History timeline launched September 1st… more yearly research on the way in the coming months.

First established on the web in 2013 and motivated by local Facebook historical groups, we dedicate this space
with pride to tell our story: utilizing news clippings, essays, photos, video multimedia – as well as AI’s evolving attributes – in documenting the eighteen communities that comprise the southern Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan region known cooperatively as “Downriver.”

From its humble beginnings as an off-shoot of emerging French settlements along the Detroit River south of the new Fort Pontchartrain settlement in the early 1700s, we visit the land of the original Wyandot Indians, its early industrial history (the Bessemer Process started here), as well as its entrepreneurs with a vision… all the way through modern times. We seek to craft deep & engaging narratives on how each Downriver city and township has evolved year by year since being initially platted in the 1827 Michigan Territorial Survey.

The city of Detroit earned the nickname “The Arsenal of Democracy” during World War II as automotive plants converted for wartime production, producing up to 30 percent of all war materials in the United States.
Downriver’s working-man’s spirit definitely gave its share toward making that arsenal possible.

The challenge factor in creating a central site is definitely there. Memories do blur, times and locations may shift,
and important events may initially lack accuracy. These are the bridges we aim to cross in our research to you.
We have found our contributors’ enthusiasm unmistakable and their resolve unshakable.
It provides the best definition yet of the blue-collar history the Downriver area is known for.

We thank you for taking the time to visit and hope your stay is not just educational in nature…
but engaging & rewarding as well.