Detroit is the largest city in Michigan state. In the 20th century, Detroit boomed with an industrial powerhouse and automobile industry. Its population grew immensely, and in 1910 it became the 9th largest city in the United States. The “Great Migration brought large numbers of black Southerners into Detroit. The black population multiplied from 5700 in 1910 to 40,800 in the 1920s. Some other industries, including metal crafts, railcars, stove works, paints, iron, brass, and copper, progressed by leaps and bounds. Henry Ford built an assembly line at his Highland Park Plant in 1910. Later that decade, when World War I broke out, Detroiters fought valiantly.
Here below are some stunning historical photos that show Detroit city in the early 20th century from 1900 to 1910.
I’d love to see the “now” pictures.
I would have loved to live closer to this era than the current one. It looked more beautiful then, when things were simpler. However, I would prefer to be in my 20s-40s in the 70s-90s.
If you were white, Christian, male, Anglo-Saxon, and rich, it was a great time. Blacks, Italians, Poles, illiterates, poor, or non-Christians had a hard time. The only social safety net was provided by benevolent societies and extended families. There was no “pure food movement” yet, sanitation was still in its infancy, and coal smoke was filthy and suffocating.
There are a lot of women escorted out and about in these photos, which I find interesting.
Detroit has never had a good mayor. They sucked Detroit dry until today
All of these pictures were taken before WWI or WWII. Also pre-car companies of any size. A huge influx of people from the South came to work in the war plants during that time (1920’s). So you people who say it’s racist? There had not yet been any racial issues. Immigrants from Europe dominated the early factories.