You can find on this page the Detroit old map to print and to download in PDF. The Detroit historical map and the vintage map of Detroit present the past and evolutions of the city of Detroit in Michigan - USA.

Detroit historical map

Map of Detroit historical

The Detroit old map shows evolutions of Detroit city. This historical map of Detroit will allow you to travel in the past and in the history of Detroit in Michigan - USA. The Detroit ancient map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

Galínee journal notes that near the site of present-day Detroit, they found a stone idol venerated by the Indians and destroyed the idol with an axe and dropped the pieces into the river. Early French settlers planted twelve missionary pear trees "named for the twelve Apostles" on the grounds of what is now Waterworks Park. The historical city name comes from the Detroit River (French: le détroit du Lac Érie), meaning the strait of Lake Erie, linking Lake Huron and Lake Erie; in the historical context, the strait included Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River. Traveling up the Detroit River on the ship Le Griffon (owned by La Salle), Father Louis Hennepin noted the north bank of the river as an ideal location for a settlement as its shown in Detroit historical map. There, in 1701, the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, along with fifty-one additional French-Canadians, founded a settlement called Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit, naming it after the comte de Pontchartrain, Minister of Marine under Louis XIV.

France offered free land to attract families to Detroit, which grew to 800 people in 1765, the largest city between Montreal and New Orleans. Francois Marie Picoté, sieur de Belestre (Montreal 1719–1793) was the last French military commander at Fort Detroit (1758–1760), surrendering the fort on November 29, 1760 to British Major Robert Rogers (of Rogers Rangers fame and sponsor of the Jonathan Carver expedition to St. Anthony Falls). The British gained control of the historical area in 1760 and were thwarted by an Indian attack three years later during Pontiac Rebellion as its mentioned in Detroit historical map. The region fur trade was an important economic activity. Detroit city flag reflects this French heritage. During the French and Indian War (1760), British troops gained control and shortened the name to Detroit.

Several tribes led by Chief Pontiac, an Ottawa leader, launched Pontiac Rebellion (1763), including a siege of Fort Detroit as you can see in Detroit historical map. Partially in response to this, the British Royal Proclamation of 1763 included restrictions on white settlement in unceded Indian territories. The historical city of Detroit passed to the United States under the Jay Treaty (1796). In 1805, fire destroyed most of the settlement. A river warehouse and brick chimneys of the wooden homes were the sole structures to survive. Detroit was the goal of various American campaigns during the American Revolution, but logistical difficulties in the North American frontier and American Indian allies of Great Britain would keep any armed rebel force from reaching the Detroit area. In the Treaty of Paris (1783), Great Britain ceded territory that included Detroit to the newly recognized United States, though in reality it remained under British control.

Detroit vintage map

Map of Detroit antique

The Detroit vintage map give a unique insight into the history and evolution of Detroit city. This vintage map of Detroit with its antique style will allow you to travel in the past of Detroit in Michigan - USA. The Detroit vintage map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

Great Britain continued to trade with and defend her native allies in the vintage area of Detroit, and supplied local nations with weapons to harass American settlers and soldiers. In 1794, a Native American alliance, that had received some support and encouragement from the British, was decisively defeated by General Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Wayne negotiated the Treaty of Greenville (1795) with many of these nations, in which tribes ceded the area of Fort Detroit to the United States as its shown in Detroit vintage map. Detroit passed to the United States under the Jay Treaty (1796). Great Britain agreed to evacuate forts held in the United States Northwest Territory. In 1805, a fire destroyed most of the settlement. A river warehouse and brick chimneys of the wooden homes were the sole remains of the structures. Detroit motto and seal (as on the flag) reflect this fire.

Detroit was incorporated as a vintage town by the legislature of the Northwest Territory at Chillicothe, Ohio, on January 18, 1802, effective February 1, 1802 as its mentioned in Detroit vintage map. Government was administered by a five-person board of trustees and there was no office of mayor. Following this, Ohio became a state and the eastern half of Michigan was attached to the Indiana Territory. Before the new territorial government officially began, a fire destroyed nearly all of Detroit on June 11, 1805. Because of the difficulty in traveling from Detroit to the capital of the territory in Vincennes over 400 miles (640 km) away, Michigan Territory was established effective June 30, 1805, as a separate territory with Detroit as the capital. The newly appointed governor, William Hull, and the territorial judges (Augustus B. Woodward, Frederick Bates, James Witherell, and John Griffin), constituting the territorial government, essentially established martial law over affairs of the city.

On September 13, 1806, the territorial government passed an act incorporating the new city of Detroit. The governor appointed Solomon Sibley as mayor. Shortly afterward, Sibley resigned and Elijah Brush was appointed in his stead. The mayor was appointed by the governor and, under the act of incorporation, was able to disapprove legislation passed by the popularly elected council without any recourse for overriding the mayor. This state of affairs continued through the War of 1812, during which Governor Hull surrendered Detroit to the British (see Detroit vintage map). Lewis Cass, who replaced Hull as territorial governor, on October 24, 1815, restored control of local affairs to the people of Detroit, with the election of a five-person board of trustees and enactment of a charter for the vintage city of Detroit.