Walk through Detroit history at city’s historical museum

A visit to the lower level of the Detroit Historical Museum is quite literally a walk through time as the museum recreates several eras of the city’s 19^th century history in The Streets of Old Detroit.

The old-time streets were always my favorite destination when I visited the museum as a child, and the exhibit still held the same charm and fascination for me during a visit earlier this year.

The quiet, dark streets always seemed a little spooky to me. I still feel as if the friendly ghosts of Detroit’s past might lurk around different corners as the streets lead through three important eras of Detroit’s formative history.

Your visit through time starts during the 1840s on cobblestone streets of the small town of Detroit as it grows steadily into a major commercial center in the wilderness of the then-western United States.

Tottering along the rough cobblestones, you travel forward to smoother roads created by round log slices in the 1870s, when the growing community hosted an increasing array of city services, civic organizations and commercial businesses.

By the time visitors reach the early 1900s, electric street lights replace the gas lamps of earlier eras. Detroit’s then-modern brick roads support increasing traffic and the then-new-fangled horseless carriages that played such a large part in the city’s 20^th century development as a prosperous place with a strong manufacturing business base.

Stops along the route include a blacksmith store where visitors overhear a discussion of that business owner’s part in the Underground Railroad, a toy storefront filled with vintage playthings and the familiar red storefront of the five-and-dime store that predates today’s more ubiquitous dollar stores.

Museum docents occasionally lead school classes through the streets or greet visitors from behind one of the store counters in the miniature village.

We followed a school group through the streets during our latest visit, and it reminded me of the many such visits I enjoyed to this museum as a child. My love for The Streets of Old Detroit was the main reason I first purchased a museum membership when I attended nearby Wayne State University.

The Detroit Historical Museum operates under the auspices of the Detroit Historical Society (DHS). The society, established in 1921, opened their first museum in 1928 in a one-room suite at a downtown office building.

The society established the present Detroit Historical Museum during the early 1950s in Detroit’s Midtown cultural center near Wayne State, the main library and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

The DHS also manages the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. The Dossin Museum, located on Detroit’s Belle Isle, focuses on the Great Lakes, the area’s maritime history and life along the Detroit River.

The main 78,000-square-foot historical museum underwent renovations in 2006, closing for 10 weeks to perform nearly $800,000 in upgrades to like new paint, signage, carpets and ceilings to refresh the building.

The Streets of Old Detroit may rate among the museum’s more memorable displays, but temporary exhibits like the ones featuring Detroit’s memorable television personalities and a display featuring some of the city’s memorable architectural projects launched during Detroit’s “Golden Age” of growth in the 1920s mean there is always something new to see at the museum.

Online visitors can also check out a cool Detroit encyclopedia feature for a nicely organized selection of articles about Detroit personalities and topics ranging from author Mitch Albom to Red Wing hockey hero Steve Yzerman and things in between like Hudson’s Department store, hockey great Gordie Howe, Kid Rock, Detroit’s distinctive Vernors ginger ale, the mystery of Jimmy Hoffa and more.

Come back to Midwest Guest next week for more on the museum’s displays dealing with Detroit’s automotive history.

© Dominique King 2009

Comments

[Fly Girl]

The Streets of Old Detroit really sounds magical. I always enjoy this kind of interactive museum exhibit. Thanks for another Midwest tip I knew nothing about!

[Dominique]

Fly Girl-The Detroit Historical Museum is in the city's Midtown cultural center, along with the main branch of Detroit's library, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Charles Wright Museum of African American History and the main campus of Wayne State University--just to name a few places within a few blocks of each other in the area. Lots of stuff to see there!
The Streets of Old Detroit were magical when I was a kid, and they still feel magical to me :)

[Sue]

I loved going there as a kid, and I loved going there as an adult. One of the true gems of Detroit.

It always took me back in time, and fired a little girl's imagination.

[Dominique]

Sue-Thanks for stopping by!

The kids going through the streets the day we were there seemed to really enjoy that part of the museum, as well as the exhibit re-creating the auto assembly line.
I never tire of visiting the museum after all of these years, either.

[Richard A. Strong]

I was born in 1930 and vaguely recall that there were huge street lamps and wonder if anyone else remembers them.

[Dominique]

Richard-Sorry, I don't remember huge street lamps in Detroit...a little before my time :)
Have you been to this display? It does reflect a few of the changes throughout the years in Detroit--most notably with the street surfaces (it replicates the cobblestones and log sections of the early 1800s, with the surfaces getting smoother and more modern as the exhibit moves through the years).