Detroit History

Check Back for Updates

By Rodney L. Arroyo, FAICP

With a background in city planning and photography, it is not surprising that I am fascinated by the City of Detroit. As a city planner, part of my job is storytelling – telling the story of the history of a city or place and then helping a community craft and describe a vision for that place.  As a photographer, I also serve as a visual storyteller, using images to convey the stories of people and places.

It all started several years ago when I gave a presentation on Detroit’s City Planning History, which featured several photographs that I had captured in the City. This presentation was expanded in 2018 with my book, “A History Lover’s Guide to Detroit” on History Press, was released. This book was written by Karin Risko and it featured my photographs; we did a book tour that year.

My interest in jazz was a key factor in the next component of my work. In the last year, I expanded the presentation once again to include a segment on the historic jazz and blues clubs that were once located in Detroit’s Paradise Valley, Black Bottom, and Sugar Hill neighborhoods. As a planner, I felt compelled to map them, and you will find a link to the map in the next section.

This research led to a deeper study of the history of Paradise Valley and Black Bottom, including the many Black-owned businesses that were once thriving there. I believe that understanding the full story of these neighborhoods requires documentation of the businesses that were lost and/or impacted by freeway construction and urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s. I am currently in the process of documenting and mapping these businesses – a project that will take most of 2024 to complete – and this is discussed in more detail below.

This work is a passion project for me. My goal is to continue to present my findings and facilitate a dialogue about the information, photographs, maps, and data that I share. Our education system does not, in my opinion, provide an adequate curriculum for teaching students of all ages about the many stories that make up Paradise Valley and Black Bottom and the lessons we can learn. I am hoping to play a role in changing that, in addition to sharing my research with adults.

Jazz and Blues Clubs in Detroit (1930s through 1950s)

The map below focuses on and around Paradise Valley but also includes Black Bottom, the Medical Center / Brush Park area, Sugar Hill, and some key locations farther from the core study area. Note that some of the streets where the clubs were located, including Hastings Street, are no longer there. The base street map is a modern base map that provides context.

If you want to learn more, I highly recommend the books “Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit 1920-1960 by Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert (the primary source used for the above map) and “Jazz from Detroit” by Mark Stryker.

Black-owned Businesses in Paradise Valley, Black Bottom, Medical Center District, and Cultural Center District (NEW MAP UPDATE)

I have been documenting Black-owned businesses in Detroit during its population peak, in the early 1950s, prior to the construction of the Interstate Highway System and substantial urban renewal projects in Black Bottom, Paradise Valley, the Medical Center District, and the Cultural Center District. I am pleased to share the completed map. Please use the link below to the blog associated blogpost:

Map of Detroit Black-Owned Businesses in 1952 (link)

_____

Notes above the cover image at top of this post: The cover image at the top of this page is a photo of current-day Greektown: Monroe Street between Beaubien and St. Antoine. Many are unaware that Greektown was part of the Black Bottom neighborhood. This block is flanked by the Second Baptist Church on the west, the oldest Black church in Michigan and the Midwest, and by Old St. Mary Church on the east, a church built by German immigrants.

Slavery in Detroit

Northern states, territories, and Canada have a deep history of slavery. Early French settlers were enslavers. Slavery was considered legal in New York as early as 1725, and many early settlers in Michigan came from New York.  Traders of beaver pelts used enslaved people to transport products from Michigan to New York and other states along the Atlantic coast.

Although the Northwest Ordinance (1785) banned slavery in the Northwest Territory, it did not require existing enslaved persons to be freed. The same was true of the Act of 1793 in Canada.  Slavery was not banned in New York, a frequent trade partner of Michigan, until 1827. Slavery was not abolished in the U.S. until 1865 (13^th Amendment).

As a component of my ongoing research into Detroit history – with a focus on city planning history, the evolution of jazz in Detroit, and the stories of Paradise Valley and Black Bottom – I have prepared a map showing Detroit streets in and around Paradise Valley and Black Bottom that were named for enslavers.  This is now part of my presentation “Rhythms of Resilience and Change: Looking Back at Detroit’s Paradise Valley and Black Bottom – When Jazz and Blues Reigned Supreme”

If you want to learn more about Detroit’s slavery history, I highly recommend “The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits,” by Tiya Miles.

See my blog post and the map for more information.

Black Bottom Population

How many people lived in Detroit’s Black Bottom? There is much confusion on this topic, but I provide some clarity on the topic with this blog post.

Other Cities Impacted by Freeways and Urban Renewal

Detroit was not the only city to see its Black population and Black-owned businesses decimated by freeway construction and urban renewal. In this blog post, I explore Miami’s Overtown neighborhood.

Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction

Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction is considered the cradle of the automobile industry. To learn more, follow this link to my blog post: https://city-photos.com/2024/08/manufacturing-plants-in-detroits-milwaukee-junction-map-and-photos/. This link includes a map I created to highlight many of the Fisher Body plants that were located in the district, as well as other auto-related plants.

About Rod Arroyo 

Rod Arroyo is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners and has served as an adjunct professor of city planning at Wayne State University.  He has over 35 years of city planning consulting experience. He is a retired Partner/Director of Community Planning for Giffels Webster, based in Detroit. He is currently researching the impact of urban renewal and freeway construction during the 1950s – 1970s on Paradise Valley, Black Bottom, and nearby areas comprised of Black-owned businesses and/or residences.

Rod is also a professional photographer. He is a member of the Professional Photographers of America and has owned his photography business, Portraits By Rod, since 2000. Most of his work focuses on corporate headshots and corporate events, as well as city photography. Over 40 of his images appear in the 2024 documentary, The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit. He has also worked as a photojournalist throughout his career, and he currently does freelance work for Grosse Pointe Magazine.

Resources

There are many great resources available to learn more about these topics. Here are some of my favorites:

Before Motown, by Lars Bjorn with Jim Gallert

Jazz from Detroit, by Mark Stryker

Redevelopment and Race: Planning a Finer City in Postwar Detroit by June Manning Thomas

The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford, by Beth Thompkins Bates

Million Dollars Worth of Nerve: Twenty-One People Who Helped to Power Black Bottom, Paradise Valley and Detroit’s Lower East Side, by Ken Coleman

Black Automobile Workers in Detroit 1910-1930 in Journal of Negro History, by Joyce Shaw Peterson

The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits, by Tiya Miles

Metropolitan Jews, by Lila Corwin Berman

When Detroit Played the Numbers, by Felicia B. George

The Origins of the Urban Crisis, by Thomas Sugrue