Looking northwest down Woodward Avenue from the
Detroit River, the originating point of Metropolitan Detroit's
"Main Street," one can only imagine what Native Americans saw as
they peered at the same vista.
Today the 28-mile multi-lane road stretches from Detroit through
the suburbs of Highland Park, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Royal
Oak, Berkley, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township
and Pontiac.
Woodward Avenue's development and prosperity tandem the growth
and maturation of the automobile industry. Significant
transportation developments along Woodward Avenue make it
possibly the most important roadway in the world's history.
Foot Path To Pavement
Long before Detroit was incorporated as a city in 1815, Woodward
Avenue was established as a primary ground transportation route.
The path served as the Saginaw Trail, a Native American route
for transporting furs, a wood planked "Corduroy Road" for wagon
travel, and later a railroad right-of-way, and an Interurban
route.
When fire destroyed the city in 1795 leaving only one building
intact, Territorial Governor William Tull and Territorial
Supreme Court Judge Augustus Brevoot Woodward traveled to
Washington D.C. to procure funding to rebuild Detroit. Woodward
created a new city plan in 1806 that included a snowflake
pattern similar to Washington D.C. and Paris. The original plan
called for a very wide Woodward Avenue, however, it was built to
a narrow 66-foot width. The road was renamed several times but
ultimately became Woodward Avenue bearing His Honor's name.
In 1824 Governor Lewis Cass extended Woodward Avenue 27 miles to
Pontiac. Travelers experienced tollbooths, surfaces of 16-foot
planks, cedar blocks, gravel, ruts, water-filled holes, and mud
along the route.
At the onset of the automobile industry in the early 1900s, the
roadway was asphalt paved over wooden blocks in downtown
Detroit. Northern portions remained gravel or planked. The
majority of the road was dirt, which became rutted mud during
the spring. In 1909 responding to demand for smoother roads by
bicyclists and early auto owners, the first mile of concrete
highway in the world was built between Six and Seven Mile Roads
by Wayne County. Constructed in less than three months at a cost
of $13,537, including $1,000 in state aid, the new wonder road
was examined and admired by road builders from across the
nation. In 1916, the 27-mile length of Woodward Avenue to
Pontiac was paved and in 1919 the first three-color traffic
light appeared on the thoroughfare. In the 1920s Michigan
Legislature proposed widening Woodward to 200 feet from Detroit
to Pontiac. It was underway by 1926 and shortly provided an
eight-lane boulevard from Six Mile to Pontiac.
Automotive Influence
The auto industry literally grew up along Woodward Avenue. Henry
Ford built his first car at his home, just four blocks west of
Woodward. He conceived the Model T and the automated assembly
line at the Piquette Plant two blocks east of Woodward, and
began to build the Model T in 1910 in his new plant on Woodward
Avenue in Highland Park. Mass production of the Model T began in
the plant began 1914. General Motors opened its new headquarters
on Grand Boulevard, one block west of Woodward in 1921. Chrysler
Corporation was founded three blocks east of Woodward in 1925 at
Colorado and Oakland Streets in Highland Park. Oakland Motor
Division of GM introduced its new Pontiac line and GMC Truck and
Coach in 1926 along Woodward Avenue extensions in the city of
Pontiac.
Prosperity and Population
With the auto industry came prosperity. Prospective auto-workers
flocked from all over the world to work in Detroit's production
facilities. They bought private homes and owned automobiles. New
housing developments ballooned along Woodward Avenue from
Detroit to Pontiac. Magnificent homes, churches, and businesses
lined and decorated the avenue. By 1927, magazines stated that
"43 percent of Detroit's wealth lies along Woodward Avenue." The
Fox Theatre, the second largest theater in the world at the time
it was built, opened on Woodward in 1928. The Detroit Institute
of Arts, Wayne State University, and numerous hospital
facilities sprung up along, and within blocks of, the "Avenue".
1950ss and 1960s
"Woodwarding" became the craze in the 1950s and 1960s as
teenagers discovered the thrill of taking dad's car out for a
spin along the boulevard from Ferndale to Pontiac. Cruisers
gathered at drive-in restaurants - Ted's Drive-in at Square Lake
Road in Bloomfield and the Totem Pole drive-in restaurant at Ten
Mile in Royal Oak. Muscle car competition hit its heyday in the
mid-1960s. Journalists took note of the phenomena sending
correspondents from Car and Driver, Motor Trend and CBS World
News to cover the action on the strip. The trend continued until
the new car safety standards altered car design in the 1970s.
Dream Cruise
The world's largest celebration of car culture, The Woodward
Dream Cruise, held along Woodward Avenue from Ferndale to
Pontiac covering 16 miles, is one of Metro Detroit's greatest
and most well-attended annual events. Inaugurated in 1994, the
mid-summer Motor City classic attracts more than 1.5 million
people from around the world and 30,000 classic cars. Young and
old alike line the avenue to celebrate the nostalgia and relive
the magic of a bygone era.
Woodward's Changing Face
While players along the boulevard have changed over time,
Woodward Avenue remains the spine of vitality in the Motor City.
In, 1997 auto industry leader General Motors moved its
headquarters to the Renaissance Center on the Detroit River, one
block east of Woodward. Comerica Park, the new playing field for
the Detroit Tigers, opened on Woodward in 2000. Compuware will
soon open its headquarters along Woodward Avenue in the new
Campus Martius multi-building redevelopment project.
Revitalization of landmark buildings and renewed interest in
historic preservation have polished some of Detroit's jewels
including The Fox and Gem Theatres, The Whitney, and Cranbrook.
The Woodward Avenue Action Association was founded in 1996 to
facilitate continued improvement of the Woodward Avenue Corridor
from Eight Mile Road to Big Beaver Road. Royal Oak, Huntington
Woods, and Berkley broke ground on a median landscaping project
at 11 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue in 1999 to beautify a
half-mile stretch of eight median islands. Also in 1999 the
Woodward Heritage Organization, Wayne was incorporated to
facilitate continued improvements of the Woodward Avenue
Corridor from the River to Eight Mile. In 1999 Woodward Avenue
received a well-deserved badge of honor - Governor John Engler
designated the boulevard as a "Michigan Heritage Route,"
boasting more than 300 historic sites between the Detroit River
and Pontiac.