Detroit


Region Type Maps & Charts (if available, no international)
North America, Mid-West Inland Port, City Detroit

City ( 2000 pop. 951,270), (cap.) Wayne co., SE Mich., on the Detroit R., and bet. lakes St. Clair (E) and Erie (S); 42º22'N 83º05'W. Detroit is a port of entry and a major Great Lakes shipping and RR center. A Fr. fort and fur-trading settlement founded there in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and called Ville de’troit [city of the strait] were captured by the British in 1760. Three years later the British withstood a long siege there in Pontiac’s rebellion. Amer. control, resulting from Jay’s Treaty, was established in 1796. Detroit was 1st the territorial and then the state capital from 1805 to 1847. It assumed great importance after the mid-19th cent. as a shipping, shipbuilding, and mfg. center.

Sources

Robert A. McCaughey

Compiler

Peter Richards

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