If you’re a Detroiter, just because you’ve been living in Detroit all of your life doesn’t mean you know how the city got it’s start. For instance, did you know that Detroit was founded in 1701 by the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac? Or that Detroit was Michigan’s capitol from 1837 to 1847? How about that Comerica Park had three other “names”: Tiger Stadium, Briggs Stadium and Navin Field?

Cadillac established a European settlement called Fort Ponchatrain in 1701. The area was located along what is now known as the Detroit River – the area that connects Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. The settlement was a major fur-trading post until it fell to the British on 1760.

Detroit became a part of the Northwest Territory and developed into an “official” town in 1802. In 1805, a devastating fire nearly destroyed the entire town – burning down 299 of Detroit’s 300 buildings. Then Territorial Governor, Judge Augustus Woodward (yep, that’s who Woodward Avenue was named after) hatched a plan to rebuild the city bigger and better than it had been before. He wanted to feature public squares and scenic parks based on Washington D.C. Woodward even established the University of Michigan, which was originally located in Detroit, in 1817.

Due to Michigan’s vast resources, namely iron ore, copper and of course water, the state became a major industrial town. In the 1850’s Detroit started building ships, stoves (which was the areas main industry) and railroad cars. In fact, people in the late 19th century saw the first automobiles on Detroit’s city streets. Michigan was also the leading maker of carriages, buggies, wheels and bicycles.

Henry Ford built the first Model T in 1908, and ‘horseless buggies’ started becoming quite popular. In 1914, Ford started the first assemble line at a plant in Highland Park – paying his worker’s an astonishing $5 a day – leading to the production of more than five million Ford vehicles. The city’s population more than doubled between 1910 and 1920, and people from across the country came to Detroit to work in the auto plants.

During the early 20th century, Detroit became a beacon of hope and wealth for many people. In fact, for many years, the city had some of the highest percentages of home ownership in the nation. The J.L. Hudson’s store was one of the world’s largest and most famous retailers. The city had developed some of the most advanced streetcar and trolley systems and Belle Isle was known as one of the nation’s most supurb city parks.

The Prohibition Era spawned a thriving liquor trade between Canada and Detroit. The automobile industry survived the effects of the Depression and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union was started from the battle between River Rouge Plant worker and the police in 1937. Walter Reuther (Walter Reuther Freeway a.k.a. I-696) helped the UAW survive during the rampant country strikes.

The auto companies started producing planes and tanks, converting their factories to accommodate such a task during WW II. As a matter of fact, the war effort was centered on the Willow Run Airport and the Ford freeway was constructed between Detroit and the airport to facilitate the transport of materials and goods.

The popularity of Detroit continued until the 1960’s; when the city was know for introducing the country to the sounds of Motown. After a while, the more prosperous city dwellers left Detroit to settle in the ‘burbs – the poorer people were left behind. The racial tension finally ended in the famous Detroit race riots of 1967. After that, the city experienced a sharp decline in its population.

The city, wanting to resurrect its ‘golden years’, started efforts to turn the city around. Detroit leaders decided to build the Renaissance Center in 1973 at a cost of $350 million (GM recently purchased the building for just $72 million – a sign of the sharp decline in Detroit’s popularity.) A recession, rising oil process and competition from foreign companies led to the closing of many major auto factories – leaving many people without jobs.

Even though Detroit was falling out of favor with general public, the city’s attractions were gaining some resurgence. Joe Louis Arena was built in the 1980’s, the Millander Center opened and the Fox Theater was saved from distinction.

Today, Detroit is becoming more popular with the ‘young crowd’. Loft apartments, music venues and great bars are attracting more and more people to the city. The days of “just going down to catch a Wing’s game” are fading fast.