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1700s

ETCHING OF FIRST EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT OF DETROIT, FORT PONTCHARTRAIN

(Source: Belle Isle Conservancy)

Saginaw Trail, 1700s

"In the 1700s, many trails created by Native Americans crisscrossed southeastern Michigan.   The Saginaw Trail linked Detroit to Pontiac.  It was used by the Potawatomis to carry their furs to Fort Ponchartrain on the Detroit River and return to their villages with trade goods.  Later they used the trail for their semiannual journeys to Detroit to receive government annuities as part of various treaties."  [1]

 

The 1877 History of Oakland County described the trail as follows: "The Indian trail from Detroit to Saginaw was the nearest approach to a road leading towards the region now comprising the county of Oakland, and this was nearly impassable during the greater part of the year, and even in the dryest season was only practicable for footmen and ponies."

 

  • SIDE NOTE: State archeologists have found evidence of Native Americans in Birmingham as far back as 1,000 years ago.

 

Sources: [1] Images of America: Birmingham.  By Craig Jolly with the Birmingham Historical Museum, 2007, p. 11.  [2] History of Oakland County, Michigan. By Samuel W. Durant, L. H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia, 1877. p 25.

Map of Detroit Map, 1796:
Before Woodward Avenue

Fort Shelby (a.k.a. Fort Lernoult, Fort Detroit) is the dominant feature in this Detroit street map from 1796 when the residents were mostly French.  It replaced Fort Ponchartrain (a.k.a. Fort Detroit), which was built closer to Detroit River.

 

Fort Shelby played a significant role in the War of 1812.  The fort was built by the British in 1779 as Fort Lernoult and was ceded to the United States by the Jay Treaty in 1796.  In 1805, it was renamed Fort Detroit by Secretary of War Henry Dearborn.  In 1812, the fort was surrendered to the British by William Hull, and in 1813, it was reclaimed by the Americans.  The Americans renamed it Fort Shelby in 1813, but references to "Fort Detroit" relating to the War of 1812 are to this fort, not to the earlier Fort Detroit (a.k.a. Fort Pontchartrain), which had been abandoned by the British in 1779 in favor of Fort Lernoult. Fort Shelby was given to the city of Detroit in 1826 and dismantled in 1827.  (Source: Wikipedia)

 

There is no Woodward Avenue on this map. After the Detroit Great Fire of 1805, Woodward Avenue was built to the right of Fort Shelbey.

 

Note the River Savoyard that flowed between Congress and Larned Streets.

 

(Sources: Detroit News Archives and Wikipedia)

MAP OF DETROIT, 1796

(Source: Detroit News Photo Galleries)

Map of Detroit Map, 1799:
Before Woodward Avenue

John Joseph Ulrich Rivardi's watercolor captures Detroit's appearance in the early years  of American ownership, shortly before the fire of 1805.  It reveals the characteristic triangular fortification of Fort Lernoult as it was at the time its British garrison peacefully relinquished the post to United States authorities in 1796. [1]

 

SIDE NOTE: Fort Lernoult was built by the British in 1779 and was ceded to the United States by the Jay Treaty in 1796.  It was renamed Fort Detroit by Secretary of War Henry Dearborn in 1805. The fort was surrendered to the British by William Hull in 1812, and reclaimed by the Americans in 1813. The Americans renamed it Fort Shelby in 1813.  It was given to the city of Detroit in 1826 and dismantled in 1827.  [2]

 

Sources: [1] Frontier Seaport: Detroit's Transformation into an Atlantic Entrepôt. By Catherine Cangany, The University of Chicago Press, 2014, p. 138. [2] Wikipedia

MAP OF DETROIT, 1799

(Source: John Joseph Ulrich Rivardi, Plan of Fort Lernoult and the Town of Detroi [1799] via  Pinterest.Com)

Detroit - 1700s

Before Woodward Avenue

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