Detroit

Detroit is a major Michigan port city situated along the Detroit River directly opposite Windsor, Ontario. It links Lake Huron to Lake Erie within the freshwater shipping corridor of the Great Lakes. A deep natural harbor accommodated merchant shipping vessels from the earliest era of French fur trading.

Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded the settlement in 1701 by constructing Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit for fur trading. Great Britain gained possession in the 1760s before the United States secured the border post in the 1790s under the Jay Treaty. A fire leveled the wooden town in 1805, prompting jurist Augustus Woodward to draft a radial street plan with hexagonal circus plazas. Michigan maintained its first state capital here until legislators relocated offices to Lansing in the 1840s. Commercial foundries and stove manufacturing expanded throughout the late 19th century.

Automotive engineering and industrial design form the core of local manufacturing enterprise. General Motors produces passenger automobiles and battery-powered utility trucks under brands including Chevrolet and Cadillac. Carhartt began in the city during the 1880s, manufacturing durable duck-canvas work jackets and reinforced overalls. American Axle & Manufacturing produces driveline axles and chassis components for commercial trucks. Shinola assembles quartz wristwatches and stitched leather goods. The Port of Detroit handles marine cargo, transferring raw iron ore, finished steel slabs, and construction aggregates.

The Detroit Institute of Arts displays Diego Rivera's fresco cycle depicting automotive laborers in monumental compositions. Motown Museum preserves the original Hitsville U.S.A. recording studio where Berry Gordy recorded soul hits from the end of the 1950s. The Guardian Building exhibits Art Deco architecture surfaced with burnt-orange brick and decorative Pewabic ceramic tiles. The Fox Theatre, constructed in the 1920s, presents Broadway stage productions and musical concerts beneath a Siamese-Byzantine ceiling. Comerica Park stages Major League Baseball games for the Detroit Tigers.