Woodward Avenue: Michigan’s All-American Road

Posted by Bill on Thursday, February 11, 2010   |   No Comments

Roads, more than rail lines or the airways, are at the heart of travel. I am going to devote a few posts to historic roads, what we can learn from them and why we should save them. This is the fifth post in an eight-part series.

Getting to a final and definitive list of historic roads in the Midwest—or in any other region of the country—is a little like shooting at a moving target. The plain fact of the matter is this: The majority of roads that might legitimately qualify for protection do not have it.

At any given moment, recognition for an unprotected road may be under active consideration. Or recognition may be in process, quickly making any published list out of date.

It’s safer to regard the roads mentioned in this series of posts (from www.historicroads.org) as samples, representatives of the roads that have achieved recognition or protection.

Roads newly protected

As recently as October of 2009, U.S. Secretary of the Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced 42 new designations to the American Byways® collection, including five All-American Roads.

The DOT recognizes certain roads as All-American Roads or National Scenic Byways based on one or more archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational or scenic qualities.

These most recent designations recognized Detroit’s Woodward Avenue as an All-American Road. Of the 42 designations, only four other roadways join Woodward Avenue as All-American Roads. Among them:

• A portion of Historic Route 66 in Arizona
• The Florida Keys Scenic Highway
• Maine’s Acadia All-American Road
• The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad in Maryland

The October recognitions bring the total of All-American Roads to 31 and the National Scenic Byways to 121. Detroit’s Woodward Avenue (M-1) is recognized as the Automotive Heritage Trail.

“Woodward Avenue is . . . a key historic, cultural and visitor destination in Metro Detroit. Woodward Avenue extends 27 miles from downtown Detroit northwest to Pontiac.

“Along this Byway you will find the birthplace of the automobile industry, incredible music, world-class attractions and the sites of countless events. Come enjoy!” (From the site of the The Woodward Avenue Action Association.)

This organization, or W3 as it is shorthanded, is a development group dedicated to improving and enhancing the “. . . visual, economic, functional and historic character of Woodward Avenue through a local and regional effort.”

Key facts about Woodward Avenue

Thanks to them for this list of fun and historic facts about this fabled roadway. It’s easy to see from reading the following that Woodward Avenue is deserving of its historic designation.

• The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel opened in 1930 and, until recently, was the world’s only underwater transnational vehicular tunnel.
• The 1904 Fort Piquette Avenue Plant is the birthplace of the Model T, the most significant car of the twentieth century.
• The 1909 Ford Highland Park Plant was the birthplace of the moving assembly line.
• In 1909 the world’s first mile of paved concrete road was built on Woodward between Six and Seven Mile Roads.
• Section 10 of the Woodlawn Cemetery is the final resting places of several giants of the automobile industry, including John and Horace Dodge, Joseph Hudson and Edsel Ford.
• The Michigan State Fair on Woodward Avenue is the oldest in the nation, first opened to fair goers in 1849.
• In the 1950s and 1960s automotive engineers “street tested” new models on Woodward Avenue, giving new meaning to “Cruising Woodward.”

Photo: Looking northward on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, showing department store district.. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, LC-USF34-110167-C.

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