sits empty and partially demolished, with many parcels still remaining.
Bela Hubbard was a 19th-century naturalist, geologist, writer, historian, surveyor, explorer, lawyer, real estate dealer, lumberman and civic leader of early Detroit, Michigan, United States. Hubbard is noted as one of the pioneer geologists of Michigan starting with expeditions undertaken, while in his twenties, with Michigan's geologist Douglass Houghton. These early expeditions explored the salt springs of Michigan's Grand and Saginaw river valleys. Later, Hubbard surveyed many of the regions around Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.