History of Detroit, Michigan

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The city of Detroit, Michigan developed from a small French fort and missionary outpost founded in 1701 to one of the largest American cities in the early 20th century. Based on its auto industry, Detroit's economy expanded following World War II with a post war economic prosperity. A population shift to the suburbs began in the 1950s and continued as the metropolitan area grew to one of the nation's largest. The city experienced social tensions during the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1990s and 2000s, the city has experienced increased urban renewal. Many areas of the city are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Detroit, settled in 1701, is one of the oldest cities in the Midwest. Detroit experienced a disastrous fire in 1805 which nearly destroyed the city, leaving little present-day evidence of 17th and 18th Century Detroit save streets named for early French settlers, their surviving French ancestors, and what remains of the twelve original missionary pear trees. After the fire, Judge Augustus B. Woodward designed a plan of evenly spaced public parks with interconnecting semi-circular and diagonal streets.