History of Detroit

Gilded Age mansions were built east and west of the current downtown. Most notable among them was the David Whitney House located at 4421 Woodward Avenue. It was restored in 1986 & is now known as The Whitney Restaurant. During this period some referred to Detroit as the Paris of the West for its architecture, and for Washington Boulevard, recently electrified by Thomas Edison. The city had grown steadily from the 1830s with the rise of shipping, shipbuilding, and manufacturing industries. Strategically located along the Great Lakes waterway, Detroit emerged as a major transportation hub. In 1896, a thriving carriage trade prompted Henry Ford to build his first automobile in a rented workshop on Mack Avenue. During this period, Detroit was allowed to expand its borders annexing all or part of several surrounding villages and townships.

20th century

In 1903 Ford founded the Ford Motor Company. Ford's manufacturing—and those of automotive pioneers William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, Packard, and Walter Chrysler—reinforced Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital; it also served to encourage truck manufacturers such as Rapid and Grabowsky.

With the factories came high-profile labor unions such as the American Federation of Labor and the United Auto Workers, which initiated strikes and other tactics in support of such things as the 8-hour day/40-hour work week, healthcare benefits, pensions, increased wages and improved working conditions. The labor activism during those years increased influence of union leaders in the city such as Jimmy Hoffa of the Teamsters and Walter Reuther of the autoworkers.

The prohibition of alcohol Prohibition from 1920 to 1933 turned