1900s Detroit: Stunning Historical Photos Show Old Detroit At The Beginning Of 20th Century (2024)

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Detroit is the largest city in Michigan state. In the 20th century, Detroit boomed with an industrial powerhouse and automobile industry. Its population grew immensely, and in 1910 it became the 9th largest city in the United States. The “Great Migration brought large numbers of black Southerners into Detroit. The black population multiplied from 5700 in 1910 to 40,800 in the 1920s. Some other industries, including metal crafts, railcars, stove works, paints, iron, brass, and copper, progressed by leaps and bounds. Henry Ford built an assembly line at his Highland Park Plant in 1910. Later that decade, when World War I broke out, Detroiters fought valiantly.

Here below are some stunning historical photos that show Detroit city in the early 20th century from 1900 to 1910.

#1 Penobscot Building and State Savings Bank, Fort and Shelby Streets, Detroit, 1907

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#2 North Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 1905

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#3 The normally prosaic Detroit Publishing caption writers got creative on this one, , Detroit, 1907

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#4 Crowd at Belle Isle Park casino, Detroit, 1908

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#5 Majestic Building and Campus Martius, Detroit, 1910

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#6 Launching of the Detroit (Detroit Yacht Club), 1905

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#7 Wayne Hotel pavilion, Third Street, Detroit River, Detroit, 1910

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#8 Woburn, Mass, circa 1906

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#9 Residences on East Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan, 1902

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#10 Approach to the Detroit River tunnel, Detroit, 1910

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#11 Michigan Central R.R. — Electric engine, Detroit River tunnel, Detroit, 1909

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#12 Municipal Building, Washington Avenue and Mulberry Street, 1901

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#13 The Detroit River, 1910

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#14 Bath house at Belle Isle, Detroit, 1910

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#15 Cadillac Square, Soldiers and Sailors at Monument and Hotel Pontchartrain, Detroit, 1907

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#16 Hotel Pontchartrain under construction, , Detroit, 1907

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#17 Ice fountain on Washington Boulevard, Detroit, 1906

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#18 Corner of Grand Circus Park, Detroit, 1908

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#19 Alexander Macomb monument, Washington Boulevard Park. Adolph Weinman’s statue of the War of 1812 hero, flanked by the Lincoln and Cadillac hotels, Detroit, 1909

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#20 Woodward Avenue looking north from Opera House corner, Detroit, 1909

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#21 Steamer Sappho at Belle Isle Ferry dock, Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 1905

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#22 Launching party, freighter Benjamin Noble, Wyandotte, 1909

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#23 Residences on Jefferson Avenue, Detroit, 1906

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#24 Photochrom Company Building, front view, Detroit, 1909

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#25 Down Woodward Avenue from Peterboro Street, Detroit, 1900

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#26 Swimming pool at Belle Isle Park, Detroit, 1903

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#27 Woodward Avenue at the Campus Martius showing Bagley Fountain, Detroit, 1901

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#28 Bastendorff block and G. & R. McMillan Co. store, Jefferson Avenue, , Detroit, 1910

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#29 Union Depot, Fort and Third Streets, Detroit, 1909

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#30 Looking up Woodward Avenue from the Campus Martius, Detroit, 1907

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#31 Morgan residence, St. Clair Flats, 1910

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#32 Gas office, first floor, looking back; cashier windows at right, Detroit, 1908

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#33 Detroit City Gas Co. building, Washington Boulevard and Clifford Street, 1908

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#34 Wayne Hotel pavilion, Third Street, Detroit River, Detroit, 1910

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#35 East Grand Boulevard, Detroit, 1910

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#36 Mather Block, Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 1908

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#37 Monroe Avenue and City Hall, Detroit, 1910

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#38 Smith & Yendall, Grocers, Detroit, 1900

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#39 Grosse Ile duck farm, Detroit, 1902

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#40 Great Lake Engineering Works. Steamer Detroit, Michigan Central Transfer, stern quarter, 1904

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#41 Children’s Day, Playground at Belle Isle Park, Detroit, 1905

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#42 Lyceum Theatre, Detroit, 1904

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#43 The new Y.M.C.A. building, Detroit, 1909

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#44 The Detroit River, 1906

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#45 Reimers Loco winning five-miles event in 10:51 4-5, Grosse Pointe track, Detroit, 1902

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#46 Screw ferry excursion steamer Pleasure at Belle Isle ferry dock, Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 1901

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#47 Lake Erie, 1900

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#48 Hotel Ste. Claire, Randolph and Monroe streets, Detroit, 1906

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#49 A Bed of “Snow-Ball” is the uncharacteristically fanciful title of this 1907 entry from the Detroit Publishing catalogue, showing Grand Circus Park and the Fine Arts Building.

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#50 Windsor ferry dock, Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 1901

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#51 The Motor City and Detroit Opera House and Palmer Fountain, 1905

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#52 Detroit Iron and Steel Co. mill, 1903

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#53 Chamber of Commerce, State and Griswold streets, Detroit, 1910

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#54 Excursion steamers Tashmoo and Idlewild at wharves, Detroit, 1901

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#55 Children’s playground, Belle Isle Park, Detroit, 1903

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#56 Monroe Avenue, One of the nascent Motor City’s seedier (and moldier) districts, Detroit, 1909

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#57 Griswold Street looking toward Ford Building, Detroit, 1910

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#58 Walker Block, Griswold and Fort Streets, Detroit, 1908

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#59 Detroit River Tunnel, 1910

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#60 Walker Block, Griswold and Fort Sts, Detroit, 1908

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Written by Aung Budhh

Husband + Father + librarian + Poet + Traveler + Proud Buddhist. I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life.

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Used to be bustling a beautiful, flint too. All of it was trashed by corrupt people in power, and I regret missing it all.
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It was once referred to as the “Paris of the Midwest” 🙁
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- It seems that once you call a place the Paris of anything, that’s the end of it Saigon, the Paris of Southeast Asia, Beirut, the Paris of the Mediterranean, Detroit, the Paris of the Midwest etc. There is a lot to support this.
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- What happened to Detroit? I’m inquisitive. It has been said that manufacturing jobs have left the city, but that doesn’t explain the rapid ghettoization
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  - If you’re looking for a single tipping point, it was the race riots of the late 1960s
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Now you’ll find Taco Bell & KFC with bulletproof glass…
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- When I was in Detroit, I visited the first fast food restaurant with bulletproof glass
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  - These are also found in ghettos on the east coast. There were liquor stores everywhere, and all of them had a bulletproof glass.
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Once, there were high schools with massive theatres and hand-painted ceilings. Now, there are abandoned mansions and violence. It’s sad to see what unchecked liberal policies lead to.
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- Seriously? Detroit was ruined by right wing dismantling of the social networks and harsh oppression of unions and minorities.
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- That’s such a weak statement. You used politics with zero facts. Detroits demise started from the very beginning with it being a one truck pony. Detroits biggest and most important industry IS and ALWAYS HAS BEEN the automotive industry. When the industry does well things are great and when it does bad everyone suffers. When the automotive industry started changing in the 1960’s-70’s Detroit started its decline.
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Things like this make me wonder if progress is a good thing.
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I’m sure some of you may be picturing a perfect society, but let me assure you that there was some terrible stuff happening in that city during that time.
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- Although it was a stunning and prosperous city, it was not without its flaws, including significant racism. Additionally, the city was heavily controlled by the Big 3 car companies, which led to the construction of freeways that tore through the city.
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  - Your timing’s a bit off. he Big 3 car companies did not exist in 1900, and while racism was still present, there were very few African Americans in the city at that time. The migration of African Americans to the city did not begin on a large scale until a decade later. The construction of freeways began during World War II to facilitate transportation of people and goods, and was further expanded during the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s.
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    - The city had a history of discrimination, with Jews, Poles, Finns, and possibly Italians being the primary targets of hate.
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      - And Greeks
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  - Not exactly 1900. Im talking about the era before the 50’s
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  - There were also organized crime groups such as the Purple Gang operating in the city at that time. Additionally, I’ve heard stories about the challenges that Italian immigrants faced, with limited opportunities for work leading some young men to consider joining the mob. All of this is to say that Detroit was not a particularly peaceful city during that time period.
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    - The Purple Gang was a significant threat in Detroit during that era, with a reputation that bordered on the legendary. My father was raised in the city and often spoke about their notorious activities.
      Reply

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1900s Detroit: Stunning Historical Photos Show Old Detroit At The Beginning Of 20th Century (2024)

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