THE CITY OF DETROIT
The older parts of most great cities are badly laid out. In very few cases do men realize that their little settlements are to grow into large cities. And so they pay little attention to laying out streets, but in building their houses follow the farm lanes and often the paths made by the cows as they are driven to and from the pastures.
This is not always the case however. Washington was laid out long before it ever became a city, and, in consequence, it has magnificent broad streets and many parks.
NORTH WOODWARD AVENUE
Detroit was one of the badly laid-out settlements, but in 1805 a fire burned every house in Detroit with one exception. Now at that time Judge Augustus B. Woodward was a prominent figure in the city government. When the fire wiped out the old town, the judge thought that a plan should be made for Detroit just as had been done for Washington. His idea was to have a great circle, called the Grand Circus, in the center of the town. Two streets, 120 feet wide, were to cross this circle, dividing it into quarters, and from the circle other broad avenues were to radiate in all directions. As the city grew, other circles were to be built with streets radiating from them.
Unfortunately the citizens of Detroit did not have the belief in the growth of their city that Judge Woodward had, and so his scheme was only carried out in part. That part, however, gave to Detroit its Grand Circus, its broad avenues, and its down-town parks, and did much to earn for it the title of the City Beautiful.
Detroit to-day has many splendid and costly residences. It has also street after street filled with comfortable medium-priced houses where the workmen live, and its people are fond of boasting that it is a city of homes.
Woodward Avenue, which is 120 feet wide, is named after Judge Woodward. This avenue runs from the river bank right through the entire city. At its lower end it is the principal retail street of the city, while further out are many fine residences.