Detroit, Michigan
According to acronymmonster, Detroit is one of the first cities in the United States by number of inhabitants, at 42 ° 20 ′ lat. N., and at 83 ° 3 ′ long. or, in the state of Michigan, Wayne County cavolue; it is located on the right of the Detroit River, which allows transit from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie.
The location of the future great center was visited by the French in 1648, and the Fort Pontchartrain was built there in 1701, which in 1760 fell into the hands of the English. Near the end of the century. XVIII the center counted only a few hundred inhabitants. During the revolution Detroit became one of the most important strategic points for the English forces operating in the NO: in 1796 the British abandoned the fort, giving it to the Americans. In 1805 a terrible fire almost entirely destroyed the town, which was immediately rebuilt. After various events Detroit was declared a city in 1824; from 1805 to 1837 it was the capital of the territory; state capital from 1837 to 1847; then the government residence was moved to Lansing.
The climate of Detroit has a decidedly continental character, with rigid and long winters, hot summers, strong annual excursion. The amount of rain is well distributed throughout the year but definitely prevails in the summer. The number of rainy days is 138, equally distributed in the various seasons. The mirror highlights the most salient data of the climatic conditions of the center.
The population in 1820 was 1422 individuals, rising to 21,019 in 1850, to 45,619 in 1860, to 79,577 in 1870, to 116,340 in 1880, to 205,876 in 1890, to 285,704 in 1900, to 465,766 in 1910, to 993,678 in 1920; a 1928 calculation gave 1,378,900 inhabitants. The increases are among the strongest recorded in the entire North American Confederation: in the decade 1910-1920, the increase in Detroit was 111.3%. As for ethnic composition, in 1920 95.8% was given by Bianchi; 4.1% from Negri. Of the foreigners the most numerous were the Germans (149,000), the Russians (104,000), the Canadians (89,000), the Austrians (58,000), the English (39,000), the Italians (29,000), etc.
The city has an area (1928) of over 350 kmtl.: the topography of the great center brings us back to the usual grid with roads cut at right angles; but a whole series of great radial arteries, starting from the Grand Circus, breaks the uniformity. Woodward Avenue is the main thoroughfare of the city. Like other cities in North America, Detroit has numerous parks, of which the main one is the Belle Isle Park, with an area of 707 acres, including the island of the same name connected to the mainland by an iron bridge built in 1889. The first bridge across the Detroit River, called The Ambassador Bridge, which unites the city with Windsor (Canada), was inaugurated on 11 November 1929; it cost 20 million dollars and is of the suspension type, about 2900 meters long. By means of tunnels, under the Detroit River, the railway connection with Canada was made possible. Currently another gigantic work, which is about to be completed, is the Detroit – Canada Vehicular Tunnel, built for the transit of vehicles, with a total expected traffic of 1000 vehicles per hour in both directions.
Detroit is a large industrial center. The fundamental industry is that of the automobile (Ford workshops), employing over 70,000 people; the metallurgical and mechanical industries follow.
The geographic location makes Detroit a first-rate center from the point of view of commerce; heavy traffic, especially transit, involves iron ore, metallurgical products, coal, wheat, timber, etc. Detroit is a very important railway center: it is connected by numerous lines to Toledo and Chicago; across the Detroit River it is united with Canada.
The city has some institutes of higher education, such as the College of City of Detroit, organized in 1923, with over 2000 students; the Marygrove (1910), with 500 pupils; Michigan College of Medicine, etc. It is the seat of an Italian consulate.
Monuments. – Detroit has few outdoor works of art. The Public Library, built in 1924 on Woodward Avenue to designs by C. Gilbert, is a beautiful Renaissance-style marble building. Opposite the library is the new Institute of Fine Arts (on an area of 10 ha.) Of which Paul Cret was the architect assisted by Zantzinger, Borie and Melary; its style is in harmony with that of the library, tending towards classical, and sparingly decorated.
The Detroit museum has already become one of the most important in the United States. It was opened at the end of 1927 with a large exhibition of works of art on loan, including the painting Man with a flute, one of Titian’s last works, which was then purchased for the gallery. The works of art are exhibited with furniture and objects of the time. The building has three main wings: in the one on the right the European art collections are kept in small rooms well lit laterally and located towards an external courtyard; in the left wing are the temporary galleries for American art, and in the last one the Asian section is ordered.
