It was a chilly 65 degrees in the waters of the Detroit river on a perfect Sunday afternoon in the early autumn of 1914 as revellers debated whether it was too cool for a swim in the Belle Isle bath houses. Several hundred Detroiters could brave the dip for only 15 minutes each, but swimming was not the only weekend activity available on the large, lush island of recreation for escapees of the industrial...
In 1882, Frederick Law Olmstead, a landscape architect and designer of fifteen previous parks, was invited to take a look at a newly purchased property in Detroit, MI. As the designer of the first municipal park in America, he is considered the father of landscape architecture. With his pioneering expertise cultivated through years of follow-up work, Olmstead wrote an explanation for future planning...
The distinctions between the city of Detroit and the metropolitan area of Detroit have existed since the early historical documentation of the region. Consider Delray. Delray, a neighborhood approximately two miles south of the city center has long been a major industrial center for the city. Home to salt mines, steel plants, and later a massive waste water treatment facility, Delray has borne the...