1924 Map of Detroit

About this map

The industrial ascent of the Detroit region is captured here during a period of massive manufacturing expansion. Heavy industry centers on the Rouge River corridor, anchored by the massive Ford Motor Co. Blast Furnaces and the Ford Shipbldg. Plant in the Springwells and Ecorse areas. North of the city core, automotive giants like Dodge Bros. and Maxwell Motor Co. mark the transition from rural townships to a dense urban grid. This 1924 update, based on 1912 fieldwork with revisions through 1918, documents the city just as its streetcar and rail networks were being fully integrated. A complex web of lines, including the Detroit and Northwestern Electric R. R. and the Detroit United Ry., weaves between established settlements like Dearborn and Royal Oak, showing the transportation infrastructure that fueled the city's rapid outward growth into Redford and Hamtramck.