Detroit, a high-speed city geared to the tempo of the production line, is the symbol throughout the world of America's productive might. Its name is almost synonymous with the word "automobile." The city that put the world on wheels, Detroit is the birthplace of mass production and the producer of nearly 25 percent of the nation's automobiles, trucks, and tractors. This is the city of Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, the Fishers, and the UAW. Detroit is also a major producer of space propulsion units, automation equipment, plane parts, hardware, rubber tires, office equipment, machine tools, fabricated metal, iron and steel forging, and auto stampings and accessories. Being a port and border city, Detroit puts the Michigan Customs District among the nation's top five customs districts.

Founded by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in the name of Louis XIV of France at le place du détroit--"the place of the strait"--this strategic frontier trading post was 75 years old when the Revolution began. During the War of Independence, Detroit was ruled by Henry Hamilton, the British governor hated throughout the colonies as "the hair buyer of Detroit" because he encouraged Native Americans to take rebel scalps rather than prisoners. At the end of the war, the British ignored treaty obligations and refused to abandon Detroit. As long as Detroit remained in British hands, it was both a strategic threat and a barrier to westward expansion; however, the settlement was finally wrested away by Major General Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. On July 11, 1796, the Stars and Stripes flew over Detroit for the first time.

During the War of 1812, the fortress at Detroit fell mysteriously into British hands again, without a shot fired. It was recaptured by the Americans the following year. In 1815, when the city was incorporated, Detroit was still just a trading post; by 1837, it was a city of 10,000 people. Then, the development of more efficient transportation opened the floodgates of immigration, and the city was on its way as an industrial and shipping hub. Between 1830-1860, population doubled with every decade. At the turn of the century, the auto industry took hold.

Detroit was a quiet city before the automobile--brewing beer and hammering together carriages and stoves. Most people owned their own homes; they called it "the most beautiful city in America." All this swiftly changed when the automobile age burst upon it. Growth became the important concern; production stood as the summit of achievement. The automobile lines produced a new civic personality--there was little time for culture at the end of a day on the line. The city rocketed out beyond its river-hugging confines, developing nearly 100 suburbs. Today growing pains have eased, the automobile worker has more leisure time, and a new Detroit personality is emerging. Civic planning is remodeling the face of the community, particularly downtown and along the riverfront. Five minutes from downtown, twenty separate institutions form Detroit's Cultural Center--all within easy walking distance of one another.

Detroit is one of the few cities in the United States where you can look due south into Canada. The city stretches out along the Detroit River between Lakes Erie and St. Clair, opposite the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario. Detroit is 143 square miles in size and almost completely flat. The buildings of the Renaissance Center and Civic Center are grouped about the shoreline, and a network of major highways and expressways radiate from this point like the spokes of a wheel. The original city was laid out on the lines of the L'Enfant plan for Washington, DC, with a few major streets radiating from a series of circles. As the city grew, a gridiron pattern was superimposed to handle the maze of subdivisions that had developed into Detroit's 200 neighborhoods.

These main thoroughfares all originate near the Civic Center: Fort Street (Hwy 3); Michigan Avenue (Hwy 12); Grand River Avenue (I-96); John Lodge Freeway (Hwy 10); Woodward Avenue (Hwy 1); Gratiot Avenue (Hwy 3); and Fisher and Chrysler freeways (I-75). Intersecting these and almost parallel with the shoreline are the Edsel Ford Freeway (I-94) and Jefferson Avenue (Hwy 25).