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1936 Map of Birmingham

Name: 1936 Topographic Map of Birmingham
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1936
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1936

About this map

The Grand Trunk Western railroad serves as a central spine for the rapidly developing communities north of Detroit in this mid-1930s survey. The landscape is a mix of established townships and burgeoning suburban residential tracts, characterized by an extensive grid of numbered mile roads from Twelvemile Rd to South Blvd. The area around Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills is particularly detailed, showing the layout of early country clubs and private schools like the Kingswood Sch and Brookside Sch.

Genealogists and local historians can locate numerous small burial grounds and large memorial parks, such as Crooks Cem and Roseland Park Cem. The eastern portion of the map reveals the agrarian roots of Troy and settlements like Big Beaver, where the land is still bisected by drainage networks such as Big Beaver Ditch and the Rouge River. This survey captures a specific moment when the Oakland County interior was transitioning from open farmland and private estates into an interconnected network of residential boroughs.