dĭtroitˈ, city (1990 pop. 1,027,974), seat of Wayne co., SE Mich., on the Detroit River and between lakes St. Clair and Erie; inc. as a city 1815. Michigan's largest city and the tenth largest in the nation, Detroit is a major Great Lakes shipping and rail center.

Economy

Detroit's early carriage industry helped Henry Ford and others to make it the "automobile capital of the world." The Detroit region continues to be home to the major U.S. automobile manufacturers, but declines in the field have caused severe unemployment in the city and its environs, and government and the health-care industry now employ more people. In addition to the manufacture of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts, Detroit makes steel, fabricated-metal, and paper products; food and beverages; and chemicals. There is printing and publishing, and extensive salt mines lie under southwestern sections of the city. Detroit is diverse ethnically, with an African-American majority and the nation's largest community of Arab Americans.

Points of Interest

Wayne State Univ. and the Univ. of Detroit Mercy are among the city's educational institutions. Detroit has a symphony orchestra, organized in 1914. The Detroit Institute of Arts is renowned, and the Museum of African-American History opened a large new facility in 1997. Also here are the Fox Theater, a renovated movie palace; a civic center, with Cobo Hall, one of the world's largest exhibition buildings; Joe Louis Arena, where the National Hockey League's Red Wings play; and Fort Wayne (1849). Tiger Stadium, formerly the oldest (1912) major-league baseball park, closed in 1999, to be replaced by Tiger Ballpark. The Detroit Pistons (basketball) play in suburban Auburn Hills, the Detroit Lions (football) in Pontiac. Belle Isle in the Detroit River is a popular park and the site of the annual Detroit Grand Prix auto race. The Ambassador International Bridge (the world's longest international suspension bridge) and a vehicular tunnel link Detroit with Windsor, Ont.

History

A French fort and fur-trading settlement founded here in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and called Ville d'étroit [city of the strait] were captured by the British in 1760. Three years later the British withstood a long siege during Pontiac's Rebellion. American control, resulting from Jay's Treaty, was established in 1796. Detroit was first the territorial and then the state capital from 1805 to 1847. Fire in 1805 destroyed nearly all of the several hundred buildings in the town, but the settlement was rebuilt from a design by Pierre C. L'Enfant. Detroit was surrendered in 1812 to British forces, but was recovered by Gen. William Henry Harrison in 1813. With the development of land and water transportation, the city grew rapidly during the 1830s. It assumed great importance after the mid-19th cent. as a shipping, shipbuilding, and manufacturing center, attracting immigrants from around the world, including Poles, Italians, Germans, Serbs, Croats and others.

Large numbers of migrants from the South, especially African Americans, also arrived in Detroit after 1900 as factory production increased rapidly. Detroit was a leading producer for the military during World Wars I and II. In 1943, the National Guard was called in as race riots broke out in the city. Race riots erupted again in 1967, killing 43 and causing extensive property damage. Detroit's dependence on the declining automobile industry brought job loss, social problems, and massive migration to suburbs in the 1970s and 80s. The city's population declined 32% from 1970 to 1990, and scores of businesses left or closed.

Revitalization projects during the 1970s and 80s, including the Renaissance Center (1977), a 73-story hotel and office complex, were largely unsuccessful. Today, Detroit remains a largely minority city struggling with economic problems, surrounded by affluent white suburbs. Detroit's notable mayors include James Couzens (1919–22) and Frank Murphy (1930–33). Coleman Young, the city's first (1974–93) black mayor, presided during difficult years of decline, and the years since have been marked by population losses and city financial difficulties.

Bibliography

See S. Glazer, Detroit: A Study in Urban Development (1965); F. B. and A. M. Woodford, All Our Yesterdays: A History of Detroit (1969); B. Thompson et al., Detroit (1976); W. H. Ferry, Buildings of Detroit (1980).

Copyright© 2007 Columbia University Press. Used with the permission of Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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